A Weekend to Remember

August will be a busy month for the Richmond Mestlers. We will travel to NC 3 different weekends out of the 5 in this month. Our first trip was this past weekend. We FINALLY got to Jared, Amanda, Chloe, and Dixon dog! What a WONDERFUL time we had seeing them and loving on them! Chloe is as precious as we knew she would be....EVEN when she cries! We were in love the moment we heard she would be joining the family so it was so fun to meet her and see her face! Belle was thrilled to see "her Chloe" and give her a special "Dee-Dee"...a lovey blanket like the one our Belle can't live without! Every time Chloe cried Belle assumed she needed her new Dee-Dee. How cute! It was a joy to this mother's heart to see Belle adore Chloe and WANT so much to be a part of her little life! Jared and Amanda are absolutely precious parents! It was fun to watch them in that new role and to think back on those early days as we adjusted to parenthood with Belle. Life is totally changed forever but the "new" life is something to be treasured. What a blessing it is to be a parent! We thank God daily for our little one and know that through the hard times God alone will sustain us! An added bonus to our weekend with the NC Mestlers was the opportunity to spend the nights with the Wilkins family. Some of our first and dearest friends in Richmond, Kim, Daniel, Renee, and Madeleine made us feel right at home. We spent the nights and some time in the mornings talking, laughing, catching up, and THOROUGHLY enjoying being with our friends. I hate that they are no longer right down the street so I can see them daily but I'm thankful that they are close enough for visits like the one we just had! Belle and Renee really enjoyed playing together and got along great. Madeleine took right to "Miss Aimee" and it was fun to love on her and remember Renee at that age! Renee has grown so much and it's hard to believe she was about 18mos. when we met her and she is now in kindergarten! WOW! Thank you NC Mestlers for a precious weekend of memories! Thank you Wilkins family for a precious weekend of memories and growing a friendship! We love all of you and will look forward to seeing you again in a few weeks when we AGAIN head south to NC! Love, Aimee