Palm Desert

We had a special treat this week. The Wilsons came all the way out from Oklahoma to visit with our dear friend, Carol Auslen, at her beautiful home in Palm Desert. Their trip happened to land on Easter weekend so we had quite a few activities sandwiched in a short amount of time, but we truly enjoyed all of them. We were only able to sneak away for one day to see the Wilsons, but it was worth it! After neighborhood happy hour on Thursday night, we hopped in the minivan for the four hour drive to wake up to some of our best friends and a GORGEOUS day in the Desert...

Caleb enjoyed himself ... as always.

We were so happy to see Carol for the first time in years. This lady is a FIGHTER! She suffered from a stroke nearly two years ago and has regained so much of her abilities. She really looked great, which made us all happy. Tim and I hold a special place in our hearts for her as she was a major encouragement to us when we were first dating. Her prayer list was legendary. Among her daily requests were for the careers of Tim, Anthony, and a few other lucky young men. We were staying at her beautiful home on Lake Tahoe the weekend Tim asked me to be his wife.

The kiddos enjoying a delicious poolside lunch as prepared by Glen, one of Carols adorable caregivers.

Three silly boys in the casita.

Heather, Carol, and I.

Heather and I with our two babies - Abe & Caleb. Besties since our college days. Oh how I love this girl!

Heather, Anthony, Abe, Carol, Tim, Caleb, and I.

Our trip was short, but sweet. We wouldn't have missed it for the world. Like I told Anthony when we left, "We would have driven through a brick wall if it meant we could have see you guys!" Thank goodness for my cute husband who is such a good driver! Having the Wilsons within 4 hours (when they are normally days away) was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!

Since were were in the desert for Good Friday, we missed our annual trip to the Prayer Garden. Instead, we went to a Good Friday service at Carol's church. I can say now with total certainty that it's no joke when they talk about the elderly people in Palm Springs/Desert. We definitely got some looks bringing our 5 small children into church, but did our best to enjoy the service nonetheless. After the message, the Pastor offered communion and did something I have never seen before. They had a large wooden cross that they invited each person to drive a nail into after receiving communion. Very powerful. After picking up Jared from the kids' room (where our children doubled the attendance), I took him down to the sanctuary to see this very moving illustration of Christ's sacrifice. My tenderhearted boy could not pick up the hammer to put the nail in the cross as it was pretty upsetting for him. Reminds me of this day two years ago.

J - I love that you are moved by Christ's death on our behalf. May it never cease to move you. In your seriousness about it I, too, am touched.