Hey, We Know Them!

At the end of January, we got to meet up with some dear friends {The Beals} that used to live in Louisiana as well but now also reside in Texas {albeit 3 hours away from us}.

Kennedy had a volleyball tournament about an hour away from where we live, so we arranged it so that we could have dinner with them on the way to their hotel. We had a great time catching up even though Peyton was pretty spent by the time we were done {remember he's Mr. Early Bird and not Mr. Night Owl?}.

We missed seeing Marin, Stuart and Brent this go around but they may be back in town in March so hopefully we'll get to see them then!

The Beals were a family I used to babysit for- more specifically, I babysat for Marin and Stuart since Kennedy was usually in school. Heather was busy studying and researching for her dissertation {she's all finished up now and is a professor!} and I got to keep Marin and Stuart company which was no problem since they are such fun kids.

When I started watching them, Stuart was about 5 1/2 months old and Marin was around 3 1/2 and I want to say Kennedy was probably around age 6 1/2. Now Stuart is 6, Marin is 9 and Kennedy 12! I can't believe how fast time flies. It's funny how it seems like they grew up in no time for me but it feels like Peyton has been a toddler F•O•R•E•V•E•R! Heather feels the same way I think, because she was telling me that she sometimes wonders 'Was there ever a time we DIDN'T have the kids?' I think it's a whole different ball game when you're the Mom versus the one just peeking in every now and then.

Anyway, what started out as a job for me quickly became a really good friendship between everyone in the family. I loved those kids {and still do!} like they were family and Heather and I would have conversations about books, politics and news pretty frequently. Even Troy got to know them all pretty well too through my knowing them. So it is always great to see them since it feels like you're seeing family again!

We can't wait to see them again soon!