Filled to the Brim Weekend, Part One

We first met Kip and Shabrail when we lived in San Diego; and some of my fond memories together include hanging out with them when they were still single, watching their relationship grow and move towards marriage, sharing our hearts vulnerably during times of confession and counseling, Jeff having the honor of performing part of their marriage ceremony (the first in a string of marriages he performed), riding around in Kip's VW Jetta with their oldest daughter Vanessa in her car seat between Shabrail and I in the back seat, and going to a baby shower when Shabrail was pregnant with their second daughter Kiara.  When we moved to Israel, our contact with them diminished, of course; but we were so happy when we heard that they had been blessed with their third child, a son they named Aidan.  Eventually we moved back to Virginia, and they moved to North Carolina; and back in 2007, they came to visit, and we savored every bit of that time with them.

How happy I was to receive a message from them a few months ago, telling us that Kip had some time off work and they were thinking about coming up to Virginia to visit us again!  We sent messages back and forth and made our plans; and last Friday they arrived, ushering in a long weekend absolutely filled to the brim with excitement and joy...and filled to the brim with people (14 people under our roof made for a busy, noisy home, but honestly it was amazing how well everyone got along)...and filled to the brim with activity...but mostly, filled to the brim with the kind of love and respect that two couples who have known each other so long and so deeply can share.

There's no way in the world I could fit everything about their visit into one blog post, so I'm not hesitating to break it up into smaller segments--and who knows how many there will end up being!  I'll just get as far as I can, and then stop.  ;-)

Kip and Shabrail homeschool their children (as an aside, in North Carolina, there are now more homeschooled children than there are privately-schooled children); and it "just so happened" that the Frontier Culture Museum, which isn't too far away from us, was hosting a homeschool day on the Friday our guests arrived.  We had such a good time when we went in 2010, and it didn't take us but a minute to decide that it would be a great opportunity to return--and this time, with friends!

We shared a picnic lunch together...

...and then headed into the museum to explore.  One of the reasons I'm so fond of the Frontier Culture Museum is because it's such a child-friendly place.  The kids can run all around, explore what catches their eye, ask questions of the costumed interpreters and other museum personnel, go in and out of buildings, touch stuff, and even pretend to be the people who would have lived in the homes and farms that are present there.  We've gone to museums in which I hold my breath the whole time we're there--fearing that one of my children will touch something they're not supposed to or make too much noise or do some other action that will bring down the wrath of the museum employees on our heads--or at the very least, embarrass us mightily.  ;-)  But I didn't have to hold my breath at the Frontier Culture Museum.  :)

We went first to the West African area.

 Before Moriah got really comfortable going in and out of the bright daylight into these dark-inside dwellings, she would often pause and look and contemplate whether she should dare to enter or not.  ;-)

 From the inside of a dwelling, I peeked out and saw sweet little baby toes...

...that belonged to Kip and Shabrail's youngest, baby Embre (pronounced "ember").  She is such a doll baby!  :)

 Josiah got to experience what it was like to have leg irons put on his ankles like slaves from Africa would have had.  It was easy to see how resistance would have been futile with those wrapped around one's legs!

 A collection of gourds inside a home caught my eye...

 ...as did the bright sunshine streaming in the open door.

 The sunshine wasn't the only thing coming in the door.  Moriah was, too...  :)

...over and over.  After she got comfortable in the West African exhibit, she thought it was so much fun to go in and out of these little buildings; and let me tell you, it was a lot easier for her to enter and exit those low doors than it was for me to do so!  ;-)  But I followed her around regardless, until I noticed that the rest of the group had moved on to the garden area outside the walls of the compound.

More about that later...  :)