Valentine's Weekend

First, I want to thank you for your kind words and prayers for the families in Thursday's post.  I can't tell you how much that means to me.  This post was in the works at that time, but had been set aside.

Are you digging out of snow where you are?  We've had record-breaking snowfalls this month and currently have about 7 inches on the ground.  (I am sooo looking forward to Spring!)  Between two large snowfalls, we had a several cold but clear days.  We had tossed around the idea of traveling south to see the kids, but hadn't finalized our plans until we knew what kind of weather was in store.  (Normally, we would wait to visit until it wasn't questionable, but there were performances at the college that we really wanted to see.)

Thursday night, we decided it was a go and got packed.  I had taken Friday off, so we hit the road in the morning, hopeful we had left the snow behind (for a few days anyway).  Would you believe, 6 hours into the trip (two hours outside of Greenville) it started to SNOW!!!  By the time we arrived, there were about 3 inches on the ground! A very rare occurence there.

We arrived in just enough time to get checked into the hotel, change our clothes and head to the college.  We saw Bren & Breezy just moments after walking through the door.  It was great to see them!!  We hugged and chatted for a few moments with them (and some of our "adopted" kids) and then settled in to enjoy some pre-show entertainment, planned especially in honor of Valentine's weekend.  Then, it was onto the plays -- two of them, back to back with an intermission in between.  The Miracle Worker (the story of Ann Sullivan, teacher to Helen Keller) by William Gibson and The Last Leaf written by O Henry.  Each was only about an hour in length, yet both were very moving  (we were in tears on more than one occassion) and beautifully performed. 

Chatting with many of the cast members afterward.  I was definitely swooning over their wardrobe!  Hard to believe the old man on the far right is only 21 years old!  ; )

Don't they look great!?

My two favorite guys in all the world!  I wish you could have seen the makeup on stage.  Very effective and Brennan portrayed his character extremely well!

Love this photo.  When Breezy's Mom saw this, she started singing "When I'm 64!" ;  )

Peter & Jaimie (they too are newlyweds!) 

After the performance we spent a little time with the kids, then called it a night.  (All those hours travelling were catching up!)  

On Saturday, the performances were matinee which was wonderful because it allowed for much more time with the kids. = )  It was really great to see each of the plays again.  I think Saturday's performances were even better than Friday's (and they were awesome to begin with!) 

When everything wrapped up, it was still early evening, so we had lots of time to "catch up" with Bren & Breezy during dinner.  (Yay!!!)  Afterward, they came to our hotel.  We had the best time!  We had a couple of Valentine gifts for them and I made some Valentine cookies so we just snacked and chatted for at least a couple of hours (maybe more).  It was bliss! = )  When we all started to get sleepy, they headed home and we made plans to meet for a quick breakfast on Sunday morning before we headed home. 

Sunday morning, we checked the weather forecast and learned they were predicting more snow back home beginning late that night and we wanted to get home well before that started.  We met the kids at McDonald's, shared a quick breakfast (so happy to get to see and hug them one more time!) and then were on our way.  Tom and I had decided this  trip was our Valentine's gift to one another (and one that would be hard to top!)  The kids are hoping to come home sometime in March.  If not, they'll be home for spring break in April.  Either way...we cannot wait!  = )