Daniel was of course scheduled to be in Los Angeles for two weeks in July with his family, as usual. And this was the long-awaited summer for our two oldest, Gene and Zion, to be with their grandparents during that time, fishing and camping in Michigan.
But when it became necessary for all six of us to touch down on American soil (long story), we frantically pulled together a whirlwind, planet-crossing family travel plan.
I decided to go to L.A. with Daniel and his family, taking Brave and Jubilee with me, in order to give the big boys their promised Grandma-and-Grandpa time. It goes to show how much I love Gene and Zion, that I would forgo two weeks fishing in my home state with my parents on their new boat!
I did see my parents a little, on either end of those two weeks, and I saw my grandma, some aunts and uncles and cousins, and my one Michigan-residing brother and his family. I also snuck in some time with Liz, obviously. But other than that, I kept quiet about our whereabouts. There simply wasn't enough time! A pop-over hello, with me constantly checking my watch, would have been worse than nothing at all, I figured. It would have been like sending an email to a friend to whom I hadn't written in years, in which all I wrote was, "Please resend your recipe for creamed spinach. I seem to have lost it. Thanks."
So if you didn't see us this summer, now you know why. We never even made it to Arkansas:( Too short. Too, too short.
But we love ALL of our American friends and family, and we can't wait to sit in your homes and play with your kids when we're back for a proper visit in 2018!
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| Cousin stack-up, per Grammy's request. |
