Hey...have I met you somewhere before???

As most of you know, Rich is originally from England. He grew up there until he was 12...and moved to America. His Dad is an "Aquarist" (what a cool title, right???) that we are so proud of... he transfered from the London Zoo to Baltimore Maryland in 1991 to work at the Baltimore Aquarium...then from there helped design and directed the Charleston Aquarium (where I met Rich) for 8 years...and then transferred, again, a few years ago across the continent to San Francisco, CA to help direct the Steinhart Aquarium, part of the Academy of the Sciences in Golden Gate Park... (I am telling you, if you haven't been already--- GO!!! It is one of the coolest attractions I have ever been to... you could spend several DAYS taking it all in!!)... and we LOVE to go visit when we can.

Anyways, that brings me to how far apart we are from his family... We miss them always, pray for them daily, speak to them frequently... but never get to see them enough! It is a long, expensive trip across the country and therefore, we mostly just end up MISSING them all the time! We were thrilled that they were able to fly in the day after Shaelyn Jade was born, to meet her...

...but we haven't seen them since...

(and you can see she's changed a LOT since then!!!)

...UNTIL THIS WEEK! We are so happy that they here... and Shaelyn Jade must have the thought in her little head somewhere, "Have I met you somewhere before???" :)

They brought Emily, Rich's niece, and Hosanna, his little sister this time... which is an added bonus! They have just loved all over Shaelyn Jade...even if she has been a little under the weather! Here are just a few of my favorite memories of this week... so far!


Hosanna, Rich, Grampy, Em and Nanma...

Can't believe how grown up these two girls are this trip...if they lived here they'd be the perfect babysitters!

Have you ever had a sink bath at the Embassy Suites hotel??? WE HAVE!!! Shaelyn Jade had a major poopie all over herself while we were eating there on the first night, so we just helped ourselves to a lovely bath there in the lobby! :) Great memories sometimes come at the most unexpected times and in the most unusual ways!!! :)

It means so much to Rich to have his Dad here getting to know our Shaelyn Jade, and I must say she is really taking a liking to him already!

And last, but not least, Nanma brought an original Paddington Bear and the storybook all the way from his original home, in England (when she visited there earlier this year)! What a perfect new English friend! They'll be sipping tea together in no time!

We are having a great week, and soaking up each minute we have with our family... and praying that maybe, just maybe, we'll be closer someday! :) We love you, Nanma and Grampy...and Hosanna and Em!