a great thing about children...

In the past several weeks, Mercer has exhibited a wonderful quality a number of times -- inclusiveness.

When we were in North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, Mercer did something cute and unexpected: he asked my mothers parents (his GREAT grandparents), Melvin & Inez, to play catch! Granted -- he had a very soft object that he was throwing around -- it seemed to have startled them both. They did end up playing and I think it made them feel young and happy to get some play-time in. Later that evening, Mercer also wanted my aunt to play "hall ball" kicking a ball down a long narrow hallway over and over again. He loves involving everyone in his activities. This is a wonderful quality that he possesses!

Most recently, Mercer asked some neighbors (in their 50s) to play ring-around-the rosie... "and they all fall down!" (I think he was a bit bummed that they didn't fall to the floor like he did, but he still enjoyed including them in this childhood game -- and I've heard from each of them -- the neighbors also enjoyed it / made a unique memory at coming to one of our Soup Night events!)

We have been hosting Soup Night again this year. It's a lot of work, but we are still enjoying catching up with long-lost friends who seem to only come-together each January... watching their children grow up... and meeting new additions to their families.

Speaking of new additions to families -- we are well underway on completing our adoption Homestudy. If anyone hears of any opportunities -- please let us know! We will be "ready" soon~

This post was begun on MLK holiday. Unfortunately, it was not completed for some time afterwards. But - I did want to mention that this is the first year that we have discussed Martin Luther King Jr. We attended the tail end of the parade + a little bit of the party on the square after the parade in his honor. Mercer is definitely too young to understand why this man has earned a place in history -- but he did enjoy the parade, the cheerleaders, the bands, and the old cars that brought up the rear. Next year, we'll try to make sure he gets a little more out of it and starts to develop a greater level of understanding.

Happy New Year!