a reunion, at last!

We were more than thrilled when we learned that our dear friends, the Scotts, would be traveling through California in early September. We were hoping that we'd get a chance to see them. When their itinerary permitted them to actually stay with us, we felt like we'd won the lottery!

We hadn't seen Rick, Paula, and Emma since fall 2005, when Paula and I were both pregnant -- she with Ethan and I with Kathleen. Our children had never met, though they felt like they'd known each other because we've followed one another's blogs. (Praise God for blogs!) Our children were practically as excited about our visitors as Jim and I were!

Lest anyone accuse us of not being real here at the circus, I'll let you in on the last ten minutes before the Scotts arrived. They came in the early evening, after supper. We'd managed to clean our house respectably, Jim made it home from school, and our little people had been bathed and pajama-ed. Jim was on the phone giving last second directions to Rick when Madeline had an accident in the front, guest bathroom. When she called to me, John David went running to her. He entered the bathroom, slipped in the giant puddle (of pee), soaking his pajamas. At that point, I started to cry, depressed at the idea of mopping yet another floor and cleaning yet another child. Mercifully, Jim stepped in and, with his help, we managed to pull it together before our friends arrived... but barely!

After the pre-arrival chaos, things went really smoothly. Our reunion was so sweet! It was like no time had passed at all. Once the kids were all in bed, we grown-ups talked and talked. And even though we said we wouldn't (and we really meant it!), we did the same thing. Every night. (Praise God for coffee -- we needed it!)

I didn't take nearly enough photographs. For example, I don't have one of Paula and I together, and that makes me sad. But I did capture some of the fun -- just not enough.

Headed for the park across the street. The dads took the CalTrain up to San Francisco to see some baseball, but our littles were happy to play at the park!

We spent an evening touring around Stanford. I was amused at our little parade -- there are a lot more of us than there were in Germany!

Poor Ethan had just woken from a nap and was still so tired! He'd already had a full day playing with the Starlings in Monterey and visiting the beach...  And Kathleen wasn't upset; she was just taking her role as tour guide very seriously.

The grown-ups walked and the little people ran around campus.

I proved, yet again, that I am utterly incapable of taking good photographs of more than one child.

Predictably, Rick and Jim were absorbed in serious conversation while I ran around taking photographs.

John David really resents being confined to the stroller...

Our girls loved being able to show off their favorite spots at Daddy's school.  Consequently, the tour was fountain-heavy.  No one seemed to complain.

Racing (no, literally -- Jim's calling out, "Ready, set, gorilla!" and "Ready, set, golf!" in this photo) to the next fountain.

Ethan and his sweet mama.

Jim clowning around with Emma.  Poor Ethan didn't understand the "clowning around" part and was ready to defend his sister, standing right up to Jim.  He's a good, brave brother!

This, John David, is why we don't let you out of the stroller more often.  I pulled him away from the water more times than I can count.  (And his shoes are around.  Somewhere.)

We were so sad to see the Scotts leave.  (Though they were probably happy to move onto a house where the hot water heater didn't spontaneously, well, quit.  Sorry, guys!)  The girls kept calling Emma and Ethan their cousins and have asked repeatedly about when they'll be back.  Though we'd love to see them again soon, it seems unlikely that we'll manage that before they head to Italy (where they'll be missionaries, running a Hospitality House for Cadence, just as they were when we met them in Germany).  Perhaps the next time we'll meet up with them in Italy!