Home Sweet Home

Gracious me, where do I even begin! We're home. We got home late last night and I've spent the day grocery shopping, doing laundry, unpacking and I got a little bit of mowing done and I still have hours to go before I sleep :)

I guess I should start with all the stories from our trip out to Illinois. I guess if I have a story that means it didn't go so smoothly. Ha! That's an understatement. We were supposed to leave to go to my parents house on Tuesday evening around 6pm. Ryan ended up working late and we finally pulled out of the driveway at 9:00pm. No problem, the kids will sleep - right? WRONG! Everyone was wide awake when we pulled in the driveway at 11pm. So Ryan started to unload the car and we quickly realized that a suitcase was missing. And it was the suitcase with Ryan's suit in it - pretty important, not something you can just go buy at Walmart. So after some discussing Ryan got back in the car and drove home. My mom took McKenna and I to the airport in the morning and Ryan met us there after only getting about 4 hours of sleep. So we checked in and almost had to leave McKenna behind. I'm not kidding. I completely forgot that you have to present proof of age if the child is under two and you're not buying a seat. I didn't have her shot records or birth certificate with me. Slight panic set in and I thought I was going to have to call my mom to come back and get her and I would have been a mess, but then I miraculously produced a receipt from the pediatricians office that included McKenna's D.O.B on it. Whew...that was a close one. And here's McKenna hanging out in the airport with Daddy, clearly looking like a one year old and not a two year old, but try telling that to a ticket agent. From that point on it was smooth sailing all the way to St. Louis. McKenna even got her own seat because the plane wasn't full. She didn't sleep a wink, but she was a good girl.

McKenna ate a lot of snacks and played a lot of patty cake...

And she played with absolutely everything in my purse and in the seat pocket in front of us. Of course she was not really interested in any of the toys I brought for her.

Once we got to St. Louis we still had a two hour drive and were quite dismayed when we realized that we forgot (ahem...I know, I know...we just didn't have our act together on this trip) the DVD player for the car. So it made the trip into Illinois a little more unpleasant, but we finally made it.

McKenna was thrilled to see her cousin Gracey and it was so sweet that there was no warm-up time with Gracey. She knew exactly who we were and jumped right into my arms for a big hug when I saw her. We went out to dinner after the visitation and she wanted to ride in our car! She is such a cutie and so full of life!

I debated big time about whether or not to take this picture or really any pictures at all. You know me, I usually take a picture of even the most mundane things, but this trip was different. I even considered not bringing my camera at all, but now I'm glad I did. There are definitely some things that I want to remember and this picture represents one of them. The visitation on Wednesday evening was by far the hardest part of all of this for me. But is was also incredible. There was a line stretching outside the building and wrapping down around the sidewalk for over two hours. Hundreds of people came. That definitely says something about the life Olivia lived, but it also speaks volumes about her mom and dad. They are both so greatly loved and respected by so many people. Zac is the principal of the local high school and I couldn't help but cry when I saw so many high school students waiting in line to pay their respects. The funeral home was absolutely packed full of people who loved this little girl and her family. My dear little McKenna was with us and she was not in a cooperative mood. She wasn't screaming but she was definitely fussing which was very frustrating for me. The funeral home attendant very graciously pointed me down the hall and into a room with a few toys for McKenna to play with and so that's where I sat for quite a while just praying and asking the Lord to please be merciful and pour out his peace and grace on all those present. I probably would have kept myself together a lot more if I had been out in line with everyone else, but I sat in the quiet of that room and did what I had been doing for months and prayed.

And I just have to show you this...My sister-in-law, Lindsey was going to take care of the flower arrangement for our family. I mentioned that Olivia loved Barney and that maybe we should do purple flowers or maybe the florist could put a stuffed Barney in the arrangement. Well, Lindsey pulled out all the stops and she cut out a Barney out of foam. She took it to a florist in Canton, who took it to a florist in Macomb and ta daaaa....look how cute it is. So fun, so fitting. Just perfect for our sweet Olivia!

We got to spend some time at Zac and Julie's house on Thursday evening. They must have been exhausted, but we loved having that time with them and the rest of their family. Jack (he's finishing up first grade) was adorable with McKenna. It was getting late and he was sitting on the couch playing his DS and he said "McKenna do you want to come watch me play this game?" I figured she would probably try to push the buttons and mess up his game, but I sat her up on the couch anyway.

She sat there and looked at him and watched him play his game for the longest time. It was so sweet. And then I got to watch Jack play his game and he told me all kinds of pointers that I should pass onto Emma. I don't even think he knows who Emma is, but as soon as I mentioned that she has a DS he started telling me all kinds of things to tell her. Brooklyn was also so sweet with McKenna. She followed her around and pulled her in the wagon and got out toys for her. It made my heart hurt because both Jack and Brooklyn were incredibly sweet and kind to McKenna and I'm sure that's just how they were with Olivia. Zac and Julie are raising some amazing kids!!

The burial was on Friday and it was a gorgeous day. Just perfect. The cemetery was sunny and quiet. It's a beautiful place, surrounded by corn fields with nothing but chirping birds to keep you company. It was beautiful!

Then it was time for us to head back to St. Louis to catch our flights. Ryan was going to fly to Connecticut for work and McKenna and I were going to fly back to Baltimore to stay with my parents until Ryan came home. Ryan's flight was on time and my flight was a different story.

I ended up chasing after this girl for over three hours in a very crowded airport with lots of frustrated people. Bad weather in Baltimore delayed our flight for quite a while, but McKenna's shoes kept everyone entertained. Aunt Lindsey bought McKenna a pair of weesqueaks. The soles are soft and have a squeaker in the heel and everytime you step it makes a squeak. McKenna thought they were hysterical and she stomped and ran all over the place. She kept everyone entertained and I must have gotten over 30 comments about how cute they were. I actually had to take them of her to look inside to get the name for one woman who just had to have them for her granddaughter. We finally made it onto the plane and I was able to get McKenna her own seat again. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong seat mate for us. Our friend, we'll just call her "Miss. I Have Distain for Children" was already seated when I asked her if the other two seats next to her were taken. I could immediately tell by the look on her face that I had just asked the wrong person, but I was holding up the line of everyone else waiting to get on the plane, so I just went for it. "Miss. I Have Distain for Children" was amazing. She actually held her ear that was closest to me for almost the entire flight (which was over two hours). I'll admit, "this little piggy" and "patty cake" are not my favorites either, but it was a lot better than having McKenna scream and I was NOT singing them loudly. I was singing them in my best whisper voice. And "Miss. I Have Distain for Children" has some fabulous ignorning techniques. She was not the least bit interested in helping me juggle the snacks and drinks the flight attended passed to me when my tray table wasn't down yet. I know she was worried that I was going to dump a drink on her but she didn't even look up or make any move to help the situation. So in the end we parted ways without her ever uttering a word. I thanked her for sitting with us and for putting up with all the playing I was doing, but she never acknowledged my presence. And I know I shouldn't let stuff like that bother me, but it made me feel sad. Not for me, for her. We finally made it home to my parent's house around 11:30pm. Thankfully McKenna was sound asleep and I crashed shortly after that!

Ryan's flight into Hartford, Connecticut was not without a little drama. Ryan flies a lot and has NEVER had this happen before. They were cleared for a landing and the wheels of the plane actually touched down on the ground and the pilot immediately began to accelerate and then he took off again. They spent the next 30 minutes in the air with a very jittery cabin full of people and the captain was not giving anyone any information. When they landed for the second time the pilot told everyone that a utility vehicle was crossing the runway at the exact moment they were landing. If he had not taken off again they would have most definitely crashed into the vehicle. It was a foggy night and the vehicle must have gotten onto the wrong runway. Ryan's not sure if he believes that story or not. It's also highly likely that the pilot could have over shot the runway and realized that he didn't have enough room to stop so he took off again. Either way, I give God all the praise for keeping Ryan safe and for giving him peace about the whole situation.

And that's it! Gracious that was long! Is anyone still here?

Oh wait, I'm not done yet!

Thank you Devon for mowing our grass. And thanks to Lisa for getting our mail. And thanks to Amy for spiffing our house up when we found out there was going to be a showing. Thanks Grandmom and PopPop for giving Christian so many wonderful memories at your house. Thanks Lindsey for taking care of the flower and babysitting arrangements. And a very special thanks to Heidi and Mandy for helping me make Olivia's ribbons.

And for those of you who have asked, Julie is planning on keeping up their blog, so stop worrying :) They have some great things happening in their lives that are definitely blog worthy. I can't wait to read all about their move to their new house, their trip to Disney and Brooklyn's upcoming birthday, etc! So keep checking in with them and keep praying for them. I know they feel blessed by all of you dear friends out there in cyberspace praying for them and encouraging them!

Now I'm done! Well, not really. I have a few more things I want to post, but I'll wrap this entry up!