Weekend Guests

Two weekends ago, Bobby and I got to have a long-awaited visit with our dear friends, John and Natalie. Their beautiful wedding was in May, and (wouldn't you know?) the newlyweds had a busy social calendar all summer long, so we were just now able to coordinate schedules and spend a weekend together.

The happily-married couple!

It was worth the wait. We were so, so excited to see those two!
I think they'd tell you that the feeling was totally mutual.

Dinner Friday night at Little Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse. 

John and Bob at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.

A black snake that Natalie spotted slithering around on our hike.
I'm quite convinced that it was actually larger in real-life than the photo depicts.

Since I wasn't having enough fun (note the sarcasm) getting to play hostess and entertain our very first overnight guests in our new house, I decided to make things a little more interesting and get sick. Yes, mid-day Saturday, in the middle of our hiking excursion, I started feeling ill. I had a fever, was entirely exhausted, and later spent several hours in bed while everyone else had fun. (Yes, I'm still a little bitter.) The boys left to go get pizza (thanks to the rain and my state of health, the planned BBQ wasn't happening), and Natalie, being the darling that she is, cleaned up the kitchen. She's amazing, I tell you. Anyway, I was able to re-join the group after dinner, and we all spent the rest of the evening watching last season's episodes of "Parenthood".

I certainly would've preferred getting to spend our time together a bit differently. But, John and Natalie are special friends...the kind that don't mind hanging out in the living room all night with germ-infested me...or sleeping on an air mattress in a guest room with no door knob (...and eventually, no door, but that's John's fault, really).

I didn't count on getting sick on a weekend that we'd looked forward to for so long. And I was bummed about the unexpected (and unpleasant!) turn of events. But, I was expecting that, as always, there would be lots of laughter and that the four of us would make new memories together. That there was, and that we did. Our time together did not disappoint...and we can't wait to see our fellow married friends again!