unexpected blessing!

So somehow we ended up on vacation! It was a little unexpected and little last-minute, but wonderful nonetheless (and mostly FREE, save for a little gas money!).

First of all, Andrew will soon be starting a NEW JOB! We are thankful for first one God provided, though there was a quite a discrepancy in $$$ needed and $$$ coming in! But we knew God would provide for us and HE DID, in a lot of ways these past few months! However, He also provided in now providing a new job that will hopefully make that gap a little smaller. :) He will be working for Education Managment Corporation (EDMC), which oversees Argosy Univeristy, the Arts Institutes, Brown Mackie College, and South University. He will be working in Student Support for the online division of these schools.
So, he starts that job next Monday and decided to quit his other job one week early, so that he'd have an extra week in between. Since we missed having a vacation this summer due to moving and really haven't done much traveling since Graham joined us, we thought it would be wonderful to get away!
Graham & I had been planning to visit his parents soon, even though Andrew wouldn't be able to join us, but it turns out that he could!
Andrew's brother was vacationing in Massanutten (resort area in the mountains in VA) this week as well, so the drive worked out perfectly for us to drive there and stay first and then continue on to NC. (It was also wonderful to break up the trip for the little guy!) Though he is a great traveler, the 8-9 hours straight back won't be our favorite thing, I'm sure. :)

We have usually spent our vacations in NYC or DC or somewhere where we end up walking for 8 straight hours! Maybe it was something about living in such a busy city now, but we were totally loving the tranquility & peacefulness of the Massanutten area. The mountains were beautiful, the trees were beautiful (though how amazing they will be in a few weeks when they all change!), we left after one day, already refreshed! We decided our next vacation is going to be at a cabin in the woods. :) Graham really enjoyed playing with his cousins!
So now we're chillin' with Mama & Papa Hughes and enjoying a few more quiet days. Thankful for a week to stop and BREATHE (the smoke-free, smog-free air. :)

oh, and someone took his first 3 "steps" in crawling forward while we were here!