Goodbyes & the trip home

There was time for one last 4 wheeler ride with daddy.

And one last expedition to explore the farm.

(Three generations!)
And then we had to go.

McKenna didn't mind saying goodbye, but Christian cried as we drove away from the farm. He's old enough to understand just how far away it is and he was sure sad about it.

But we have this little tradition that seems to make saying "goodbye" a little easier.
About an hour into our trip there is a Cracker Barrel and we meet the family there for lunch before we officially hit the road. Grammy always buys some fun little surprise for the kids in the Cracker Barrel store (don't they have the best stuff??) and that always makes the first hour in the car a little more pleasant too!

McKenna giving her Grammy hugs!

Grammy and Grampy with two of their sons and four of their grandkids!

And then Aunt Ang jumped in the picture!

The four year olds.

The siblings! They really look alike don't they?!

Grampy with grandson #1

Grampy with grandson #2.

And then we drove. We drove for 12 and a half hours. Whew! Christian is great in the car....McKenna - not so much!

Thankfully they looked like this for the last five hours of the trip. We got home at 3:30am. Ryan carried in everything from the car and wasn't even tired because he drank so much coffee. I went to sleep right away. Thankfully everyone slept until 9:30 the next morning, so I got a reasonable nights sleep. And just for the record; I've caught up on all our laundry :)
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We miss you Illinois family. You're definitely talked about a lot around here. McKenna kept talking about "acey" ((Gracey)) today! We are so thankful for each of you and the time we got to spend together! That's for putting your lives on hold to spend time with us while we were there! We love you!

Family! Lots and Lots of Family!

(Grampy Chat with his sister Aunt Robin)
In case you haven't noticed...Ryan has lots of family. Lots and lots of family. And whenever someone in the family has a get together, everyone shows up! It's fabulous!

This year we actually weren't the ones who traveled the farthest to be there! Ryan's cousin Ty was there all the way from Florida and he brought the star of the show....Hannah! Hannah is the newest member of our family and McKenna was just slightly obsessed with her!

We got to see Uncle Bob and Aunt Karen two days in a row! What a treat! But we missed riding on Uncle Bob's pony, Beauty, this year!

Aunt Angel and Aunt Sue

Uncle Bob, Grampy and Uncle Frank

Notice where the guys are hanging out!
Ryan with his cousins Ty and Zac.

Aunt Ang talking to Grandma Doran

Uncle Beez and Aunt Lindsey

Amy & Chris

Chrish and Brooklyn!!

Uncle Rod was hosting the party!

Grandma Suzanne (Aunt Sue to us) with her daughter Amy (in the green) and daughter-in-law Jenn and baby Hannah!

Whew...and believe it or not I did not even remotely get a picture of everyone. I always feel like I'm being really annoying making everyone pose for pictures. I really wanted to make each family line up on the couch for pictures, but Ryan absolutely told me I was not allowed to do that. So I hopped around all night taking candid shots of everyone instead. I know...annoying, but we don't get to see everyone all that often and I want to be able to point to a picture of a person when I'm talking about them to Christian. I want him to know his family and recognize their faces even though we don't see each other all the time. So that's why I ended up with almost 300 pictures. More to come....

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Thanksgiving always starts out early for Grammy Mary Ellen! The kitchen is usually smelling pretty good by the time we wake up! Then Aunt Angel arrives and seems to know just how to jump in and help with the cooking!

Aunt Angel with Gracey & Ella.

The siblings! Ryan's the middle child. Angel is the oldest and Robert is the youngest.A rare picture of Ryan and I.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Karen joined us for Thanksgiving dinner.

Aunt Ang and Uncle Beez

Aunt Lindsey and Aunt Angel with cousins Gracey and Ella.

Probably my favorite thing about our week in Illinois was watching these two play together. They love each other and have the best time together. And Gracey doesn't put up with Christian's moodiness for one second (I love that :) I heard her tell him at one point that Santa wasn't going to bring him many presents if he kept being so fussy!

Cousins Emma and Ella

Gracey, Christian and Zavier

Aunt Ang brought her laptop to show Grampy how high speed internet works.

Love this picture of Uncle Ryan and Gracey!

Just the girls! (Taken by Christian)

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! It was actually rather relaxing (other than chasing McKenna around to make sure she wasn't getting into trouble). Grammy and Grampy work so hard to make our visits so fun and easy! Grammy is completely organized and has everything planned out. She had actually found one of Christian's gloves that he left there last year and remembered to give it to me, even with everything else going on! So anyway, it was a great day. We missed seeing Bill and Becky and their families, but we still had a wonderful day.

Corn Mazes are TRICKY!

Honestly, I wasn't so sure we were ever going to find our way out. We let Christian be the leader at first and that led us in a significantly wrong direction.


McKenna was happy in the maze because Daddy was carrying her the whole time! This is her new look when I say "cheese."

Waving "cheese" to mommy!

So we eventually found our way out! Christian is dying to go back, but mommy just didn't love it, so I don't know if that's going to happen this year.

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But we did have a great weekend. I guess I should say; Christian had a really good weekend. He's been having a very hard since we moved and he started school. His behavior has been out of control and I have been beside myself knowing what to do. He's said some very mean things, he's had a few enormous meltdowns in very public places, he has been unhappy the majority of the time and he's had some other issues which I won't blog about because I don't want him to ever feel embarrassed by what I say on here. So it's been stressful. I have found myself spending an enormous about of time disciplining/discussing/teaching/resolving issues...trying to get to his heart and not just his head. I've felt defeated...like every minute of everyday! But there has been a verse that has been stuck in my head through it all that has brought me great help through this trial...I'll share in a minute. So anyway, Christian had a good weekend. He was kind to his sister. He was respectful and obedient to Ryan and I. Daddy spent a lot of time with Christian even though he's been feeling awful. There have been lots of adventures, and soccer, and baseball and bike rides and trips to fun places and Christian's gotten lots of love and attention and I think he desperately needed some positive attention. So it's been good...I don't want Monday to come, but hopefully we can keep this momentum going.

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The last part of Colossians 3:15 says "And be thankful."

Simple, yet so profound.
And then here's the next part that's the important part:
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
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That verse just speaks to me because I definitely feel like I do not have enough wisdom to handle Christian. Yet, I know God gave him to me because he knew that I would be the best mommy for him. Yikes...so what do I do??? I think this verse is saying that if we let God's word ((the Bible)) dwell in us ((like memorize it, read it, think about it, ponder what it's talking about)) then we will have "all wisdom." That as I'm teaching Christian and as I'm admonishing him ((correcting or disciplining him)) that God will give me wisdom because I'm letting his word dwell in me. I kind of feel like "dwelling in God's word" is a safety net for me, that as long as I'm doing that I'm not going to make too many mistakes with Christian, even though he's so ridiculously complicated :) Well, that's just my personal take on that verse. I'm no Bible scholar, but I did want to share how that verse encouraged me, just in case any of you need a little encouragement too.

#1 Train with his #1 fan

More from our Thomas trip...

Christian was totally overwhelmed by all the HUGE train selection at the Thomas store!

"It's so loud!"

McKenna liked the mini-train the best!

See that whistle in Christian's hand...that's all he wanted from the Thomas store (less than 10 bucks sounds good to me)! Today he was "playing" his whistle on the way to preschool and he said; "I wish there was a whistle contest. Then I could play my whistle and win a big, big trophy because I'm really good." I question the "really good" part and I should know...I heard the whistle playing all the way to preschool and all the way home from preschool :)

Sir Topham Hat with my boys.

I think she loved this day just as much as Christian did!