Christmas Trains with the Nelsons

For the last few years we have been joining the Nelson family to make either graham cracker trains or houses.  This year was a train year.  

We had so much fun together.  Throughout the last few years, we have had so many fun memories with this wonderful family.  I don't know what we are going to do when we have to start over and find new family friends.  It is so rare to love all the kids as much as we love the parents.  I feel so lucky to have found that with Genevieve and Jared.  They children, Leah, Kaitlyn, Hyrum and Amy are smart, kind, funny kids.  Our kids love them so much.  From the very beginning of our move to Georgia, the twins have loved Leah who is a couple years older than them, and Hyrum who is a couple years younger, nearly as much as they love Kaitlyn.   Amy is just enough older than the little boys to be able to play with them like a cool, older friend.

Jared, who was first our Bishop, and then our Stake President, has been such a wonderful support to us with Ethan.  He has befriended Ethan and always treats him with such a kind, friendly manner.  It isn't easy to ignore all of Ethan's crazy antics and still love the kid beneath them, but Jared managed to do that.

And since I have been with Genevieve in Primary since we first moved here, she has gotten to hear over 5 years of Ethan stories, and has never once judged me or made me feel less then even with a son who spent every year trying to outdo the last when it came to his behavior and mental disorders. 

This is truly a family friendship that I will always treasure.

And, as an added bonus, another thing that I will treasure was my chance to walk in the outer paths at my park.  I walked there nearly every day with old Penny, and it was such a calming part of my day.  So beautiful.