Thursday, August 16-Sunday, August 18, 2018

This week marked our third trip to see all the half-sibs from across the country. The kids were old enough this year to remember each and to really begin to form close friendships across families. It’s truly amazing to watch. I am so grateful for all of these women. It takes an unbelievable amount of courage to embark on the journey of getting pregnant using a donor. And then it takes some real guts to travel across the country to meet perfect strangers who happen also to be directly related to your child. The birthday party for the kids each year really overwhelms me. I feel in waves complete joy and humility. It is wondrous to see so much life, and it is humbling to see created 10 times over something I could never create or even imagine.

Everybody loved taking walks in the evening along the beach. The sunsets were beautiful. The crabs would scurry with each step. And these big blobs of jelly would shimmer in the twilight. One of the best things about this year’s visit was the amount of time we all spent together in a naturally beautiful beach haven.

Everybody also loved the bed swing.

In the gift exchange, we gave JP an inflatable crocodile, but Owen got some time to play with it too!

The craft for the year was painting canvases. They had a blast. Lily ended up covered from head to toe.

Here’s a picture of the cute houses scattered along the beachfront.

Crab for dinner?

We clean up pretty good, don’t we?

Can’t wait for next year.