Wednesday May 21, 2014
And I thought an 8:30 flight was early……6 am……yeah that’s early! My dear friends Summer left her van with us last night and so we packed it up at 2:30 this morning and then picked up Summer at 3:30 and she rode down to Greensboro with us since we already sold or van and needed a ride…….such a good friend!!
We got our car seat checked and were ready to go through security by 5:20. Stephen decided to stop and give the kids a little lesson about the arrivals and departures board. Kinda freaked me out since our flight was scheduled to leave in 40 minutes and we still needed to make it through security. So we skipped the lesson and made it to our flight on time…..last people on the plane 🙂
We arrived safely in Tulsa and Garrett from Stuart Nissan was waiting for us with our VAN! I’m so excited about our “Ethnic Beauty”!! God has answered so many prayers with this van.
After signing the paperwork we headed out to get some lunch…..well brunch! It was only about 10:30, but since we’ve been up since 2:30 it felt more like dinner time! We made it to Cracker Barrel without anyone falling asleep……true miracle right there!! After our breakuncher (breakfast/lunch/dinner) we were going to go spend some time at a park, but our crazy gps took us to some rather unsavory Tulsa neighborhood and all five kids were OUT, so we decided to skip the park and head down to Little Rock.
It’s been 5 years since our entire family has been to see Stephen’s sister Sharon, so we were really excited to see them again. You can read about our 2009 trip here and here
You really should back up and check out those links……you will get a kick out of how much the kids change in 5 years!
Thursday May 22, 2014
We slept in a bit this morning and then headed down to the big house (we are staying at the mission apartment) for some cousin fun! We spent most of the day just hanging out.
The kids had a squirt gun fight and when the squirt guns didn’t shoot enough water, they just used the cups! Most of them were thoroughly soaked and thoroughly happy!!
After dinner we all piled into the van (love it already!!) and went to watch Josh play his baseball game.
Friday May 23, 2014
This morning we headed to the zoo. It was a pretty warm day (as in HOT for us), but we still had a great time seeing all the animals. And despite the heat, the animals were out and even doing crazy stunts for us. The elephant was one of those animals. This one guy was just determined to eat this huge branch. And bit by bit he broke the branch apart with his trunk and ate it!! Jadyn loved watching the penguins……actually I think we all enjoyed the penguins.
We had a fun evening that started with pizza and ended with several games of Ticket to Ride!
Monday May 26, 2014
It was sad to leave Little Rock this morning. The kids were really starting to have a ton of fun together…..that always seems to happen. Takes a while for them to warm up and then it’s time to go. 😦
The March Cousins…….Just three weeks between these boys!
Sharon and Stephen
We made the 2 ½ hour drive to Memphis in about 3 ½ hours…..I think the theme of this trip is LATE! Seems we can’t get anywhere on time! But we finally pulled into the drive way at Jim and Renee’s. Boy, were we happy, happy to see them! Brienne and Greg were there and Renee’s mom, Me-maw.
We ate a fantastic Mexican spread…..(that is the other theme of this trip……Delicious food!) and then spent most of the day just visiting. In the late afternoon we all piled into the van and went to Patriot Lake and went paddle boating. I enjoy paddle boating! The water, the slow pace, the exercise! But I learned something about Stephen that I had NO IDEA! He HATES paddle boating!! I had no clue. Poor husband, he’s so wonderful doing something multiple times that his wife enjoys without a word of complaint!
We feel incredibly blessed to have Jim and Renee as part of our family! I love that they want to be part of our girls’ lives and love on them, even if it’s mostly from a distance. But not just our girls, they love on our boys too! I love the fact that Renee gets down on the floor to color with the kids. I love the fact that Jadyn snuggles up on Papa Jim’s lap, just like old times! I love the fact that Jadyn grabbed a book and sat in MeMaws lap chatting away about each page.
A few weeks ago I asked Stephen’s sister Sharon to make a clay piece for Renee, and oh my goodness, she made the most adorable piece and I was SO excited to give it to Renee, who of course loved it.
Tuesday May 27, 2014
We slept in a bit this morning and then enjoyed a Drury breakfast. We left about 11:30 and went to Life Choices and met with Judy and took some update pictures for the girls’ files. It was not a long visit, but still nice to see her and renew that connection.
After Life Choices we drove to Germantown Methodist Hospital to take a picture for Jadyn’s life book and then we headed to Chic-fil-A for lunch.
We sat close to the assistant manger who was having his lunch, but I really didn’t think much of it……just business as usual getting the kids settled. He caught my attention and asked if all these kids were mine and I said yes. He also asked if they were adopted and I said, yes, that our girls were born in Memphis, but that we were from VA. He then said, “your children are so well behaved! I see a lot of kids, but your kids are the best behaved kids I’ve ever seen. Your little girl just sat in her seat as he (Stephen) was fixing all kids’ food (I had taken Jeremiah to the bathroom). I was amazed that she just sat there waiting so patiently.” I thanked him for the compliment. It’s always a little awkward, but also so encouraging to get compliments in public.
We were about half-way done with our meal when that same guy came over to the table. He said, “I don’t want to sound creepy or anything, but I’ve been watching your family…….how you prayed together before your meal and how well behaved your kids are and I was wondering if I could treat your all to some free ice cream.” We said that would be fantastic and the kids were SO excited!! People are watching……what kind of imprint are your leaving on the world? Always something good to remember.
After Chik-fil-a we drove to Olive Branch Mississippi to have dinner with Natalie’s birth sister and her family. It took us much longer to get to their home because there was an accident, but we finally made it! At first the kids were a little shy, but after meeting all the dogs they warmed up. We really enjoyed meeting Kathy’s mom Betty and seeing Kathy and Katie again. My favorite part was when Katie and Natalie were sitting on the swing on the front porch taking selfies with Katie’s cell phone. They were so cute together.
We had a delicious dinner (the baked beans were amazing) and a tasty dessert (cupcakes and ice cream). I’m so thankful that we are able to maintain a relationship with Kathy and Katie even if it is mostly long distance.
Wednesday May 28, 2014
We planned to take a quick swim after getting back from Kathy and Katie’s house last night, but there was a VERY bad thunderstorm, so we decided that swimming would need to wait until this morning. So after breakfast we headed down to the poor for a swim before checking out.
On our way out of Memphis we stopped at Mud Island and spent a few hours walking down the Mississippi! The kids love it because there’s water and we enjoy it because…..it’s water! Mud Island is a scale model of the Mississippi. The model shows the states and cities that boarder the river. The area is really nice with lots of shade trees and flower beds and then there’s the water! We had a great time.
After getting the soaked kids into dry clothes, we started the drive to Nashville. We planned to meet my roommate from college at a park for dinner, but it was pouring the rain, so we opted for Chick-fil-a. It was so great to see Amber and Brent (her husband who was NOT my roommate, haha), meet their boys and catch up on 15 years!! Yep, it’s been 15 years since I graduated, crazy. The hour flew past, but we since we decided not to spend the night in Nashville, so we hit the road.
The drive home was good, but long and we were SO happy to finally pull into the driveway at 3:30 a.m. We tucked the kids into bed, unloaded the necessities and hit the hay!
House of Smooches 