Happy B-day, Miss Bev!

Today's blessing requires a bit of back story. For whatever reason, in the past five or six days Molly has become very focused on her godmother, Bev. Out of nowhere she began saying, "Mommy, Miss Bev my godmother." I would reply, "Yes she is." The next response was often "When Miss Bev come to my house? Have playdate?" I would say I didn't know, that Miss Bev lives far away from us, and I would then get the signature Molly pouty face. On Thursday Molly woke up from her nap begging to see her Miss Bev, and while I couldn't deliver on that request we did get to talk to Molly's godmother for a few moments on the phone. Yesterday I got a text from Bev saying she was going to celebrate her birthday with a family dinner down in Richmond this evening, and that although it was last minute if we wanted to drive down we were welcome to come celebrate with her and get Molly her Miss Bev fix.

So off we went this morning, leaving around 11:30am. It should take just under 2 hours to get down to the Howes' house, but I was hoping to make it down there by 2pm, figuring there would be a bit of Saturday traffic. LONG story short, we arrived at our destination shortly after 4pm - that's over 4 hours and 3 movies (thank God for portable DVD players!) later. The kids get a B+ for the car ride down: they had their rough moments, but it was fairly understandable considering the trip was more than two times longer than I had planned for. Regardless, all the pain of the car ride was forgotten the moment we walked into the house. The girls had a great time seeing Miss Bev and the whole Howe family. They played with (and probably inadvertently terrorized) Bev's and Steph's dogs and ate with and entertained Bev's parents and grandfather. I caught up with the cousins and enjoyed some AMAZING food. We got lucky on the way home and were not slowed down by traffic at all, but in the end we spent more time in the car than at the birthday celebration. It was totally worth every minute in the car to get to celebrate Bev, who has become very dear to our whole family but especially her goddaughter. Hopefully Molly got enough Miss Bev to last her until the next time we get to play. Happy birthday, Bev - we sure are glad you were born, and even more glad God has blessed us with your love and friendship over the past three years.