Trip to Tampa

We went to Tampa this past week to visit our dear friends, Abby and Louie, and to meet their children for the first time (they adopted siblings from Guatemala in February). Ford and I went down on Wednesday and then Scott came on Friday. Once again, we were worried about how Ford would travel. And, once again, he pleasantly surprised us. He did really well on the airplane. Especially since it was his first time flying and the flights were during his naptime!

I don't even know where to begin. I felt like I already knew Cati and Gus. But now that I have have met them, they are even more special to me than before. Cati turned four last month and she is extremely sweet and smart. It's sooooooo cute to hear her talk. If you can imagine how a four year old talks and then consider that English is her second language (that she is learning amazingly well, I might say). She called Scott "Stot" and once she called him Spot. Ford liked Cati very much and she liked tickling him because he laughs really hard!

Gus is shy and he is a perfect 16 month old! I was very honored that he let me hold him a few times because he is very attached to his Mama. He even let me dress him one day when Abby was busy. It's hard to believe that they have only all been together as a family since February. The children and Abby and Louie all seem to have adjusted very well.

We went to the beach on Thursday and Ford got to see the ocean for the first time. He loved the waves and kept saying "mo (more)." Gus and Ford both ate sand! Abby was the perect hostess and made yummy meals for us. Some friends of theirs, Bill and Fraser, came over with their eight month old, Hadley, on Saturday because Abby made a wonderful brunch. I can't even tell you how good all the food was. Abby and I got to spend a few hours together without kids a couple of days, which was nice. It's hard to talk when you're chasing three kids around!

Abby and Louie have a beautiful house and children. We enjoyed our visit with them very much. They are coming to Nashville at the end of October, so I didn't cry too much when we left. And, I'll keep holding out for them to move back to Nashville until they tell me otherwise!