Wherever the Road Leads: Hubacher Visit

While traveling full-time, we met this incredible family in Louisa, Virginia at a Civil War Battle Reenactment of the battle for Trevilian Station. The Hubachers' oldest two girls are the same ages as our two oldest, and they really hit it off & became fast friends in just a couple days before we took off again. And, Philip fell head-over-heels in love with Genna in the same amount of time. ;) Over the last year, they have stayed in touch via letters primarily, as well as email. Thanks to their friendship, the Hubachers decided to take a cross country trip to come see us & meet Katie. Wow---that's one long trip to make by car with five kids!

Katie was just shy of one month old when they visited. To say it was a little crazy & chaotic with 10 kids & 4 adults in the house goes without saying, right? :) Shannon was great about helping out in the kitchen, cutting up fresh peaches every morning (our neighbors' peach tree lost a huge limb & we scored a LOT of peaches as a result!)--YUM!--and making lunch every day they were here, not to mention taking out the trash 57 times a day or so (we still only use a small trash can from our rv days). ;) Dwight also mowed the lawn for Steve! There was a LOT of play going on--playing the Wii, playing at the park, playing in the mud, playing games, playing American Girl dolls, playing 3-legged races in the back yard, & hula hoop making!! There was also some serious competition over Genna's affections between Philip & his little brother Levi! Whew, it was action-packed!.

A rock, we must climb it

Besides lots of play, Steve also took them up the mountain to hike to Cecret Lake. I admittedly stayed home with my three littles & enjoyed some peace & quiet. We also took them to In-N-Out, & then Shannon & Dwight treated for roller skating. Again, I stayed back this time with Katie & Jake for some more peace & quiet. :) With baby number five, I no longer feel like it's a race to get back into everything I was doing before; I give myself more grace to adjust & figure it all out. I've found that's super important for my sanity in the early days where sleep is scant & the other littles are more dramatic thanks to their position in the family getting bumped by the latest addition.

Cecret Lake

We even got together with the Hubachers' friends that had moved to SLC several years ago, the Grinsell's. They were kind enough to invite both of our large families over for dinner & s'mores! And we were able to commiserate on some of the challenges of living in this area.

We are so glad you guys came to visit, Hubacher family! As one of the challenges of living here has been the difficulty of making friends, it was so heartwarming to hear Alyssa say, "I had forgotten how much I enjoy spending time with kids my own age! It was so much fun!"