I was astonished when I signed in, to see that it had only been a couple of weeks since I posted last... pretty decent when compared with my track record of late. We've been on the go (and surprisingly, me, more so then my husband!) the past three weekends, and I'm more then ready to settle down for a break and let the travelers come to me (which will be happening for the next few weekends!). It was wonderful to come home to a garden that has grown in our absence, and a tomato TREE (maybe I shouldn't have used that Miracle Gro potting soil after all...)!As I think about how wonderful it was though to escape for a while, our travels bring about thoughts of how we truly are sojourners here in this world, just passing through on our way to our eternal home.
My first weekend excursion was sans-husband. Unfortunately he had ortho call, and was unable to make it down to my cousin Jacob's wedding in Mansfield, OH. I didn't have to drive by myself though, because my dad and my brother flew out! :) Flying in Friday night, we all hit up a potluck at Scott and Jamie's before we took off the next day down to Ohio. This was the beginning of me seeing exactly how much my son would not fare well in a pack-n-play, nor with a packed weekend of an evening wedding singing, two full church services, a wedding service and reception! I had one supremely tired child, who refused to nap (a one room baby room with cribs is not conducive to my tired child), and spent most of his energy running around the church and fellowship hall floors! Praise the Lord though, he did survive up until the final prayer of the newly weds... and in the first row too! (Stickers and Grandpa can do wonders to keeping a child mostly quiet.) It was a real blessing to get to see a lot of my Ohio relatives too, as well as a few old friends from our rotation out there! Unfortunately, I did not get to many pictures from this weekend, and my brother forgot to put the ones he took on my pc. :(
My Dad and brother stayed until Wednesday morning; Liam enjoyed breaking out and showing off his new pool for them... a lot more so then he did our trip to the Ford Museum; my brother also did some research and we tried a burger joint that is supposed to be highly rated, though once we got there, we wondered by whom, as we were the youngest ones there! Our time together was way too short though, and we can't wait til they come back, especially since Joel didn't even make it through the car section of the Henry Ford, let alone the other parts of that museum!
I had two days to rest, recuperate and pack for our next trip... to Taylor, Missouri!!
My husband and I agreed it had been waaaaaaay too long since we had been to our first church home together. So when he found out that he had Memorial Day Weekend off (not to mention his first weekend off in a couple of months!) we jumped at the opportunity to visit again-- it sure didn't hurt that our friend Kaitlyn Hoerr was getting married too! This was a double bonus for my husband... he would not only get in the fellowship of the loving Taylor church that we missed so much, but reconnect with countless friends that would be out there for the wedding as well (there were 700 people expected!). We decided we couldn't pass this up, and so when he got off of work Friday night, we were on our way, with a pit-stop at his parents' house for the night. The next morning we headed down to Lafayette where we had breakfast with his Gparents and Uncle Kurt/ Aunt Patti (who we hadn't seen in almost a year!), and then lunch with his other Gparents in Eureka. We then took the good ol' AC highway out to Taylor, where we spent a wonderful weekend catching up with Joe and Lindsey Knochel!
Joe, Lindsey (and baby girl Knochel) and Liam :)
Matthew and Kaitlyn's wedding was absolutely beautiful, and so was the newly built fellowship hall. An added treat was getting to see Dan and Tami (Matthew's sister), the first of three blessed times spent with them while they were up here for a brief trip to the US! Although our poor little boy was still dragged around quite a bit, he held up pretty well (except at night) and even surprised me with a nap during the full morning service (a first-- he's never slept at church before!). I could not stop thanking God for His abundant mercy of giving my son rest when he absolutely needed it! He was definitely tuckered out though by the time we left the reception, and after spending some time with the whole Sutter family, had reached the end at the Hoerr house. Although he only has daughters, a persistent Scott Hoerr was still able to win him over for a little while with balls and a yoyo! We took off for home Monday, and made only one stop this time (unless you count Joel's surprise stop to pick me up a Starbucks and McDonald's french fries!!) to visit Jan Elsasser in Peoria.
(I stole this photo from Dan Coughlin. I forgot to take a photo of the couple, isn't that terrible!)
Again, two days of relaxing,visiting friends (like a Dunkin' Donuts run with the Coughlins!) lots of laundry, baking and repacking and this time we were off to Lake Michigan for the Virkler family vacation! Our little boy definitely let us know how he felt though about another trip- every time we placed him in the carseat this whole weekend he cried for a couple minutes!
Dan, Tami and Kaeb- they are the new houseparents for 5 more children however, down in Magdalena, MX
The whole family stayed in one large cottage for a few days. It was a little bit cramped (poor Ruth and Tim had couches), but it worked out and was fun! Even with four babies a year and younger in the house, (not to mention 5 other little kids running around), the rooms held each of their noise pretty well (which was a good thing for all my in-laws, because my son didn't sleep well until the last night!).The days were mostly spent at the pool, with a trip to the outlet mall for the women and a golf outing for the men thrown into the mix.After the kids were put to bed each night, we watched the "Love and Respect" seminar, based off the book written by Dr. Eggerichs. A couple of times Grandpa took the kids to the beach, and they loved it. We had Nate take some family pictures of us (with the hope of a possible Christmas picture, as well as 1-year ones of our son-- thanks Nate!! :) at the beach as well, and Liam absolutely LOVED it (the beach moreso then having a lot of pictures taken). He loved the pool, but has become independent enough, that he wasn't a fan of not being able to walk around, and being stuck in a flotation device. With the beach however, once he was no longer shy, he ran around on the sand and into the water. He played with his daddy in the water until we finally pulled him out because he was turning purple! Even then, he didn't want to leave!
I posted a few pics, but I just figured rather then bore you by making you continue to scroll down, I'd just try an attempt at making a video of a conglomeration of most of them instead. :)
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