Road Trip Home: The Last Stretch

From Jefferson City, the rest was a lot of driving. I don't even totally remember where we stopped. But it was so good just to be with Jason, to talk about our year in MD and to talk about our year ahead of us. We listened to Chris's send-off sermon and reminisced over so many memories. Our one big joke from the trip was when we passed the billboard for the restaurant for "throwed rolls" in MO right after we had already stopped for lunch. This restaurant, I don't remember the name, was voted the best place to pig out on that one TV show! We talked about it the rest of the day! We missed our chance to eat at "throwed rolls"! Otherwise it was pretty uneventful, thankfully!
But I had to get the camera out for this one...

We made it!

Road Trip Home: Fourth Stop

We were able to stop in Jeff City, Mo for our next stop and spend the night at my Grandparents house! I love my Grandparent's and cherish each visit we have together. Although I am bummed the visit was so short, it was so good to see them! Thanks for dinner and donuts! We love you!

Road Trip Home: Third Stop

After Michigan we drove a couple of hours to a suburb outside of Chicago to visit another lovely part of my family! My dad's sister Kathy and my Uncle Chris and my cousins Ben and Maggie. Again, we had a great time! They took us to this great local children's museum the first day and to Zoo the next. The girls had a blast! We had a great time making and sharing meals together and talking till late at night. My Aunt Kathy is another self-made historian in the family and has kept great tabs on my Grandpa's side of the family. We spent hours talking about our history and scouring photo journals. My sweet grandmother died when I was a toddler and it was so good to hear stories about her and look at some of her beautiful photographs. Thank you so much Uncle Chris and Aunt Kathy for such a WONDERFUL time! I hope it is not to long till we can come again soon!
From Chicago, my parents flew the girls home with 10 suitcases, a BIG carseat, and a Ginormous double stroller! Talk about servants! This allowed Jason and I to drive the rest of the way home by ourselves!

The Children's Museum:









The Zoo:

Road Trip Home: Second Stop

My mom was the camp photographer in Battle Creek and I haven't gotten any of the photos yet. So I will add them later.
Our second stop was to drive up to Battle Creek to meet up with my parents, the girls and my Uncle De and Aunt Sharon. My Aunt Sharon is my Grandmother's sister on my dad's side. Battle Creek is kind of like a family homestead. There is so much history there! My Great-Grandparents bought this place right on the lake and it is breathtaking! I don't even know how to summarize all that I saw and learned there. My Great-Grandmother was a local historian and an expert on Sojourner Truth. With her talents as a historian, she has kept amazing records and journals of both her life and my Great-Grandfathers. My Great-Grandfather was a doctor and enlisted in the Airborne during World War II, even though he was significantly older. He fought in all the major battles, received 5 battle stars, the assault arrowhead for D-day, and even received a bronze star at the Battle of the Ramagen Bridge for heroic service in action. What was so amazing was my Granny kept such great photo albums, memory books, and diaries. She even has his diary from the war! Also, my Grandad must have had his own camera because in some of the albums she had his very own pictures of the war and the places they went. Including pictures of D-Day -1! Can you believe it! What an amazing treasure! I would love to go back 10 more times and read those diaries!

It was also great to just visit with De and Sharon, take the boat out on the lake, and watch Abby LOVE going fishing! Thank you so much Uncle De and Aunt Sharon for such a fabulous time!

Road Trip Home: First Stop

We had a pretty sweet deal for our road trip home. We packed our minivan all the way up to the front seats, so there was obviously no room for passengers. My parents rented a minivan and took the girls with them in their car. We broke up the trip into three and four hour drives for the first couple of days with the kids. Our first real stop was in Michigan. Part of Jason's childhood was in Livonia and I have family an hour away in Battle Creek. My parents drove to Battle Creek with the girls and Jason and I got a night to ourselves in Livonia. He showed me his elementary, junior high, and high schools. I saw his houses and where his church used to be. The best part was meeting old family friends of his, the Carnes. They let us stay with them and it was a blast getting to know them. Chuck was this great mix of selflessness and hilarity! From lighting this cotton fluff on fire in his grass, to shooting me with this homemade marshmallow gun, to hearing great stories about how he and his wife Linda truly served and loved his family.
Unfortunately, I somehow didn't get a picture of Linda, but here is Chuck!



Jason's High School Football Team

Guest Post (Jason): Daddy/Abby and the Slide

This is Jason and I am guest posting...

Here is something that happened last October in Maryland. This was a learning experience. Enjoy.

The Pastor's College comes to an end!

So bittersweet!  So many memories, so many great friendships made, so much learned.  So much you want to hold onto, and yet so much you want to go home to.  Much of this I didn't feel right away.  It was a busy, busy push to the finish and we left the morning after graduation.  It may have been a little bit of a crash and burn, but man, it was a fun ride!

The End of the Year Dinner!

This just felt like a huge family celebration!  We were all together and we were having a great time!  All the wives had worked on a 30 minute parody act to honor our husbands and all the guys did the same.  Both turned out so great!  My friend Shari wrote all the songs and did a fabulous job!  

So for a little bit of a BIG sidenote... I announced that night to the class that we were expecting our 3rd child!  I am sure most of you know by now, since I am about 17 weeks.

Anyways, it was so fun to be together and so meaningful to honor those who are due much honor!

But in case you thought we made a fool of ourselves, check this out! The guys were hilarious!


I loved the time we had to honor the Purswells and the Ricuccis. To think how they have impacted our lives, and that they have that impact year in and year out on each class, they are truly amazing servants of the most high God!

And then it happened... Graduation! An amazing night to celebrate God, what He has done, what He is doing! It was so humbling to be a part of this group, to know that these men were being sent out to further the gospel and to build God's church!

All the guys


There's the hottest one of the bunch!  Wahoo!  Well done my love!


I love these two couples! Our lives have been forever changed because of their teaching and example!


Now to explain why most of these after celebratory pictures are of me and not Jason.  Well, I actually forgot my camera and just downloaded Hannah's onto my computer.  Thanks Hannah!  Well, as you can imagine, she took more pictures of me and the girls than Jason.  :)  I guess I couldn't have picked a bigger occasion to forget my camera!

But of course, first there is Hannah!  I love this picture and I love this girl!  She was one of my most special gifts this year!  I treasure her and her friendship and pray that she will be a friend I talk to for the rest of my life!  I can't wait to see where they end up! (shhhh, whisper, west coast, west coast, west coast... :) ! )







Ah!  My parents!  They are the best!  They made yet another trip out to MD and this time it was to bring us home!  Thank you!