Our son Brian and his family’s eighteen-day visit from Maryland to our not-so-sunny California shores came to an end in the early-morning hours today. Our son Ben and his family joined us every day, and our daughter Stephanie visited multiple times as well. We had eleven to thirteen people (a changing sub-set of whom were sick) and three dogs in our construction-zone home for nearly three weeks. Four of the children were under age five, and I can attest to the fact that all five youngsters have healthy lungs and aren’t afraid to to use them at full blast as much as possible. The family gathering was delightful, love-filled, chaotic, messy, loud, and exhausting, and we can’t wait to do it again, after getting a lot of sleep. The image above of my Beloved asleep with our two youngest grandchildren on our messy crowded couch with signs of construction in the background kind of says it all–except there wasn’t all that much sleeping!
With Love,
Russ
Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 
i love every word of this, russ –
Thank you, Beth. The love you have the children in your life shines brightly through your posts about them.
I love the depth of this Russ. You are blessed.
My cup is truly overflowing, Colleen. I appreciate your comment.
What marvelous memories to be viewed in the future…cherished moments. Remember the expression…one day youāll laugh at all of this…and smile too! ā¤ļø
Fortunately we were ale to laugh in the moment at nearly all of it. No one laughed, however, when one of the local grandkids had to be rushed to the hospital on the last night of the visit with a temperature of 104 degrees F hours before we needed to get the out-of-towners to the airport at 5am. Everything turned out okay and Thomas is much better now, but we all had very little sleep that night.
What a wonderful time you had , it sounds great , mayhem, but fun with love. Now just go and sleep for a week! š
Every word you used to describe the visit is accurate. My Beloved and I are attempting to play catch-up with our sleep. Nine hours in bed feels luxurious compared to the amount we had during the last eighteen glorious days.
So many smiles, Russ. And the photo of Heidi is precious. I hope you have as much fun in your new home when it’s completed as you’re having while it’s being built. Love, Clare
Thank you for your smile-inducing comment, Clare.
Love,
Russ