This very well might be the longest blog I’ve ever posted, in terms of photos…. But it was the best day, and best days deserve as much documentation as possible. When we took these photos a few short weeks ago at DD Ranch, our Grandpa was still alive, our daddy had just gotten home from a month-long trip to Germany, and we were excited about living in Europe for a few years in just a couple weeks’ time.

All was well in our little world.

I’m so grateful for this day! Not purely because all was perfect, and rosy, and well, but because it marked a pivotal time in our lives – a time when we thought our life was going almost the complete opposite direction than the way it went exactly one week later. In the past weeks, we’ve said over and over, that we know – without a shadow of a doubt – that everything unfolded precisely as God had planned, and that we trusted in that, and gave genuine thanks for it, and felt humbled and honored that our Heavenly Father let us see His Hand orchestrating all of it. So, as I was saying, I’m grateful for this day – these photos – because when I look at those blissfully unaware faces, full of European dreams, and secure in a certain future that definitely included our beloved Grandpa, I don’t feel any pangs that resemble a longing for that life. Getting to live those simple, sweet moments we shared that day, which happily concluded with time and hugs with/from both grandparents, was simply a gift – not a definition of our life, in any way. To be able to see and know all this is one thing, but to genuinely feel this way about it, makes me know with certainty that it is truly “well with my soul” (if you don’t know the story behind the hymn “It is Well with My Soul,” I encourage you to read it here – it’s a powerful one).

All was, and still is, very well in our little world – perhaps even better – because we emphatically know we are exactly where God wants us to be. And there is no place better than that.

Blessings,

Carrie