Grateful.

I'm sitting here, back home in Switzerland, slightly jet-lagged, surrounded by a jumble of things that haven't yet been put away, waiting for the girls to wake (though, to them the Swiss afternoon is still the NZ night-time!). I'm reminding myself of the MANY many wonderful memories we've come back with, instead of feeling guilty about living so far away and sad about the time being over. It was great to be *home* for a few weeks, enjoying all the familiar things 'kiwi' and seeing so many friends, some of whom travelled the length of the country to come and stay with us. We enjoyed a lot of time with my family in between my sister's wedding, and overseas work trips for my brothers. I'm so proud of my family :) And the girls had a great time! They were never short of entertainers (or audiences to entertain!), cuddles, nappy-changers, bottle-holders, and feeders. I'm just so grateful that so many people who prayed so much for them were able to meet them. I often heard people say "We feel like we already know them!" It was precious, and a refreshing reminder of their journey and all we can be thankful for :) 

The first big event on the calendar was my sister's wedding. It was a lot of fun helping prepare for that, to get to know our lovely new wider family through Doug, and to be a bridesmaid. It was a beautiful clear, sunny, Auckland winter day, and the bride was stunning! :) Not even a broken big toe 3 days beforehand deterred her from her joy :)

After Beth & Doug flew off to honeymoon in Hawaii (as you do!), we settled into a more relaxed routine of walks along the beautiful Maraetai coastline, and catching up with lots of friends. 

We celebrated the girls' 1st 'adjusted age' birthday on the 14th of August with family and friends, and enjoyed watching them thrive especially under the love of Superma & Megapop (my parents) and Uncles and Aunts. Amélie quickly learned to pull herself up on furniture, and Elise also got the hang of it just before we left. They now have quite the repertoire of tricks - from being able to point to their tummies, hearts, and noses (in Maori, English and/or French!), point to any light, do 'Round and Round the Garden' on their own hands, chatter away, and to say 'ta' and pass things to anyone nearby.

As hard as it is/was to get to the end of our time and say goodbye, I'm thankful we were able to be there for 7 weeks. I'm impatient to know when we will see each other again but, in the meantime, as we adjust to being home in Switzerland and back on Skype communicating (SO thankful for that!), I want to be more gratefully aware of the people and things that surround us near and far...

Right, better go wake up these sleeping babies!


Linking in with PaisleyJade  

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.