A day with friends

Today was a completely miserable day outside. The rain was.... well raining, the wind was a-blowing and the sky was bleak and grey but inside our little orange brick house it was warm and cosy with the spirit of friends and laughter. Justine is over from Indonesia with Gus and Tilly for a visit home. Her and Declan came home about this time last year so it has been a year since we have seen them. Declan stayed in Jakarta to travel with an old friend this time.

So today Jus with Gus and Tilly came over and Lisa, Bonnie and Felicity came out to my house from town. We all brought something to share for lunch and settled down to an afternoon of talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company. Justine commented how 'good for the soul' it had been today and I realised just how important good friends are and how important it is to have times where you can get together and forget about the cares of the world for a moment and enjoy quality time with friends.

It was wonderful to catch up with Justine and get a glimpse of Jakarta life and to talk with each other. Email is a wonderful concept but it is so much nicer to see someone you miss in the flesh. While we were chatting, Noah's aide texted Lisa and said Noah had lost a tooth - his first so I'm looking forward to some photos on her blog of a toothy Noah.

The only downer was that Sarra got a tummy wog last night and has been throwing up so she was not her usual self for playing with Gus and Tilly. The kids played with the Little People and watched a movie. Harri loved Chicken Little and they watched that twice before the others protested they had finally had enough. Poor Harri wanted to watch it a third time.

All too soon the afternoon came to an end but we have set a tradition now and everytime Jus comes home we will all get together like this around someone's kitchen table and create some more wonderful memories.