Another rarity...

  We had a fairly quiet morning.  We were planning to go over and play with Judah and Gideon, but had to change plans mid-morning.  Mom was able to take off the second half of the day, so Scott and the kids took me over to the church/school.  The kids had wonderful adventures with Daddy, while I got to spend the afternoon with mom.  While the kids had a picnic lunch and played at the park, mom and I ate at Truitt's(part of the chickfila chain, but cooler than the average place.  It was an old diner and had a train running around the top of it.  I really wish that I'd brought my camera for that.  The waiting area had a bench from an old car and one of the seating areas was a trolley car from California.  I'd really like to take the kids back there, even if it's just for an ice cream cone:).  Maybe I will end up with some pictures, but we're kinda running out of time here.  While thinking about it, I realized that we've somehow managed to fit in more family time and more activities into a couple weeks than we have into the past couple years!  It's been busy, but very enjoyable most of the time.  I was very tempted to spend a lot at the Hobby Lobby, but the Lord helped me to restrain myself:).  I picked up two small canvases for painting and a book of American girl stickers.  I'm planning to use a couple for Elyssia's scrapbook pages, a couple for a framed pic of her and the girl cousins there and then let her use some to make cards for her cousins with a pic inside as a memento of the trip.  We also picked up food for the trip back home.  They have a good selection at the Super Target and we found some things to share with the family when we get back home.  As I was thinking about the different items we've acquired along the way I was thinking about the fun that the kids will have sharing the trip and mementos with everyone back home.  We might have to save some for Christmas, since we've picked up quite a goodly amount of gifts.  Do you like my use of the word"goodly"?  I couldn't resist:))).
  Mom really isn't feeling well today, so she's taking it easy now.  Trying to rest her voice and body so that she'll be prepared for work tomorrow.  Scott took Caleb with him to class tonight and said that he was quite well behaved.  I took Kiersten and she did GREAT for the first hour.  She started to get a bit chatty after that so we went out and found Cameryn and Caleigh.  The class was almost done anyway.  We were given handouts and I had all the answers. The ladies were kind enough to share with me the book that they're teaching from as well.  I had mentioned it to one of our ladies from back home and she seemed interested, so it might be a good one to get ahold of and go through once we're done with our current series.  I really enjoyed the two lessons that I heard.  We were considering having Cameryn and Caleigh come spend the night, but they were pretty tired, so maybe we can fit it in tomorrow night after Judah's Karate  test.  If he passes tomorrow he gets his purple belt.  Pretty impressive for a 5 year old, eh?
  We had just pulled over to get into the lane onto the Interstate, when I heard a familiar coughing.  Kiersten threw up a couple times, but seems just fine now.  She'd eaten quite a few grapes and maybe it upset her stomach, like the Scoops did to Caleb.  Only time will tell.  I'd better head to bed soon, just in case it's a looooong night.  One last note though, is that the family pictures are up.  I have to say that they're quite good for indoor pictures.  I'm really thankful to have nice ones with all of us together as a family. We paid for a cd, so hopefully we can get those sometime tomorrow.  I'll have to ask Christina.  So, another busy day has come to an end.  Sweet dreams...

Parents Night Out

This is a first for us.  There wasn't time to do it when Luke and Jessie were here.  Christina called us yesterday and asked if we'd like to go out.  Shondra and Chandler were available to babysit and the kids really like them, so of course we said Yes!  On the way over Caleb decided that he just wanted to sit in the van and wait for us to come back.  He ended up having a really good time though and I think he was glad to be out of the van:).  Kiersten had the hardest time, but fell asleep and stayed that way for a good portion of the time that we were out.  Here is the delicious restaurant that we were taken to:

Awesome food!

Jason and Christina

P.E.I. Mussels(Sea food at an Italian Resturant!)I actually tried one and it tasted pretty good.

Christina's skewers and grilled zucchini.

A rare sighting of us together:).

We had a somewhat relaxed day at the house before our outing.  A bit of homeschooling, learning to make soap at home, catching bugs(pic below), listening to Lamplighters Theatre with the kids.  I highly recommend those stories on cd.  They're available from Vision Forum and we're thoroughly enjoying them as a family.  Scott also put up some blinds for mom and fixed her couch.  If you've ever watched Red Green, you should get a laugh out of the fact that I find my husband both handsome AND handy:).  

There's an ant in there to the left.  The only catch so far.

The travel buddies enjoying the sun.

A new brand of deodorant found here in Georgia-Swagger:).

I had to take a pic of the back.  Makes me smile every time.

So, that about wraps it up for us again.  We're packing in as much time with the family as we can before we head out.  Today Scott is going to drop me off at the school and mom and I are going to spend some time together.  I've been trying to stay up at night to visit with her, but I'm not at my best after 10:).  We might try Cracker Barrel for Lunch, if mom feels up to it, but we'll see.  She started to lose her voice last night and two of the kids are sniffling a bit.  I'm hoping we're not making the trip home with the kids sick again, but it does mean that they sleep more, so it's not all bad. Something else that's been neat to see is Kiersten starting to talk more.  She gets excited when you repeat what she said, acknowledging that we can understand her now.  This is only the beginning...

Sad Goodbyes...

  I think I've said this before, but after awhile you kinda get used to not seeing your family and the missing them doesn't feel as bad.  After being with my family for the past week and a half, it's starting to feel like we've never been apart.  Tonight we had to say goodbye to Luke and his family.  They got here last Wednesday and their flight leaves tomorrow.  I could feel tears coming as I hugged Luke goodbye, but choked them back so that I didn't make everyone sad.  I'm not sure why, maybe it's because they live in a country that's so far away, but it's hard to think about not seeing them for a couple years again.  When I saw them walking towards us at church on Wednesday night I had that same emotional feeling.  I'm choosing to be thankful for the time that we did have together, but also addressing the sadness of their leaving.  My other family in Georgia get to see Luke a couple times a year when he comes back for different things, so maybe it's not quite the same for them.  I wasn't sure how well I'd connect with his kids, considering that I hadn't seen them in 3 years, but it was a lot of fun.  They definitely had more of a connection with the other cousins, but they were quick to include our four.  Thankfully we have a couple more days with the rest of the family before it's our turn to say goodbye.
  Today was pretty relaxing.  Scott went out for awhile this afternoon to find some things for those back home.  The kids took long naps, Elyssia excluded, and we headed over to Jason's around 4.  Christina had fixed lumpia and pancit for supper.  I hadn't eaten it in about 4 years and it was SO Yummy!  I have a recipe for it, so really should try making it.  I've helped make it before, but never done it solo.  I think my in-laws would enjoy it, so I should probably add it to our menu sometime soon.  I took pictures there, but they're on my phone and I'm not sure how to upload them to the computer.  I took pictures of the ice cream cakes that Sara bought for the kids with Spring birthdays.  Judah and Caleb in March, Caleigh in April and Abigail in May.  The kids played outside the rest of the time, making Nature juice and chasing each other around:).  The older boys got to go out to the shooting range today.  I think that would have been fun to see, but there are some things that we have to forego while we have little ones:).
  We were also able to plan our driving route for the drive home.  Most of it will be completely new territory once we get through St. Louis.  We're going to spend some time with Amy(Green) Loeffel and attend their church on Sunday.  From there we'll go onto the new route.  We're pretty excited about some of the stops and hope that the kids enjoy them as well.  Tonight Luke and Jessie said that we should come visit them in Germany.  They only have a year and a half left though and I'm thinking there's not another major trip in our future.  We're thankful for this one and intend to enjoy the rest of it to the fullest.  Well, that takes care of today.  It's nice to actually post on time again:).