I Want To Remember...

Last night our families threw us a "Baby Sprinkle" with our friends in here in Rifle.

As I'm trying to remember the evening... I am just overwhelmed with joy.

Where do I even begin for what made this evening so special?

• This was the first time my parents had ever seen Hubby and my new home
• Mom Miller and I had been working like dogs to get the house to NOT look like we just moved in 6 weeks ago and I have been on serious activity restriction for half that time
• We never had a baby shower in Rifle when we were expecting Tracey Ann... and so we hadn't really seen a lot of our friends in one place enjoying each other's company since we've moved here
• The Sprinkle was completely casual, almost like an open-house, where people could just drop by for food, good company, and to see our new home
• Children were welcome and two other families came with kiddos for a total of five kids under five -- one was a little baby only a week old.
• The toddlers were so much to watch playing -- a four-year-old girl, her one-year-old brother, a boy who JUST turned two, and Tracey Ann who will be two in a few months.  They had SO much fun, and it was such a joy to see our new home filled with laughing, playing children.  We have sort of a circle in our home where you can walk from the kitchen to the family room to the dining room and then back to the kitchen in a circle -- I had no idea how great that would be for children!  These four little ones ran that circle with each other all night pushing and pulling different toys and sharing very well.  I loved seeing Tracey Ann right at home and right in the middle of all the play going on.  She handled the crowd so well despite being very tired by the end of the party and, to me, it was very clear she felt at home in her home.
• With this party both our mothers were here along with my dad (Chris' dad was making his way back from hunting) and it was a lot of fun to all collaborate on an event together in our own home... and watch Tracey Ann with three of her four grandparents.  Never in my life do I ever remember more than maybe two grandparents present at a time... Tracey Ann is so blessed that she does see all four grandparents on occasion.
• I think this is the first time Hubby and I have really REALLY ENJOYED our home since we moved in -- it is definitely the first socializing we have done in our home, and we are still in the process of making this house our home -- tonight it was our home, full of our friends, full of love, full of family.  What a perfect night.