We are home. We are exhausted, but we are home. Thanks to all of you who were praying for us; we had no major incidents on the road. We did have a bit of trouble with our air conditioning and we still do not know what is wrong with it, but we were able to fix it temporarily without much difficulty.
So, where did I leave off? Oh yeah, somewhere around Friday evening. Ok, well Friday night Jen came over with her girls, and Kim came with her four kids. We had a nice time hanging out together.
Saturday morning we took Aunt Marilyn to the airport. She had to go to Iowa for about a week, so we didn't get to see her at all after she left. After that, we drove around some areas for homes again. Then we went to Chik-fil-A (one of my favorite fast food places) for lunch! It was good. Saturday night I think Jen came over with the girls again. (Forgive me, the details are beginning to be muddled a bit in my mind. All the days are sort of running together.)
Sunday morning we went to church. It was really nice. The people there were extremely welcoming, and it felt so good to be with so many like-minded believers! One of the deacons at the church invited us to his home for dinner, so went there after church. We hung out with his family until later in the evening and had a really wonderful time of fellowship. This family had four daughters, one of whom was about my age. We played games, and just fellowshipped in general. We had a really nice time. After that we went back to Uncle Frank's house where we ate cookies and played with Elli and Abri.
Monday, we didn't do much of anything at all. I think Dad was trying to call people about jobs and stuff, but we pretty much just had a very lazy day until we went to Red Lobster (or Dead Lobster as my Uncle Frank calls it) for dinner with Uncle Frank, Jen, Kim, and the kids (except for Michael who was at Ju-jitsu) After dinner, our family hit the road and headed back to Arizona.
So, that's pretty much it for the narrative. Now for the pictures.........
My friends Gabby and Hannah made us cookies for our trip. This is me eating one. After sleeping for a while in the car, Mom, Isaac, and I woke up simultaneously and were hungry. So we got out the cookies and had a midnight snack. At that moment, those cookies were the best I had ever had in my life. Thank you Gabby and Hannah!
And what do you suppose my Mom is doing in this picture? You guessed it! This is her infamous cookie face.
Taken at 6:00 AM. The sun is beginning to climb up behind the mountains. Isn't it beautiful?
Here are lots more pics of the drive on the way there.....
This is my cousin Elizabeth. We call her Elli most of the time though. She is 3 years old.
This is Abrianah. She is Elli's sister and almost 2 years old. One of the funny things about Abri is that whenever you take her picture she immediately says, "Lemme see!" in her cute baby voice. Then when you show her the pic on the digital camera screen she stares at it intently and says, "Aaaaaahhhhhhh...."
Dad was playing the guitar and singing some worship songs and Elli was dancing.
Abri enjoys trying on other people's shoes. She usually chooses shoes that are way too big for her. She tries to walk in them too, but usually she just ends up tripping over herself.
These are two of Kim's kids, Mikayla and Michael. They are twins and 5 years old.
That's Michael on the left there, and on the right is Kamden, Kim's youngest. He is 3 years old. And of course in the middle is Isaac, my brother and a wonderful babysitter. He's good with kids.
These two pics were taken when we dropped Aunt Marilyn off at the airport.
Abri was hiding from me in this pic, but she decided to peek out just long enough for me to snap her picture.
Dog pile!
Jen was trying to get Abri to jump into her arms, but she kept falling into her arms instead. For some reason she just couldn't get her feet off that counter.
Deer walking through the backyard one morning.
Abri, sweet baby.
Me out in the backyard.
Abri playing the piano..... with her elbows?
Elli at the piano. She wasn't doing much playing.
Kaytlin, Kim's oldest, at Red Lobster.
Mikayla and Abri at Red Lobster.
And finally (I hope I didn't bore you with all these pictures) this is a pic of the family at Red Lobster right before we left and hit the road.
God bless!
