Back to the daily grind.

I'm back! Well, I actually was never gone, but I took a leave of absence for a couple weeks to enjoy Justin's pre-deployment leave. We had so much fun! I'm so so glad we decided to take it because it was soooooo worth it!
The 2 weeks started with Justin's mom, Darby, coming to visit us from England! This was the first time since we were married in 2006 that she has been to our house so when we found out she'd for sure be coming we were elated!
Darby got here on the Saturday before Valentine's Day and spent the next week with us! On Sunday morning I got up and made breakfast for my "gang"! It consisted of French Toast Casserole, eggs, and a mixed berry salad. It was so delicious even I was impressed! We got ready for church and headed off for our day full of fun! After church we went to John and Michelle Randall's house (our pastor here, who happens to be the same pastor we had back home and the one who married us). It was a fantastic afternoon full of great food and lots of laughs!
We headed back to our neck of the woods (our church is roughly 30 minutes away in San Juan Capistrano) and had the opportunity to watch a couple of cute little guys so their mommy and daddy could go enjoy a night out for Valentine's Day! Talk about spreading the love!! It's also so fun to have more little people in our house. I sometimes feel bad for Eli because he is an only child and is often playing by himself, but we certainly get our fill of Quinn and Grayson so I never really feel that bad!
The next week flew by, unfortunately. We went to Sea World, the Zoo, did a little shopping, ate lots of food, and had great conversations! I'm so glad that mom was able to come and spend time with Justin, Elijah, and I before Justin deploys.
The next week we spent most of our time at home oddly enough! I had grand plans of ice skating, roller skating, the park, the library, but we just chilled out here. We stayed up way to late and slept in way to much, but I think it's what Justin and I both needed.... Some good US time!
God has really done a work in both of our lives the last 8 weeks or so. We are learning daily, hourly, minutely to rely on Jesus for everything. Our love for each other has grown leaps and bounds and I know it's all because our love for Jesus has grown even more!
As we close these two weeks I look back and thank Jesus for giving us this time together as a family as we know so many people don't get the opportunity.
I am confident that we will climb this very tall hill and be even stronger coming down the other side.
We covet your prayers as our countdown has almost begun. I pray the next 6 months will fly by, but also that we'll take advantage of the time apart to prepare ourselves for what's ahead!
(That doesn't mean I am looking forward to this deployment in any way, but because we have to be apart that we'll grow and learn where God wants us too.)
Hopefully in the next couple posts I can add pictures of all the fun stuff we did, but for now it's time to cuddle on the couch with two loves!