A homecoming to remember

We snuck into their house when they were in Romania for two weeks, and filled their counters with their favourite treats, wine and handmade cards from the kids. We strung balloons at the doorways, decorations from the ceilings and "Welcome Home!" signs from the door frames. Because when Nana and Papa leave this country, they have a lot of people who miss them.

And if there is one thing that my parents have taught us over and over again it's that love is showing up. So show up we do.

So we changed our schedules, skipped swimming lessons, switched our plans around, packed up the kids, and all met at mom and dad's house--and stared longingly at the windows until we spotted that silver car pulling up into the driveway.

And before Nana and Papa could even get out of the garage and into the house, they had a herd of excited kids jumping into their arms.









Welcome home mom and dad! And Mike and Ana (my cousin and his beautiful bride who got married in Romania), thank you for getting married in the most amazing place and encouraging my parents to spoil themselves with the trip of a lifetime and a chance to spend more time with you. From the pictures we've seen, what a wedding that was!!

We're all so incredibly happy though that they are home again.
 


But when they were gone? Well, we kept ourselves busy.

Because great neighbours invited us to have our first swim of the season in their pool. And the kids just couldn't get enough of it.

And when the weekend rolled around, little helpers planted our vegetable garden...



carefully and meticulously placing each little seed just so.



And we pretended that we actually knew what we're doing, but really we were just planting, watering and praying that something would grow so that these two eager little gardeners could feel the excitement of growing their own food.

And just as we started to see some life from those little seeds--just as some beautiful green plants started peeking up from the earth and a strawberry was found, those kids ran out to see their hard work come to life, and ironically we found this lounging rabbit...staring longingly at a potential feast that he will thankfully never get his paws on. 

 And then while mom and dad walked the streets of Vienna, I was knee deep in melted chocolate, prepping for family birthday celebrations at our place, dipping waffle cones for the kids...

creating chocolate cupcake toppers, and drizzling those cupcakes in melted chocolate with crumpled Reese cups on top--just for a little decadent birthday treat.

And while dipping strawberries the morning of....

I recruited my little baker-in-training to help me bake up a storm.

Then just as the kids started to really  really miss my parents--just as the countdown to their homecoming got closer, we distracted them with a huge long-weekend brunch full of all of their favourites...

and our little boy was kept busy for hours on end with his new-to-him tool set (thanks Fred!).

And then when the day was finally here, when their flight was coming in, this sweet little girl took one last nap before we sped over to greet them...and we all tried to contain our excitement.

 Welcome home mom and dad! We missed you. We love you. We're so glad that you're home!!

And thanks for always teaching us that love is showing up--because in the end, showing up for you that day meant that our kids got to experience the joy that being there can bring to others. Which is really the best lesson of all.

Erica xox