PA Trip - Part 1: Friends

Abby, Jake and I took a 9-day trip to Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago. Boy, did we have a wonderful time and make lots of great memories! We missed Kevin and Benny dearly, but they got to spend a lot of quality time together and Kevin was able to be home with him quite a bit since his crab season ended the previous week. Anyway, the reason for our trip was three-fold: (1) attend a college reunion, (2) visit with friends that I hadn't seen in five years, and (3) attend the memorial service of my most-loved professor. And if you recall, I previously shared that I had finally finished all the requirements for my degree and would be graduating this spring. Well, the graduation was on May 12th (one week AFTER my trip), but I decided I'd rather go to the reunion and memorial service than to participate in a graduation where I didn't know anybody anymore (plus, I did the cap & gown thing already at PBU when I received my certificate in Jewish Studies in 2006). In a sense, this trip was my graduation celebration and gift to myself. :o)

The travel part of our trip went amazingly well overall considering that on the flight there I started out with only 2 hours of sleep, faced a 6.5 airport wait for airplane repairs, and had to use the airplane potty FOUR times (two trips for little girl and two poopy diapers for little boy) despite having used the bathroom right before boarding the plane (that's how it goes, right? :). On the flight home, we flew at night during which it Jake woke up about every hour and screamed for about 3-4 minutes before fading off again, and Abby woke up at the end of the flight with full-blown, almost completely matted-shut pink eye, having had no signs of it beforehand! But seriously, the kids were commended by the flight attendents for their great job on the way over and we didn't cause too much trouble on the way back. Flying with two kids on my own had been my biggest anxiety about the trip (the second being separated from my Benny for so long), but I feel like we conquered it and did well dealing with all the unexpected things that came up. :o)

Our first night on the East Coast was actually spent in New Jersey with some old friends of ours from here in Olympia, the Doorlys. Their daughter Missy and I went to high school together for just one year before her family moved to NJ, but we were great friends during that time. Kevin had also made friends with the family, especially Missy's parents, and we visited them all when we were back at school in PA, as well as enjoyed them visiting us one time early on in our marriage. It was great to catch up and to be able to introduce two of my children to them. And they were so kind in their hospitality (especially with us arriving at 11pm instead of the original 5pm because of the flight delay!!).

The following day we were picked up by my friend Gwen and her husband to attend the nearby Institute of Jewish Studies (IJS) reunion. I did IJS my first year while attending Philadelphia Biblical University. It is a one-year program that goes through the entire Bible studying it from a Jewish perspective and also includes some Jewish culture and history. The program culminates with a tour of Israel. On that tour is where I met Gwen and her two sisters (Gwen had been part of IJS several years previous but went on the tour a second time and brought along her sisters). The reunion was fun, but unfortunately only two other classmates from my class year showed up. And after the previous day's long travels and now skipping naps that day, the kids were WORN out and my little Jake began having a difficult time so I missed out on a good portion of the actual program that evening walking around in the hallway with him - bummer! Oh well, although there were some definite letdowns, I had a great time visiting with my classmates, Jake and Peter, and we all enjoyed the scrumptious Mediterranean buffet! One upside was that my professor mentioned that he had just signed off on a graduation award for me and to look for it in the mail - it ended up being the English Award for good grades and Christian character, for a total of $500!! What a great blessing that paid for 2/3 of our trip!

2005-06 IJS Class (plus our professor and one student from the 04-05 year)

 After that we headed about 2.5 hours west to Gwen's farm in the lovely Pennsylvania Dutch countryside. We spent the week with Gwen and her family, sight-seeing, playing and visiting. Abby and Jake fit right in with Gwen's six children (ages newborn to age 8). Gwen and her husband had built on a new addition to their house, which more than doubled the size of their house since I'd visited back in 2007. A big house helps when there are lots of kids around - in fact, one evening Gwen's niece and nephew were over making 10 kids present in all and it was no big deal with all the space everyone had to play and move around in. Another big help - lots of space outside! Abby and Jake LOVED the farm life - the animals, the dirt, the long hours of playing outside, even the chores. Here's a few pictures that capture some of the special moments the kids enjoyed by themselves on the farm and with their new friends.

New Friends:

Nathan & Abby

Jake & Shayna

Christopher & Abby (showing her a frog!)

Ari, Abby & Nathan

And there was a very special friendship that was started, one that I am hoping will last for a long time. One year apart in age and sharing the same name, Abigail and Abby hit it off from the start. In fact, when we arrived around midnight the first night, Abigail came down the stairs having been too excited to sleep at the prospect of Abby coming to visit for the week. I didn't know how my Abby would react to all the new surroundings, people and experiences, but even that first night she excitedly wanted to sleep in Abigail's room that they shared for the week. By the end of our stay, I asked Abby if she was ready to go home, but she said she'd like to stay a few more weeks, but not longer since she'd miss Daddy and Benny too much; Abigail said that she'd like us to stay for forever. :)

More to come soon!