stateside wanderings: new and old friends

We made plans to visit some folks in the Catskill Mountains of New York. It was a short 5 hour drive, the Brott festival was over and we had a week before we had to be in Montreal. We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to go. Jared had met Justin when he came up to do a seminar on marketing and music during the summer. Justin and Barbara welcomed us with warm hugs and 'it's so good to meet you, come on in!' Their hospitality was wonderful, Kilmeny had a blast playing with the toys they keep for their grandkids, Jared soaked up all he could from Justin and I reveled in the view of the mountains and visited with Barbara.

Hospitality is a gift and we experienced it this week. Justin and Barbara were very easy to visit with and enjoyable. We made ourselves at home and were refreshed by their candor and experience in the music industry. And we didn't really take any pictures of our time with them. But they have a lovely place nestled in the mountains complete with a grand piano, a loft overlooking the living room and an incredible view.

When we were planning this trip, we realized that we would be only four hours from a very dear friend of mine whom we've wanted to visit for a long time. She popped up on skype, we asked if it would work to visit that week and we were all set! Hooray! We had been planning to visit them sometime this summer and it just worked perfectly in with their vacation plans.  I first got to know Ashley when her family came over for Christmas and all us girls were huddled in front of the space heater swapping stories of Alberta and our life before there. Ashley's family had recently moved as had mine and we were both adjusting. From that moment on, we were kindred spirits. I traveled across country with my sisters and a friend for her wedding and told her then that I would be back to have a really good visit. It took a couple years but I came back and we had a really good visit.

  John and Ashley have the gift of hospitality. We had an incredible few days with them. I felt so relaxed and at home with them. Enjoy the memories that were captured. 

 The kidlets had fun. Joshua was gentle with Kilmeny and provided her with endless entertainment, nearly emptying the entire toy box for her amusement. He loves trains and was generous in sharing Thomas, Percy and Gordon with Kilmeny. She promptly stuck them all in her mouth. He has a marvelous train table but Kilmeny was 'too little' to play at it with him until the last day when she pulled herself up and grabbed the train track for herself. We were all surprised and Joshua was thrilled that she wasn't little anymore. 

It was so fun to see Joshua as a little boy. I met him when he was a few months old but now he has a personality and a vocabulary to boot! He was told to call us Mr. Jared and Mrs. Breanne but he just skipped the Mrs. Breanne thing all together and called me Kilmeny's Mom.

While they were thus entertaining themselves, Ashley and I caught up on each other's lives. Time passed unnoticed as we had a good heart to heart. So refreshing!