Stay at Home Retreat

On this chilly Saturday morning, look who's here to visit.

That's our daughter, Claire who lives here and who I see often. But the other one in the picture? 

That's my sister-in-law, Kristi, who lives in Slovenia! And I don't see her very often (especially in these days when we're not gathering as JV staff because of coronavirus) so this is super special that she's here this week-end.

Why is she here? And why are we outside on a cold morning?

Claire wanted to be super sensitive to Kristi, who already had to have a COVID test just to come visit, to make sure that there was no way she, Claire, passed on anything to her. Claire doesn't think she's sick! She just wanted to take every precaution to make sure that Kristi stayed well while here. So I made homemade Pumpkin spice lattes and Pumpkin doughnuts, and we sat out at the table to two hours with blankets to keep us warm!

And the reason she's here is twofold: Josh had a leadership team retreat with Dave, Thursday through Sunday this week-end so was already coming. The second part of that reason is that Kristi celebrated her 50th birthday in April and I'd planned to take her away for a celebration back then. Of course we weren't able to do that because of the lockdown, nor have we been able to figure out another plan since then. 

When I realized Josh was coming, I asked if she could come with him and we'd go to Prague for two days to celebrate. However, due to rising cases of COVID here in Czech, that didn't work either.

So in the end, we decided on a three day "stay at home" sister's retreat! And we're having the best time talking, laughing, praying, cooking, staying up late and enjoying each other. 

Happy Birthday dear sister! It's so special to have you here for these precious days!