Almost There

Tomorrow is moving day for us, although we won't have our delivery of household goods until the following day. It's a good thing, too, because we have a lot of items to transport from my parents' house. It'll be good to get these things out of the way before the truck arrives.

The children and I have been packing and doing laundry all day, so we rewarded ourselves with a couple of rounds of Farkle at the picnic table. With four of them sitting around me, I had that strange feeling that someone was missing. This time, it was, of course, because someone is really missing.

We enjoyed an opportunity to talk with Caelyn this morning. She joked that she's staying in Alaska forever. Apparently she likes what she sees. However, her daddy would fly there and snatch her away if she were to try to stay beyond the pre-determined date. I'm glad that she's pleased to be there for now, though.

Last night she was awakened by our friends to go outside and see the auroras, which she found to be even more magnificent in person than in photos. I can only imagine how breathtaking a sight they must have been.

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Psalm 19:1

It's hard to believe that we'll be moving into our house tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to preparing a haven for our family. What a joy it is to be "busy at home" (Titus 2:5)! In the meantime, I'm soaking in all the goodness that is Grandma & Pap's house, like these tomatoes that were right beside me at the picnic table.

I'm thinking Fried Green Tomatoes, although as a rule, I abstain from eating fried foods. (There's a major exception to that rule: our neighbors in Alabama were from Laos, and they made the absolute best egg rolls ever!)

Gabriela has been helping Pap make doors for his shed beneath the deck where he keeps his tractor and other yard tools. She painted the handles and latch for him, so I wanted to take a photo since Pap put it all together today. I'm glad that it was finished while we're still here.

In God's economy, we know that the "last shall be first", so it's OK that I left this for the end of this post. The photo doesn't do it justice, but this is my mom's Eggplant Parmigiana -- and OH! Was it good!! The tomatoes and eggplant are from my dad's garden, and the sauce is my mom's homemade pizza sauce, also made with Daddy's fresh garden tomatoes. This was one of those times when I didn't mind that our children don't eat eggplant. Usually, I'm offended when they refuse to eat my Baba Ganoush or Verdure al Forno; but this time, I was happy to have more for myself.