While We Were Gone

James and I left bright and early to go out of town for a week. With bags packed and hugs given, we headed to the airport. We left the kids and the dog in the care of my parents. The first days, we emailed back and forth. Then they stopped responding. After another day with no response, I sensed that something was amiss.

My sister, Graham, finally told me that SammyDog hadn't eaten or had water for 2 days. This began after he stole Sam's ear of corn on the cob and ate the whole thing, probably about 5 minutes after this picture was taken. She called multiple vets. They all said the corn cob had to come out. James graciously said to do whatever needed doing.

Then she told me that our other sister, Mardi, was sick. She has a 3 week old baby, so my mom went to the doctor with them to watch the baby. In my next update from Graham, she told me Mardi had a 103 degree fever and the baby had a terrible case of colic. My mom decided to stay with Mardi until she and the baby improved. I can only assume that my mom didn't leave my children alone at the lake house reading books...

which brings us to a big question:
Where does that leave Sam and Elisabeth?

answer: with Aunt Graham!

Thankfully, Graham had a few days off work and was willing and happy to take over!

She watched them during the days, while transferring the dog from vet to vet, as pictured above. After they were fed, bathed (some days), in their PJs, read to, and prayed with, Graham left them with my dad and went home for the night. In the mornings, my dad fed them breakfast and played with them until Graham arrived. One day, he took them to a drop-in nursery and Graham picked them up around lunch time.

That morning, Sam and Elisabeth chose their own clothes, without a passing glance at the ones Graham had laid out for them the night before. Let me remind you that Elisabeth is not even one and a half. Elisabeth "picked out" a yellow dress that needs the hem let out immediately. She wore no bloomers and no bow, but she did have on shoes. Sam wore a white "I heart Chick-fil-A" t-shirt that has two holes in it with khaki shorts. He also had on shoes, red crocs in case you haven't seen his feet in the past two years. My dad said that when he dropped them off at the nursery, the lady, who knows our mom pretty well, looked at them with wide eyes mingled with a bit of shock when they got to the door. I can only assume it's because of how cute they were...

When we got back, everyone was healthy, happy, and in their proper place. We are so thankful to have such a wonderful family where one person picks up where another leaves off!


Up next, "And then we were robbed."