Sister Trip

 In January I got to take an unexpected trip to stay with the Balls.  Mel had surgery to remove the melanoma in her leg and it was more extensive than they thought.  Gratefully, they got all of the cancer.  But recovery was going to be hard.  As in, stay off your leg and keep it elevated for a week.  Super easy to do with five kids.  The stars aligned (really I know God had a hand in this) and I had a week without too much going on that made it possible for me to head to Sammamish.  Yay!

Sister time is the best.  I had great fun being able to talk about all the things with Mel.  It was also fun to be a part of their family for a week.  I had great talks with all of her boys, and probably had big eyes while I watched them wrestle to the death in the evenings.  A little different than our family, but I loved it.  I got to take kids to and from school, go grocery shopping, and do some cleaning.  All of these things are more fun when you're doing them for someone else.  More of an adventure I guess.

I managed to go running in the mornings.  It was sooo nice to run in capris and a t-shirt.  On Friday I got to do an amazing hike.  Beautiful and green on the way up with amazing views at the top.  Loved it!

I'm so glad I was able to go help out.  I know I was representing Mom, plus the rest of my sisters who would gladly have been there if possible.  Thank heavens for family!

One of my runs.  It was just so nice to see beautiful green!  This day was a bit rainy.

I stayed in Big Rock Park for my whole run.  Some good trail running!

The big reveal of Mel's leg.  It's looking much better now!

Mel used crutches all the way in to the office.  On the way out we made the wise decision to get a wheelchair.  Much better!

The view from the top of my hike!

On the plane ride home we did a nice circle around Mt Rainier.  Beautiful!