A cozy weekend of reconnecting!

Last fall prior to the omicron surge, we had dreamed about the possibility of Jason and I enjoying a winter weekend retreat with Jonathan and Christen. Our hour walks here and there are great, but we barely scratch the surface of the hundred or so conversations we are eager to have. As things turned out, we didn't go anywhere and our kiddos were with us AND it was so special. We were so grateful for comfortable covid conversations to gauge what felt good to all of us, and that the outcome of those conversations was podding up for two days. We spent one day at our home and one day at theirs and we still only scratched the surface of catching up and dreaming forward. 

Alida and Terah were so excited and no warm up time was needed. When we sat down for our first meal together around our table, I commented how it was strange for something to feel so foreign and also so familiar. It had been nearly two years since our last indoor meal together. 

It would be hard to name ONE highlight of the weekend, but I soaked up being kicked by our new little neighbor who will join us on the outside soon. That along with birth and baby conversations was rather thrilling!!

That little one even got to go on their first sledding run. It felt so good to get out in the snow and ditch the computer for a spell!!!

While sledding, we discovered a lovely shelf of oyster mushrooms frozen on a tree. Good timing as they were sautéed up and added to some of the quiches for dinner. I'm always excited about wild harvests, and was glad others enjoyed them. :)

It was really special to have them in our home again, but I probably savored even more being in their cozy welcoming space. Between the wood fire and Lilly curling up on my lap, I didn't last in an upright position for the entirety of the day. It felt so luxurious to doze off with happy sounds all around me. There was a lot of bonding with both cat and baby happening for much of the day!

And music playing and story reading and silly business, ending with a movie night before calling it a day!

It went way too fast! But it's reassuring to know that we aren't going anywhere and they aren't going anywhere. So here's to many more such times in our future!