Long before I knew that Ashley’s grandfather’s funeral service would be this past Friday morning, I had asked MacKenzie‘s dad if I could have her for this past weekend.  I actually asked before I found out I had mono, so I’ve been a bit anxious as I’ve wondered if I’d feel up to having her with me.  But I’ve been feeling good the past few days and my blood tests continue to come back showing improvements, so I decided that it would be fine to have her for the weekend.

I drove up to Knoxville late Thursday evening and, on my way, called MacKenzie’s dad to ask if I could surprise her by taking her to school on Friday morning.  I stayed overnight with my mom and, since she was more than willing to watch Aviean, I left her house very early Friday morning in order to pick up one very happy MacKenzie.

I told her she could pick anywhere for breakfast and, naturally, she chose Dunkin Donuts.  We had a very sweet breakfast together before I took her to school.  I had gone to a bakery earlier and, when MacKenzie got ready to get out of my car, I gave her a small box and told her not to open it until lunchtime.  Inside was a vanilla cupcake with a little note from me telling her that I loved her.  Are children not the best things on this planet to love?

I went to the funeral next and, although it was a sad occasion, really enjoyed spending time with Ashley and her family.  Since the extended family was together, I was able to get some group family photos for them in addition to photos of the military service.  After that, I picked up Aviean, grabbed a quick bite of lunch with her and went back to MacKenzie’s school to pick her up so we could head to Cleveland.

After I finished a couple of things at my office, I made tacos for the girls and we had a fun dinner together.  We played baby dolls next, did a bit of ballet and, before long, were ready for bed.  The girls slept in Saturday morning and, when they woke up, we had breakfast in bed before I left them with a sitter so I could go to a book club meeting.  I was really torn about going to the meeting while I had them, but this group is something I really want to be a part of mainly because it’s full of women who are old enough to be my mother and grandmother.  I’ve been praying for God to send me some older, local women to have in my life and, when I got an invitation to join their book club, I almost couldn’t believe how perfectly He answered my prayers.  I have no idea why they chose to invite a 25 year old to join them, but I’m so, so glad they did.

When I got home, I got the girls dressed and we headed to Chattanooga to go to the aquarium!  But I’ll tell you more about that, tomorrow (pictures, too!).  As you can imagine, I was exhausted by the time we got home, so Saturday night was pretty chill at my house — a few rounds of Candy Land and an early bedtime.  We went to church on Sunday morning, had friends over for lunch, spent all afternoon playing together and, last night, Aviean and I drove MacKenzie home to Knoxville.

In other words, just a perfect weekend.