trip debrief.

awesome weather, beautiful mountains, loving family, one on one ratio for kids....
actually, that last one is all I cared about at this point ;-)

it was a break for us all emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Emotionally: there is only one of me on a daily basis to administer discipline and love.
That means that everyone gets about 1/4. It is enough, they will be fine...actually at times I think they will be better off for it....but I'll take the occasional break of being the sole provider for all of that! There were four adults and four children. Just enough. We walked out of church and each had a kid - no one was melting down, no one had to walk, unless they wanted to, no one 'needed' anything, or thought they needed anything.
(Jake is here at night and on the weekends - don't get me wrong!!! He is an amazing dad and does MORE than his socially accepted share. Giving credit where credit is more than due here. He too enjoyed the distribution of emotional output for the week!)

Physically: Well, first of all, my parents house is just bigger so it never looked as messy as my house gets. Then, again, there were quadruple the hands to straighten up, do dishes, cook, bathe and dress. NO ONE fought over my lap the ENTIRE week. (not sure if that should go under emotional or physical!?) Actually, they got to the point, about 12 hours after being there, that they preferred a Nana or Grandpa Flip lap over mine or Jake's!
The discipline was down to an all time low. Miraculous, really.
Jake and I got to disappear for several several hours one day and go 'reminisce' our glory days of dating. Hitting all the spots we spent many hours together at. We haven't done that in 10 years.
Again, not sure if that's just a physical break or more emotional....we'll just combine the two.

Spiritually: Jake and I are in a time of spiritual growth here in NE. The time of growth that made me very excited to get away for a week and the kind of growth that made it hard to come back. Not very hard, just hard.
So, all that reconnecting with couples and individuals that knew us 'when' and were a part of another growth time in our lives was beyond refreshing. We felt free to share with them because there was no need for names and there was no risk of sounding gossipy. And because we could share, they could encourage, relate and affirm that we're not going insane, it really is spiritual growth ;-) (I was beginning to wonder!?)
It also was a great opportunity to 'sift' through what really mattered. Popularity? What was petty and what was not? the bigger picture! Ya know...all that junk.

Thanks Tisha and your gang, Koosh, John, Kristy and all your pack, Doug, Pam and all your clan, and Jane and Waime ;-). What a precious gift we counted it to be with you again!

(you must click on Tisha's name to read about our adventurous time together....it is still making me giggle! when the stranger stopped to ask Tisha all the 'celebrity mom' type of questions - are they all yours?, are they twins?, wow!, you have your hands full?, etc....Tishas was trying to feed five children and clean up chocolate milk from the floor all at once...I was just watching kinda giggling, and then she got smart redirecting the strangers attention my way - Funny Funny Tisha. It will make me laugh until the day I die. Thanks girl....I so needed that lunch...insanity and all!)