This past week...

Over the course of this week, we have had quite a bit going on. We welcomed one child home. We mourned and celebrated the other.  We welcomed family into our home. And, we traveled over 1500 miles. Here is what it looked like in pictures:

We began Saturday with the Buddy Walk.  We are so thankful for the timing of the event, as well as to all of our friends and family who came out. It turns out that the walk was part of the NMSU Homecoming Parade. I wasn't expecting that, but it ended up being a lot of fun. We are hoping to make it an annual tradition.

As we walk through this process of (temporarily) saying goodbye to our beautiful baby, there have still been many things we have wanted to do for him...tangible ways to show him our love.  For Brandon, it was speaking at the service on Saturday.  I was so proud of him and am grateful we recorded what he shared.  For me, it was making a video from the photos of his life set to a song that has meant so very much to us, Let it Bring You Praise by Matt Hammitt.

After singing Mighty to Save with his cousins, Caleb fell asleep and slept through most of the service.  It was a kind blessing to be able to just hold him and not worry about him.  Many wonderful friends shared sweet things about our baby, and together we sang The Solid Rock and Jesus Paid it All...both of which meant a lot to us during our time in the hospital.  Our friends, Matt and Jenae, sang an incredible song that they wrote about Jude months ago, and it was even more beautiful hearing the words in light of our sweet baby's current reality.  We hope to share the video of the service some day.  It was sweet, and we felt so loved by our friends and family.  Thank you all.

On Sunday, some of us had to go to El Paso.  So, we all took the kids to Taco Tote and the El Paso Zoo.  We had a great time together.  On Monday, we took the kids to the fall festival at our church.  We love the wonderful people there, and it was great to spend time with them after being away for months.

Yesterday and today were spent traveling.  On our way through Missouri, we stopped and checked out the Gateway Arch.  We were all fascinated by the ride to the top, the views, and the museum at the base.  Today was the first day we have been alone as a family, and though the drive was exhausting, it was really good to be together.  I am a huge fan of the men in my life. 

Please continue to pray for us as we walk this path.  We thank God for all of you.