Saying Goodbye to Missionary Friends who are Cairns Bound

The Morriarty's: Zoe, Jason, Callum and Sheryl

Back in 2010, I wrote about how Daniel and I came about meeting our missionary friends, Jason and Sheryl Morriarty, in 2004; how we put them to work renovating our house in Charlotte during a weekend visit in 2006; and how {surprisingly} they came back to Charlotte in 2010 {a family of four} just as we were preparing to move. We didn't make them work on their second trip to Charlotte.

Two years have passed and a lot has changed. Daniel and I now have a baby and we live in another state. Meanwhile Jason, Sheryl and their two children are making preparations to leave for Cairns, Australia.

The Morriartys and the Moores

I'm bummed that our only group shot was blurry and I didn't check for clarity :(

Before they left the country, we all wanted to get together for a visit. After all it may be a few years before we see them again. It turned out that the best way for us to see each other was to meet in Atlanta {approximately half-way between where we all live}. So this morning we packed up Jack and a bunch of gear for a day trip and made the trek over to ATL for lunch at Chick-fil-a.

We enjoyed getting caught up with our friends and introducing them to Jack.

After lunch, we headed to the Whitewater Creek Trail {part of the Chattahoochee State Park} for a short {1.35 mile} hike and more visiting.

This place is apparently a mecca for dog lovers and young adults who want to float the river on a lazy weekend. First off, we had a bunch of huge dogs run up to the kids in our group {all under the age of 5}. The dogs were a little over zealous and one actually put Jack's leg "gently" in it's mouth. Umm – we were not exactly ok with that. So we left the area with the dogs and abundance of people and enjoyed a nice walk in the woods. The kids all fared pretty well,  though Callum was getting weary towards the end and his sister, Zoe, got tired of being carried in the kid carrier. Jack was a trooper in our BOB stroller and was fast asleep by the end of our walk.

We enjoyed catching up with our friends and were surprised when they gave us a certified boomerang from Cairns. We wish them the best as they move back abroad and that God blesses the mission effort that they are about to begin.

I may have to work on convincing Daniel that we need to make a trip down under.

When we were getting ready to leave, Daniel put the stroller in the back of our Subaru and I noticed a lovely odor: dog poop. With a 3-hour drive home, we were not thrilled at the prospect of riding with a smelly stroller INSIDE our vehicle. Thank goodness our Yakima basket was attached to our roof rack.