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6.12.2011

Sunday Snapshot {intertwined}

This group of five year old girls brought our families together this weekend.



But what is really cool is that the weekend wasn't only about them.  It was about everyone who was there ~ all 40 of us.



We managed to squeeze in as much fun and conversation as our short 40ish hours together would allow. There was firefly catching, a campfire with s'mores, swimming, horseback riding, canoeing, a Sunday morning worship service, plenty of eating, and every time you looked around you would find another configuration of kids or grown ups ~ or a mix of them ~ catching up on life since the last time we were together as a big group in 2008.



It all sort of makes me laugh a little.  Mainly because I distinctly remember telling Ian that our lives were full before we traveled to meet Kylie and that we didn't need, or really even have time in our lives, for a new group of friends.



But we did have room.  And so here we are, 4 1/2 years later, heading off to the mountains of Virginia for a weekend, less than 10 days before we leave to bring Daniel home ~ thankful that timing worked out that we could attend.



Glad to see an ever growing group of girls in white dresses.



Loving seeing the brothers.



And all the children who have come home from distant lands to be part of our eight families together.



Why do we travel long distances to be together short periods of time?  Oh, there's the thought that we want to keep our girls in touch with who they've known longer than they've known us.



And there's the fact that it takes our girls aproximately 8.3 seconds to fall back into being best friends after three years apart.  But I suspect that if that were all there was to it, we would have slowly drifted apart and lost touch with one another by now.



Rather, I believe it has more to do with the fact that our lives are forever intertwined with two loves.  The love we have for our Guangdong girls,



and the love we share of our Heavenly Father who loved us first.

Hallie, Sarah and Olivia ~ and families ~ we sure missed you.  Oh how we pray to see you all next time!


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Ni Hao Yall


Don't know what Sunday Snapshot is?  Stefanie, the creator, describes it as:

"Sunday Snapshot is just a way to capture that special someone or something right now, because we all know time is fleeting... right now will be a distant memory before we know it!"

To join in, stop by her blog to get details.

18 comments:

abby said...

Stopping over from Nihao Y'all...

I LOVE this! I hope you continue to do this for many more years! It doesn't get much cuter than those girls in their white dresses!

Jennifer said...

What a fun time! The pictures of the girls are just precious! Fostering those life long relationships is so important. :)

Valerie and Jeff said...

LOVE that first photo of the girls in their white dresses! Priceless!!
And then the boys in their red shirts ...
and the tutus
What a beautiful treasure for your families and for the girls to stay connected. So glad you were able to meet up and to freshen the ties!
Valerie

anything but LoKEY said...

That is great that you get them all together. I would like to get our girls from Nanning together again someday. :)

Lee and Sarah VanGrunsven said...

I also came over from NiHao Yall :)
So Sweet! Those girls in their white dress's, huddled together just melted my heart! May God continually bless you all! I really hope I get the chance to stay in touch with the one's I may be fortunate to meet when we go get our little blessing!

Melissa said...

This is priceless...makes me wish we had that kind of special bond! What an incredible experience for your sweet Kylie and for all of you! So happy you got to spend the time together! (Now I'm even MORE sad we probably won't see you in China - :) Happy packing my friend!!!

Leslie said...

Beautiful. Beautiful girls. Beautiful photos. Beautiful words.

Cindy M said...

Well said, my dear sweet friend. The tears of missing all of you already didn't hit me till we crossed the Indiana state line. Oh, how I wish we weren't all so far apart. But it truly does make our time together so special. Love you!

Laine said...

PERFECT! What a precious, treasured BLESSING to stay part of each other's lives forever! You are giving Kylie and each of those girls something very special...TIME TOGETHER!

Love it!

Our Journey to China said...

Nothing more than miraculous and more precious than God's sweet children coming together! Thank you for the smile you've given me today! :0)

Heather said...

Love the pics and what a special bond for all the kids! White dresses on brown little girls? My fav!

Grandma Shultz said...

Magnificent! God has certainly tied all of you together in a very real way. All of the children are so precious. God be with you all.

Sarah said...

I loved this.
Made me teary....

Traci said...

Oh it looks like you had a wonderful time! I sure wish we had a group from Taiwan... guess we'll be loners in that category though. One of the disadvantages in traveling alone.

Chris said...

How absolutely wonderful!

Special friends and special memories!!

:)

Anonymous said...

Can anything be more beautiful than a group of little girls in white dresses. I'd like to frame one of these pictures for myself even though I don't know them.
Awesome!!!!
Marge

Andrea said...

I wish our group lived closer to do a reunion. I know the parents enjoyed our two weeks in China together far more than the girls did. ;-) So glad you could go before you get Daniel!

Nancy said...

How great you were able to all get together! They are such a beautiful group of children.