Valen-Biblestudy-tines.

iTouch shot before we headed out...

Valentines Day will almost never be a carefree night for FOCUS missionaries. Chances are, it's a weeknight with regularly scheduled student events (as it was in our case this year) and furthermore, it falls exactly one day before our third quarter newsletters are supposed to be postmarked, so most are busy post-scripting and sealing their mailings (as it certainly was in our case).

But missionaries aren't hired if they aren't indomitable, so those minor details were accounted for with just a little creativity. Who says you can't have your downstairs landlord/extra grandma babysit for an hour and a half before it gets dark out while you grab an early-but-wonderful dinner as a couple, break for Bible study/ Holy Hour and envelope-stuffing, and finish off the night with not-covered-in-chocolate-because-it's-Lent strawberries? No one. And we did it. It was quite lovely.

real camera!

 We hadn't left Amelia with a babysitter since a severely failed attempt in September. She did pretty well for short stints with her grandparents over Christmas, and we were told she only fussed for the last 5 minutes of last evening. Such a big girl. (A big girl who cut her very first tooth for Valentines Day!)


I really enjoyed having a date out with Tim alone, but I also really love spending my days with this little Valentine. Tim's actually at an interview weekend in D.C. to help interview applicants for FOCUS, so my pint-size Valentine and I are flying solo. We're pretty good at it, but we'll welcome him home readily come Sunday!





(Oh and in case you're wondering, Rachel, that is Kennedy's bouncy ball I accidentally took home with me from Wichita a few years ago... It found it's way into the toy basket and Amelia loves it. Thanks!)