Naples trip....eager for spring!

David, Matthew and I were able to get away last weekend to visit Naples, FL, where David grew up. It was so nice to escape this cold snowy Virginia place we call home. It was nice to not have to bundle up ourselves and Matthew to go places....it makes me so excited for spring! Praise God for the promise of warmer times, green leaves, flowers, and new life! Reminds me of an old Nichole Nordeman song, "Every Season".
Here are some of the lyrics....

And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice you
When branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter
You are winter

And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring


I'm thankful that he does make us new through Christ, just as soon we'll have signs of new life with spring!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!


Two things I learned on our trip:
1) Strollers are awesome for traveling! I didn't have to carry a thing! The only hassle was unloading everything for the security checkpoint. That included waking Matthew up to get him out of his car seat, but he was trooper.

2) Remember, you won't be able to do anything at night while traveling with a little one.....We got to our hotel room about 7:30 the first day and it was Matthew's bedtime. Just then I realized, we couldn't go anywhere and our hotel room needed to be quiet and dark. Thankfully we were 20 feet from an outdoor gazebo and had our baby monitor so we could at least see our dinner (David went and got take-out). At least it made me go to bed earlier than I ever do when I'm home! We tried to watch the Olympics the other evenings, on mute in low-def, as David pointed out!


I had so much fun seeing where David grew up! We went to his old houses, his high school, the beach, and we even went to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (a nature walk where they often went). We enjoyed seeing Matthew's reaction to the beach and the sand (he loved to pick it up and of course tried to eat it!). We went on a long beach walk and he was so cute, just talking and laughing at the wind and the birds! Naples is a retirement town so it was so funny because every other grandma stopped us so they could steal a peek or tickle from the little guy.

It was so great to have some family time and it made me so thankful for the family God has blessed me with. I have such a wonderful husband who is so much fun and Matthew is so adorable! Who would have thought 3 years ago this is where God would lead me. In a month it will have been 3 years ago that David and I met!