Cok Tatli

I walked to the store today. While this doesn't seem like big news it was big for me. I have ordered my groceries online quite a few times since we have been back. I have also sent Brian to the store more times that I can count. The kids have made several trips to the store for me. While at church or at the mall or in town for other purposes I have stopped by the store to pick up a few things, but I haven't left my house for the sole purpose of going to the store since we have been back. That is huge. There are a couple of stores very close to our house. It's not like it would have taken much effort to go at any given point. I just never did. I really don't know why. But this afternoon I realized that we needed a few things from the store for kids lunches tomorrow. Brian is out of town, Erica wasn't feeling well, and Will was at a friend's house. That left Jacob, Anna Grace, and me as options for going to the store. I would never just send Jacob and Anna Grace, nor would they go without one of the bigger kids. I decided that I would have to be the one to go. I asked Anna Grace if she was interested in going with me, and she was. We walked to the store talking about the new family that is coming in a month. We talked about how there would be new friends to play with. We just talked. It wasn't long before we were at the store. I decided to go to the bakery as well since we were in the neighborhood. We bought a few yummy things there including Pez candy which Jacob had been asking for earlier in the day. At the store we bought chips, bread, and snack cakes for lunches. We also bought some diet coke, of course. On our way home I realized how much I had enjoyed our little trip out of the house. As we were walking down the sidewalk I saw a couple of ladies approaching us from the opposite direction. As they came closer they looked at Anna Grace and said, "cok tatli, cok tatli, masallah" or so sweet, so sweet, God has blessed you. I looked at Anna Grace and her blonde hair and blue eyes and smiled. When we first arrived I heard those words about her and the other kids all the time. Good memories and a feel good moment!