Family...God's greatest blessing.

Tyson and I have said over and over again how blessed we are to be on this adventure together in Australia.  We've seen and done so much more than we ever dreamed we would during our short time here.  But, despite it's beauty, Australia lacks one thing that we have missed beyond measure....family.  As it turns out, we happen to have the best families (Thomas, Casswell and Cross-Trainer) that two kids could ever hope for and so this means that for the past 13 weeks, our hearts have been craving something that just can't be found in Australia.  (Yes, we've also been craving Pappasitos, Chick-fil-A and Blue Bell Ice Cream...but we can do without those for now!)  I think we both realized how much we truly NEED our families - when it boils down to it, we love you so much we can't live without you!  This is why there are hardly words to describe how special it was to finally see my family again.  I spent the last 13 weeks counting down to the minute they would step off the plane.  13 weeks that seemed to drag on and on and on.  I spent 13 weeks planning out exactly what I would have to show them and everything we would have to do during their 12 days here.  12 amazingly perfect and wonderfully special days that couldn't possibly be over already.  I hardly breathed and they're already gone again.  While the time went by in what literally felt like the blink of an eye, we made a lifetime of memories in those 12 days.  It would take entirely too long to describe everything we did during their trip - but it was simply perfect just being together.  I've decided to post a slideshow with some (over 200 - and that's just a small sample!!) of the pictures that we took during the Casswell's Christmas Vacation 2008.  If you click on the slideshow it will take you to an album where you can view captions and make the pictures bigger.  I'm sorry that I didn't blog at all over the holidays, but I wanted to soak up every second with my family.  Tyson and I were thinking about all of you and we pray that each of you were blessed with a Merry Christmas and a magical New Year!  We miss and love all of you so very much.  13 weeks of waiting is back again....we are beyond excited to see Tyson's family (hopefully!) in March!!