A Special Visitor

Alyssa.  She has saved the day more than once for us.  She has more energy with kids than anyone I know.  I believe she's a forerunner in children's ministry that extends beyond Boston and to the nations of the earth.  She makes a lasting impact on kids.  They love her and want to be around her all the time.  When E first saw her again when we visited Boston, she turned to Trav and said, "Why don't you go somewhere Daddy and we can stay with Alyssa."

My kids adore her.  She and E have had a special friendship from the beginning.  When people care for and love on your kids it creates a special place in your heart for them.  We have lots of people throughout Ellie's (and Gracie and Emily's) life who have loved her so well and it has communicated so much love to us.  Thank you, friends.

We had the opportunity to spend over a week with Alyssa here in Arizona.  What a blessing.  It was her vacation time and she used it to come and help with my kids.  Wow.  She flew back with us from Boston (a very long trip with some very tired, rowdy, and even cranky kids) and she still wanted to stay with us after she got here!

Mornings on the porch (usually with a "shake"--aka, smoothie!)

At SG's little birthday bash (more on that later)

E and A had so much fun together.  She even slept in Ellie's top bunk,

and helped her in the night if (when!) she woke up.  So we even got 

better sleep with her around.

At the splash pad...

She came up with the best ideas for the kids.  One day we all went to IKEA
and she took the kids while Trav and I found what we needed.  She walked them around
the store and taught them to find all the circles (wheels, dots on pillows, etc).
Best experience at IKEA we've ever had.  And we have had some BAD ones!
The kids didn't want to leave, crazy!  They loved it!  I'll definitely be using that idea again!

Chick-fil-a!!

I came back from running some errands or something one morning and
this is what they had done:  preschool!  She's going to be preschool teacher in 

Boston in the fall...the girls loved it!

I think the shape of the day was a star??

Rest time!

Playdough time

She's wonder woman.  She took all three kids,

ran an errand, fed them snacks, walked them around,
took them to the spray park.  Ahh.  All with a happy heart!

It allowed me to get some uninterrupted time with Trav and Sean (who was in town visiting
for a couple of days)

We played and played and played!

And, ate and ate and ate.  Yogurtland (red velvet cake batter...yumm!), more than once.  Maybe more than twice?  In and Out.  And of course lots of desserts around the Phillips' house.  Lyssa even went home with a little bit of a belly ache...so sorry!! 

It was precious time with her.  She served us so much.  We were able to have several dinner meetings, dates, errands, etc because she was so willing/wanting to keep the kids.  She not only loves my kids so well but she's such a life-giving friend to me, too.

Thanks for visiting us!  We love you.