love to TTEAM, but especially tracey

so, this next post belongs to a very special woman in my life.  i met tracey the summer after my junior year of college.  i responded to an add in The Daily Tar Heel for babysitting, and what a blessing that has been in my life.  at the time, she has two boys, who were quite possibly the cutest two boys on the planet.  i started watching her boys (aidan and matthew) and fell in love with their family.  a year or two after that, they added to their family with a precious little girl, ellie.  i watched ellie from the time she was six weeks old.  aidan was always very helpful, being the oldest!  matthew stole my heart from the minute i met him.  he always wanted me to read books and lay with him until he fell asleep.  as he got older, he would laugh at me when i read pokemon books, as i always mispronounced the characters and words, haha. clearly i didn't study up on poke balls before heading to their house.  when i go visit now, he still brings it up and laughs.  oh how i love that kid.  ellie is so great.  i loved watching her as a baby and watching her grow up. 


okay, i got side-tracked talking about tracey's great kids, but i was going to talk about how thankful i am for tracey.  even though i do not live in raleigh anymore, we have stayed close.  she has always been so supportive, encouraging, and kept in touch with me no matter how busy life can be.  she works part time and has three young kids.  i travel like crazy for my job and don't always get to see them at every raleigh visit, but we have still stayed in touch and for that i am so thankful.  when i decided to go on my mission trip to Haiti, i couldn't wait to tell tracey and her husband tom.  i knew they would be completely supportive.  they sent me emails and texts about my trip, and i am not sure that i could ever tell them how much it means to me. 


today i am thankful for tracey and their whole family.  when i lived in raleigh, they were like family to me, as i was away from mine.  now, they are still like family to me, and i am so glad they are a part of my life.  love you, TTEAM!!!!