October 1st I flew to Columbus to visit Val and her family for a week. I got there Saturday night and as I walked out the door at the airport, I started searching in my bag for my phone. I looked up and there was Val, waving to me from her van. I went over and after a hug, I opened the car door and looked in back and there were 3 little adorable faces, lined up and looking at me. Baby C in the middle, and Parker and Mimi on either side. How fun is that?

Val had invited some family over for brunch on Sunday morning so that was fun busy-ness. Val's life is scheduled around the family. Weekeday mornings mean Parker and Greg go off to school and work, after breakfast. Sometimes I was up before they left and sometimes not. I was borrowing Parker's room and there is a full blackout curtain in there. It could be full blast noon and I wouldn't know it. So sleeping late is easy.

Then it was hang out and watch the kids til about 11:00 when it was time for lunch, feed Mimi and get her out for the school bus. Then Baby C goes down for a short nap and before you know it, it's time to get the kids from school. Sometimes Val would walk over to the school and leave me with Baby C if he was sleeping. Val usually has projects for me to do which I enjoy. This time she worked on kitchen cabinets and I painted a shelf for Parker's room.

Mostly I spent the week painting a floor cloth for her kitchen. She has cans of paint in various colors and we made use of them to make a crazy floor cloth to cover the hole in th kitchen linoleum. It took more time than we thought. The linoleum is scheduled to all be replace, sometime in the future. We also went out for dinner some. I really love to do that but restrain myself most of the time here in Moab. Saturday was the big day when Sonya came from NY to be with us for the weekend. There was a whole drama at the airport involving a possible bomb scare. Luckily Greg volunteered to keep the kids home that morning because Val and I waited 2 hours in the car then 2 hours in the airport til the FBI would let people go- all because some old person had a cell phone in his pocket that was making unfamiliar noises. Details? - don't ask.

We did have a fun weekend after that. Sunday was the kids program in church, which was my initial purpose in making the trip. Their first song wnhich is sweet and beautiful made me sob. I tend to lose it sometimes, anyone will tell you. People ask me what I did most of my time in Columbus. I tell them I look at the kids, the grownup ones and the little ones, filling myself with their images and storing them away. The best time was sitting in the back yard in the evening cool talking to Val and Sonya and watching the kids play and also reading to Parker and Mimi before bed. I love that. Parker and I lie on his bed while I read. Then when we've finished he walks around and puts his arms around my shoulders to help me sit up. So sweet.