40 years!

We had a wonderful evening yesterday, celebrating my parents' 40-year wedding anniversary. 40 years! Crazy to think ... my sister-in-law, brother and Kim put together a fantastic dinner event at a local restaurant with a few family and friends, and I got to put together a cute little slide show with photos from their life together. There have been a lot of great times these past 40 years, and some challenges, and it's exciting to me to see the influence they have had on both Tim and I, and now on our children. Role models? Oh, yeah -- consider multiple college degrees, paramedic certifications, soccer parents before there were soccer parents -- all while making sure to be home for dinner every evening, and attending every game, event and outing Tim and I ever had. Thanks Mom and Dad, and congratulations!

As for us? We had a great weekend with family, and Kate continues to grow up every day. She's taken to babbling incessantly while holding objects to her ear -- a legacy of the past week of daddy being in North Carolina and talking to him on the phone. (And, oh yeah, it's breaking my heart even though it's really cute!) She also started shaking her booty -- she likes to tackle me when I'm sitting on the floor, and has started to back into me so I tackle her sometimes. It's so adorable!

I've got a few shop visits scheduled this week, and then we head to a friend's house for New Years before Kim's friend from college and her little girl visit next weekend. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself -- I have plans this week and the time will go fast, but I want to be sure to enjoy every minute I get with my little girl. I'm not sure when I'll be back after this trip ... that's been the hardest part of saying goodbye to my nephew and nieces. Not to mention a cloud hanging over my time with Kate and Kim!

In the end, though, we'll all be together, and we're already looking forward to planning activities once they get down to NC. And we know, thanks to the foundation my parents and hers (who also celebrated 40 years in 2009!) have built, that 26-1/2 years from now we'll be celebrating our 40th as well!