Mick and Mags Visit Washington

I have a seemingly rare set of WONDERFUL in-laws. I am so lucky. They were just here for 10 days and I was choked up after they left and kind of melancholy the rest of the day. Today too. A friend called and I told her that my in-laws were visiting and that they'd been here for 10 days. She said, "Oh. Is that too long?" I answered quickly and honestly, "Oh, no!" Because I love having them here.

The first few days were perfect and then on Sunday something hit me and by Monday morning I was in serious pain, called Ty in tears at work, and agreed to let him come home and bring me some medicine (I NEVER ask him to come home from work). I made a doctor's appt. that day which lead to more appointments and even a visit to the ER. I'll blog about that at a later date. It wasn't fun and I was very frustrated. It especially stunk because Tyler and I had been planning to leave that Tuesday for a backpacking trip we'd planned for a year. But with some TLC from Tyler and my mother-in-law, Margaret, a blessing, and many prayers, I was able to get over whatever it was in just a few days. At first I was SO annoyed that it was happening while they were visiting because I wanted to do fun things together. But I quickly realized what a huge blessing it was to have them here during that ordeal. We didn't have to find places for the kids while we did all of the appointments or while I was trying to recover. Margaret didn't have to ask, she just took over and did laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, cleaning, and took care of my kids too. I am so thankful that they were here and were so helpful.

We were reevaluating the week on Tuesday night because at that point I could barely lean over, let alone carry a 30 lb pack through the wilderness. We talked about going to Mount St. Helens and a few other options. On Wednesday morning I was still weak, but feeling quite a bit better so I went on faith (seriously) and told Tyler that I thought we should go out to dinner that night with his parents, leave for Mount St. Helens the next morning, and then have Mickey and Margaret drop us off to start our backpacking trip. So that's what we did...and all of the prayers worked because I was feeling completely better just in time.

We came back on Saturday night to very happy kids who were loved and cared for while we were gone. It's so nice to leave kids with grandparents who love them and love the time with them! We watched Mamma Mia! that night while eating Tillamook ice cream and on Sunday after church we went to Scenic Beach State Park for a while. It was a fabulous visit and I am so THANKFUL that they came! I love you, Mickey and Margaret. Thank you so much for coming!