Bad, Bad Blogger..

Oh my goodness...life has been busy!  I have hardly known up from down or right from left.  And through it all, there has been some really good blogging material.  Things are slowing down in our world, and so I decided to attempt to update my adoring public (tee hee) on the happenings in our world!  Since there is a lot to blog about, I will just take it one topic at a time. 

SO for this blog post, the topic of choice is (drum roll please....) our trip to Memphis!

My brother and his wife welcomed their second baby boy into the world in April.  Their oldest son turned 3 on June 18th.  Before the big wreck that was ALL MY FAULT, the plans were that the kids and I would leave to meet baby Thomas on June 6th and JM would fly down that Thursday to meet us there and help with the LONG trek home on Saturday the 11th.  If you follow this blog and the drama of my life, then you will know that the accident changed all of that.  I was very upset. 

Many, many details later... we found out at the last minute that we could head to Memphis on Friday the 17th.  It was really then or not until much, much later.  Our summer is filled with lots of fun plans, but these plans were going to prevent us from making the trip any other time.  I was so thankful it all worked out the way it did!

Saturday was my nephew's birthday, so we were able to go to the fun bounce party!  It was so much fun to be a part of the day.  Whit kept asking over and over again for Big Brother and Little Bit.  At one point during the party the three of them were upstairs playing by themselves!  It was so sweet.  And I got to hold baby Thomas pretty much the whole time.  What a sweet, sweet baby boy.  He is absolutely adorable and very happy. 

Sadly, Saturday was the only day we got with them.  They had already planned a trip to the beach and they left Sunday morning.  I must confess, it is very hard for me to say good-bye to my brother's family, but especially my little nephews.  Knowing that we are so far away and don't get to be a part of their daily lives is hard.  I think it is harder for me because we WERE there at one point... it was just before they were born.  It is so cute to see Big Brother and Little Bit playing with them.  I am so thankful we had that opportunity to be together.

The rest of the trip was really nice, too.  We spent some good time with my parents, went to our old church on Sunday, and visited with some friends.  We spent an entire afternoon with my very sweet friend Melanie and her 3 boys.  It was just like it used to be - which is really nice and also sad.  We used to hang out almost every day.  Big Brother and her oldest son were so happy to see each other.  Again, it was hard to leave them.  I am so thankful that God has blessed our friendship in spite of the miles.  I love the Alexanders like they are family. 

Our trip was shorter than I wanted it to be.  We had to leave on Tuesday to get ready for the launch of the new church (which I will blog about later!).  I always feel sad saying good-bye to my parents, but it was easier knowing that I will see them in July when we go to the beach!

After the LONG, LONG drive home, it was very sweet to pull up to our house and see JM's smiling face waiting for us outside.  The kids missed their daddy and were very glad to see him, too.  As you probably know, JM is "half-haired."  Big Brother says he has "rainbow" hair ( you know... his hair line is shaped like a rainbow in the back.)  When we pulled up the driveway, Big Brother said sweetly, "Oh yeah!  I forgot about daddy's rainbow hair!"  Welcome home!