A Special Day-The Simple Gift of Time Together…

This year my daughter celebrates her 10th birthday!  A while back a friend had given me a great idea.  They started a tradition of taking each child on an overnight trip on their 10th birthday. I thought it was a great idea, and we finally had the overnight trip this weekend.

The weeks leading up to this were so exciting for Grace.  She anticipated this overnight for a long time!  Getting Mommy and Daddy all to herself was special-no brothers for a whole night!  She was able to pick wherever she wanted to go for dinner, we had ice cream, and just enjoyed spending time together.

We thought this was especially important to do because in a family with four children it is rare to have alone time with both parents, especially overnight!  *Note-my husband and I haven’t even been on an overnight trip alone together since our honeymoon!*

So Friday night we checked in at a local hotel, which was also the same place our wedding reception was held 11 years ago.

As we pulled into the parking lot, Grace was delighted when she saw the hotel, that looked like a castle!

After checking in, we went to dinner, and leave it to Grace…we told her to choose anywhere she wanted to go…she chose Panera Bread!  Then we came back to hotel and presented Grace with some gifts.

We wrote a letter to her telling her how special she is in our family, how proud we are of the young lady she is becoming, and how much we love her.  We gave her a pearl necklace to remind her that she is a pearl in our family-pure, godly, and special.

Then we walked around the hotel and reminisced about our wedding-we showed her where our reception was held.  We sat at the fireplace and talked.  We told her stories about when she was a baby.

We had ice cream and sat in the room and just laughed, fooled around, and had fun.

I felt so many emotions, being back at the hotel where I was married…where I had so many dreams in my heart for my future.

How God has abundantly blessed us in so many ways.  It was overwhelming at times.

Remembering who I was then, and seeing who I have become now.  In just 11 years how much has changed…and all for the best.
All part of Gods plan.

It was a special night for Grace, and a special one for me.

And the best gift of all, was really the simplest of all….TIME. Our undivided attention for the evening.  I don’t think there was any better gift Grace could have received…and we have the memories to cherish always.