florida!

today was the day. the day i finally got to hug brad and abby and see wyatt for the first time since his accident. it was such an emotional day. i had been preparing myself to see brad for the first time (and wyatt and abby), but i was not prepared for how much seeing abby was going to effect me more than seeing brad. i should have, but i just didn't. hers was the first heart i thought of when i heard the news and began praying for her specifically. i don't know why i wasn't prepared. she was the one we saw first. we went to their house to drop off the kids with grandma and big pop so that matt and i could go to the hospital and see brad and wyatt. there were hardly any words, abby and i just sobbed. there is no talking about wyatt at the house (not that his name isn't spoken, they are just trying to keep the house 'normal' for the kids) and we had a silent hugging sob in the kitchen for just moments before going back to being moms. 

the ride to the hospital was spent trying to pull myself together (i was still anticipating seeing brad and wyatt being more emotional). i couldn't listen to the radio, i couldn't pray, i couldn't think without crying. i was just trying to pull it together. thankfully, i wasn't a mess when i saw brad and wyatt. i did cry at first, mainly with the relief of just being there. and brad scolded me for making him cry (jokingly). i can't even express how nice it was to just be there. matt gave me the best gift in driving us all there.

this is the only time my dad will see the kids this summer and he hasn't seen them since we were down last july; he just can't leave work the way my mom can. they were going to come visit us this summer but between the baby in july and helping brad's family, it just isn't going to happen this year. and that is okay. more than okay. we just are savoring every minute of this visit.

when we got back to the house, the cousins were having a blast! big pop had a new 'pair of shoes,' madelyn and annabell were rehearsing for a performance and the rest of the boys were playing super heroes. it was loud! we took off after a quick dinner.

another night in a hotel with four kids. tonight we convinced them to all sleep in one bed so that matt and i could have a decent night's sleep. they were too cute all together. madelyn was working on her school work (her teacher forgot to send work home with her last friday so i made up assignments and emailed them to her teacher who agreed that they would work) and the boys were playing on the ipad (anything to keep manning from pushing every button in the room!).

this day was wonderful and painful, but mostly relieving. it has been so hard to rely on others to keep me up to date and being so far away from people i love who are hurting. there aren't words for the gratitude i feel towards matt and the emotion of being here. love.