Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Hangin' with Wonderful Friends...

This past weekend, we were able to spend a wonderful time with friends who we hadn't seen in about three years.

We've been friends with Carlos and Rosie for almost eight years. Morgan (our oldest) and Andre' (their oldest) were in the same Girl Scout Troop for several years together. Morgan and Andre' were the best of friends and it was a very sad day for them both when we switched Morgan to another Troop. They spent many hours on the phone in the beginning, but over time their friendship kind of took a backseat. However, I kept in contact with Rosie either over the phone or by email over the years. We just never had the time to get our families together. I know...pretty sad, huh?

Well, for many reasons, God has brought Andre' and Morgan back together again. Almost two weeks ago now, Andre' became a new student at Morgan's school and they have instantly become friends again. To spare you all the details, we invited Rosie and Carlos over for dinner last Saturday night so we could reconnect with their family.

Of course, I had to grab the camera and take some pictures of our night.

Aren't they just a beautiful family?

Carlos, Maya, Paloma, Rosie and Andre'

Morgan and Andre' Jae and Maya was nice enough to pose for a picture while playing Pac-Man. Yep, I have an arcade Pac-Man game that steals the show everytime new visitors come over. lol!
Rosie and me!

The only regret that I have is that we didn't make it a priority over the years to fellowship with each other more in person. We had forgotten just how much fun we always have when we take the time out to get together.

Do you have friends who live close by or within 20-30 miles of you that you just don't take the time out to fellowship with? Are we just that busy in life? As I was typing all of this up, I realize how sad this sounds that we have literally lived within miles (about 15 ) of each other and haven't seen each other in three years. Hmmmmm......

Okay, make me feel better about this. Am I the only one????

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a great time reconnecting with old friends.

Sadly, there are people that we no longer keep in touch with. Sometimes people don't understand our 3rd shift schedule. Others don't want to hang out with us anymore because we don't have children. I guess they feel we have nothing in common. It's really sad. So, I guess life does get in the way sometimes.

Heather said...

Looks like a fun night together! It is sad that we can have friends so close by and never see them. One of my best friends lives 2 streets over and we hardly ever see each other and our kids are best buddies and ask to see each other all the time, but we're all so busy we can't get together that often. What's this world coming to?!

Anonymous said...

This makes me smile. JUST TODAY my friend and I made a lunch date. I am so excited about it too.
We grew up together, she was even MAID OF HONOR in my wedding. She lives about 45 mins away and shame on us for not doing it sooner!

Glad you had a wonderful time. Hope you get to do it again soon.

Shell in your Pocket said...

It is wonderful to have such great friends! Great pictures!
-sandy toe

Kristin said...

You're totally not the only one this has happened to. My best friend and I email and talk daily, but it is rare that we get together and see each other. I don't know why that is. You're right though. You always have a great time when you make time to do things like that.

I'm glad y'all had a great time!

He & Me + 3 said...

Sad to say, you are not the only one. Great pictures. Those girls are all so beautiful...seriously. Did you end up doing anything with the modeling agency?
So glad you all made time & I am sure will make more time in the future.

More Than Words said...

Oh, great pictures!!! How awesome to reconnect after so long!!

You know, that just happens in the busyness of life! I don't know how many times I say to a friend that "we should get our families together soon." But, you know, it's hard with kids, church, extra curricular activites, etc. And that goes for both parties.

I'm sure now that you will see each other more often!!

Lee said...

I have friends close by that I never see. We never even talk. You just sort of get busy and forget about them. It's bad, but it's true.

I love the pictures though!

Denise said...

That is so special, being with dear friends is very awesome.

Rebekah said...

Unfortunately you are not. I have found the same to be true in mine and my husband's life too. Wonderful pictures! And so happy for you that you were able to spend time together

Edie said...

Looks like a great time Daphine! No you aren't the only one. It seems that everyone is too busy taking care of "stuff" that no one has much time for visiting.

I'm glad you all got to reconnect.

Melissa said...

I'm glad you reconnected with some good friends.

Life and people change, and sometimes you just lose contact with people. It happens, so don't feel bad. We have plenty of friends that we always say, "We should get together some day" and never end up doing it. One friend of ours we just recently reconnected with, who we hadn't hung out with since I was pregnant with Kendra, and he and Curt used to be best friends, and he just lives like 10 minutes away. Pretty sad, I know, but it's not worth beating yourself up about it. Just enjoy the times that you'll have together now, making new memories!

Wendy said...

Hey Girl, sometimes Life just gets in the way huh!! But how wonderful that you have had the Chance to reconnect and ols friendships rekindled, Lovely Photo's of clearly a wonderful time!!
..x..

Davisix said...

Well, we just moved here to SC and have NO friends here yet so I can honestly answer "no". haha What a beautiful post though. You reconnected...that's the best! What beautiful families. xoxo Ang

April said...

They sure are a beautiful family...just like yours! It sounds like you all had a fun time together after all those years.

We, too, have some good friends who live about 20 miles from us...they're the ones who hosted the Christmas drop-in we attended. Anyhow, we don't see them but about once, maybe twice, a year. I think it's because we live such busy lives and it's easy to put friendships on the back burner when you have to make an effort to get together. It's always so worth it when we do, though!

Glad you shared some photos...you can easily see how much you all care for one another...true friendship at it's best! Happy Wednesday...love ya!♥

Debra Kaye said...

Daphine,

I'm glad you had the time with your friends. The pictures show what a blessing it was to you!

We have really good friends who live about an hour from us and we take the time to see them often. We are very close to them. We always feel uplifted and encouraged and hope they feel the same after we have spent time together.

I'm glad the Lord worked out the details for ya and got you all back together! Hugs to you, my friend.

CMB said...

Looks like you had a great time with this beautiful family. I think we all have friends that we don't see as often as we like. We seem to spend the most amount of time with the ones that are involved in the same activities as we are and then it seems there just isn't enought time for anything more.

really.truly said...

The days go by so fast! It's so easy to lose contact...you are not alone. You have a lovely blog!

Jennifer said...

Your are so not the only one here....isn't it terrible that we lose sight of hangin with our friends? It's so true as another one said, the days' just go by fast and before you know it those days' turn in to years. UGH! I love the picture of all ya'll.

I'm glad you were able to get back together and get those girls together. That's awesome!

Lindsay-ann said...

Hi Daphine
The main thing here is that you are re-connected with your friends and have not lost touch altogether.
It is obvious from the beautiful pictures what good friends you are and you can now continue to be part of their lives again. I am guilty too, I have friends who I only see once a year. I would love to see them more often but time just flies by and other things get in the way. I am thankful for having e-mail to stay in touch with people.
Thanks for sharing your happy re-union pictures.
Lindsay

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

Hooray, an old friendship rekindled! What a blessing. (Both of your families are beautiful!)

Everyday Mom Designs said...

What a fun time!

I do the same thing.. I haven't seen any of my friends since we have came back to Texas... last July! Yeah, we get so busy with life, I guess.

Stacey said...

What beautiful families!!

I was just thinking yesterday about some of the people I've spent alot of time with over the years...then your paths change like you said. We still live close in proximity but we don't see each other. I think your kids bring you together with people over the years and then things change. Just like you said.

I'm so glad you all have reconnected!!

Nicolle said...

What fun! I am glad it was such a good time for you guys.

Don't feel bad. A friend I've had since I was 2 years old lives about 3 miles from us. We're lucky to see them once a year. Pretty sad! But I think it's sooo common!

Laura said...

Here's to new beginnings, right? I can't say that I've been in the same situation (we're military so we move whether we like it or not, and have to leave friends), but I do try to keep in touch with old friends when we do leave. But it is hard!

Looks like you guys had a blast! Hope you guys are able to get together more often :~)

Michele said...

You are definetly not the only one! It made me remember my list for 2009, on that list is keeping in touch with people I love. Thanks for the reminder!

Jill said...

No you are not the only one! My best friend lives only about 5 miles away and we only get together every few months! Once we got married and had babies things changed. Family is my number one priority and it is the same way for her. We joke that we'll go out every Friday night when our daughters go off to college.

Great pictures! Two great looking families. You always look great Daphine. You look like you're in great shape.

Jill said...

Oh Yes! Always too little time and there always seems to be something vying for our precious time. I'm glad ya'll had fun - they are a beautiful family!

Anonymous said...

I have friends that stay close and I haven't seen in a while. We are all so busy with work, children, and everyday life.

Good looking family!!

Tonya

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures what good friends you are and you can now continue to be part of their lives again.

Brenda

Laurin Pearce said...

How wonderful! Looks like you guys had a blast and that's awesome!

Autumn and I've been friends for going on nine years now and we're only 22. I wonder how long we'll remain friends. Its a friendship that's withstood, moving...meaningless fights, different colleges, different boyfriends and family issues.

I think that if you want to keep friends you make effort. I call Autumn at least once a week and even though we are apart we visit each other when we can. I feel like she's still right here living a couple miles away.

Glad that you got to see and hang out with your friends!

Beth E. said...

Wow...the response on this post has been great! I'm glad you reconnected with old friends. Your pictures are wonderful!

We have been guilty of losing touch with friends who live nearby. I think we allow our busy schedules to consume our lives! When we do take a break and spend time with friends, we always have such a good time. It's a shame, I tell ya...a shame!

Jennifer said...

What nice photos...so glad to hear from you on my blog - and I'm hearing you about the amound of time blogging can consume (five hours! WHOA...) Nice to "free up time" for things like reconnecting friendships :) Glad you had a good time...

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Daphine, this is such a sweet story. Yes, you aren't the only one. There is someone who lives a little over a mile from us, and our lives have just gone in different directions. I never see them, but in younger years, I saw quite a bit of them. This makes me deterimind to try and get together with my friend and her hubby. Thanks for posting this!

Sending much love your way...

XO,

Sheila :-)

Unknown said...

The same thing happens to me all the time. It makes me sad when I think about it. I mean, really, what is a 30 minute drive. It really comes down to being selfish! I know how great it is to spend time with the ones we love and care about, but sometimes I don't feel like thinking about a menu and CLEANING...so I just stay home in our little world.

I am glad you reconnected. Your friends look delighted! Very exciting! I hope your friendship continues to blossom.

PS How cool are you with a Pac Man! I love that!

"Hello... It's Me Again..." said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! I enjoyed your post on hanging with friends. I recently reconnected with two girlfriends from 7th grade. They live within two hours of me so we have managed to get together for dinner twice in the past few months. It is great reconnecting with old friends.

Also, isn't it amazing how adults make a lot of our friends through our kids? I think it is amazing!

Then there is this blog world of friends. I feel like I have made many bloggy friends since starting mine.

Like I always tell my daughter... to have a friend, be a friend.

Your friend,
Jamie @ Dear Diary...

Mozi Esme said...

That is a cute family - glad you had a good time with them. And yes, I'm guilty of not spending time with friends, too. It takes an effort when we're so busy just trying to cope with family needs... And it's interesting that I'm more likely to keep in touch with people online than in person :)

Alicia The Snowflake said...

Great pics! Sounds like you guys had a great time! Life has a way of getting away from you. We often don't do the things we wish we would do because of busy schedules. Thank you for the reminder that we should take the time anyway.

Take care my friend!
Hope you are having a great week!

Anonymous said...

Daphine,

Unfortunately you are not the only one guilty of this. And in light of our sadness today, it should be a reminder to make time for the things and people who are important to us. God blesses us each day we are here with wonderful family and friends, but He never guarantees us tomorrow.

Let's get together soon!

Jennifer

Ginger said...

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! What a great time it looks like y'all had! How true your blog is that we have friends so close and yet so far! This is such a great reminder to take the time to spend with the ones we care for! You blog is so beautiful!

4 Lettre Words said...

Good for you, Daphine! Looks like you had a wonderful time, too.

P.S. I have always loved the name Rosie. It's such a happy name!

Brandi said...

Yes, like you I have friends that live close by that I do not see nearly enough! We mainly see each other at our kids birthday parties.

I was even invited to a Pampered Chef party this coming Sunday and thought - I really don't have time - but now I think I should make the time! Thanks!

In response to your question: Kenyon and I loved going to Dallas before Kaeden was born. Over the past 3 years we have not made the trip but may travel that way this summer. Kenyon's fav restuarant is PappaDeaux's (not sure I spelled it right).