Big Trip, Big Changes

The title of our story this month is, “Big Trip, Big Changes.” We just returned to Guatemala after visiting family in Mississippi for ten days, from February 10 – 20. These ten days were marked by multiple major events. I invite you to read excerpts from the following chapters:

Chapter 1 – Race for the Cure

On February 15 my mom went in for a biopsy after an irregular mammogram and was diagnosed with ductile breast cancer. I’m still in a bit of shock from this news and am wishing I could be with her right now. She is strong and I know she will win the battle. But still, it’s a battle. Battles are hard and leave scars. We rally around her to fight it.

Chapter 2 – Happy Birthday, Dear Sam

We celebrated Sam’s fourth birthday on February 12. Stephen’s family threw an amazing party. We were blessed to celebrate with both sides of the family because my mom and dad flew in from SA and my brother drove in from New Orleans. It was a blast of a weekend and although he doesn’t turn four until February 22, he "officially" turned four when he blew out his candles at the party. J Since he’s four now, he’s started using mouthwash, of course, and even asked Stephen recently if some four year olds know how to read. “Yes,” Stephen responded, “Some do.” “Well,” Sam said, “We better work on that.”

Chapter 3 – A Little Bit Closer Now

Stephen and I made a trip to the University of Mississippi to visit with a professor there who is also on Stephen’s dissertation committee. It was a wonderful meeting and incited a lot of cool conversations about Stephen’s future career. In approximately 18 months, Stephen will be Dr. Dove with a legit university job (hopefully) and we will be settling in for the next phase of our family’s journey.

Chapter 4 – She’s Getting so Old

My sweet cousin, Kate Aten, is a senior this year and put Millsaps College (in Jackson, Mississippi) on the top of her list for possible options after graduation. We both planned our trips to Mississippi individually and then realized we were going to be there all at the same time. On February 18 – 19, we spent precious time with Kate, my aunt Laura, and my uncle Donald. Kate has built-in family if she chooses Millsaps and I smile when I imagine her there.

Chapter 5 – The Estate on the Lake

Five years ago, Stephen’s parents built their dream home. They did an incredible job, because the house really is a dream. It’s a beautiful lake-front home with beautiful views, and great big porches to sit on and enjoy it. During our ten days, Sam and Ruth went canoeing on the lake, rode lots of rides up and down the hill on the Gator, threw rocks and sticks into the water, enjoyed time with their grandparents, and even got to play in the snow.

Chapter 6 – The Sappy Conclusion

In just ten days alone... My mom has breast cancer. My baby boy isn’t a baby anymore. My cousin is going off to college soon. My best friend is officially a licensed Foster parent. Stephen’s best friend is moving and starting a brand new job. My husband comes closer to reaching his goal. Ruth keeps cutting teeth and breaking our hearts because she’s so darn cute. Erik shaved his mustache. Big trip. Big changes.

I realized on this trip that even though I have loved Guatemala, I really miss home, too. I too easily forgot how much I love the go-to-the-library (which we did), go-to-the-park (which we did), go-to-the-children’s-museum (which the kids did with their grandparents), go-to-Chik-Fil-a (which we did), speak-lots-of-English (which we did) kind of lifestyle.

The Cold Side

I wanted to close the day by writing some of this down – today is one of those days that I simply treasured Sam’s words and actions, but I know I will all too quickly forget them if I don’t make a point not to.

After school and rest time today, we went over to the home of some new friends. The family has two little girls, ages 5 and 6 who speak French and Spanish, but no English. No problem for my little man, of course. The girls apparently like to play dress up and decided that they were the queens and that Sam was the bad Black Knight. Sam was disturbed by this and clearly told the girls that he was NOT the Caballero Negro, he was the REY! Ha!

Once we got home and started to eat dinner, Ruthie would have none of it. She’s been super fussy today and at this age I pretty much chalk any fussy behavior up to teeth (she must be cutting teeth, right? Right!?) Sam likes to help feed Ruthie, and once again he got the only few bites down her tonight. He also decided to capitalize on Ruthie’s “bad” behavior by pointing out, “It’s good that I’m having such great behavior.” And by saying things like, “I’m eating all my bites. Can I have a kiss for that?”

After dinner, we read a story about the Supreme Court and its nine justices. We talked about “good” and “bad” laws and tried to brainstorm some. Sam decided that requiring kids to go to school was a really good law, because we should all learn about God and painting. Hmmm…so that’s what he learns in school!

When I tucked him in and kissed him goodnight he asked me, “Can you turn the pillow over? I like the cold side.” Fascinating! Perhaps appreciation for the good things in life, like the cold side of the pillow, is just innate.