Marital JOY

Friday night found my husband and I minus three of our four children -- a rarity, indeed.  The Girls had been invited to a sleepover, and The Boy was at his grandparents.  My husband and I took the opportunity to spend a very nice evening together.  We shared some drinks and appetizers and, most enjoyably, some uninterrupted conversation, at a great restaurant on the St. Croix River.  We sat outside and enjoyed a beautiful summer evening.  After dinner, we went to my in-laws, who live out of the Cities a ways.  We sat around a campfire, roasted hot dogs, and stayed up past 11:00!  (We are early-to-bed, early-to-rise people.)  My in-laws left us alone.  The Baby was in bed (she slept ten hours in a row!).  We slept in the camper.  Saturday morning, my mother-in-law set her china out on the deck and served my husband and I breakfast.  She kept The Boy and The Baby in the house.  We spent a couple of hours out on the deck sipping our coffee and enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of the birds.

I have often been reminded that one of the best things you can give your children is a happy, healthy marriage.  And, Lord knows, the more children a couple is blessed with, the harder it is for that couple to carve out some time for themselves.  But it is soooooo necessary.  My husband and I can tell when it's been too long since we were able to enjoy ourselves and our marriage.  It is only with the generosity of people like my in-laws that we are able to get away as often as we are.  Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for watching the kids!  Thank you for providing a Bed and Breakfast experience for us!  We love you!