Fun in Ohio

Just after summer started the kids and I headed to Ohio for a visit.  While we missed Mike terribly (and deserted him on Father's day, no less!), our trip with action-packed and filled with lots of fun.

Shannon and Jason have their pool all set-up and opened so we (read:the kids) spent a lot of time out in the chilly water having a blast! 

On Father's Day we went to church and were privileged to witness Gabriella's baptism!  As if that weren't wonderful enough, I was filled to the brim with joy to also be surrounded by Dad, Granny and Papaw.  Apart from weddings, I think this was the first time I had been at church with Papaw (who has just recently accepted Christ and been baptized himself!).  What a morning to celebrate! 

Jason baptizing Gabriella

Dad and his girls.  Aubrey insisted we wear the same dress!

Later that day Sara and the kids came to spend the night and following day with us.  It is always so good to be with our dear friends and our time together is too short.  But, the kids LOVED being together and I loved being able to catch up with Sara.

The rest of our trip was spent enjoying time with family.  Emily came over with Laken and Evvy (no pictures of that - bad me!) and it was so fun to see how much they have grown over the last 6 months.  We spent lots of time with Granny and Papaw, and headed up to see Grandma Brown one day as well. 

Whew!  There was a lot of action packed into a short trip.  As always, we were sad to leave, but happy to be returning home to see Mike.

January

What a month!

We spent a quick 3 day weekend in Ohio visiting family since we didn't make it up North at Christmas.  Thankfully, we had a nice survival kit for the car, compliments of my thoughtful sister, just in case we had a repeat of the 24 hour trip from a couple of years ago.  You know, the year that I was traveling alone with the kids, had only a few granola bars in the van for food and found myself sitting on I-77 in WV for 6+ hours as they had CLOSED THE MAJOR HIGHWAY due to snow.  My favorite item there is the Folger's coffee can labeled as "Family Restroom".  Really could have used that 2 years ago...

Anyway, we had a wonderful time with family and I did not use my camera like I should have.  Shannon had her in-laws over for dinner and games one night and we all had great fun.  Then, Grandma Brown hosted a delicious dinner for all of us so we could see most of our Ohio relatives.  You just can't beat Grandmas rolls, green beans and corn!  Then it was time to head home again...  The kids did get to enjoy playing in the snow and sledding with Mike and Uncle Jason.  They were thrilled beyond measure to see the snow!

Grandma Brown with the Great-Grands

Katey and Gabriella

Aubrey (I think she and Katey may have the same sense of style!)

January wrapped up with Seth going under the knife.  It was a whirlwind event as we found out that he needed his tonsils and adenoids out January 9 and he was having surgery on the 20th!!  The good news was there wasn't much time to worry about how he would do.  Seth was very brave and, leading up to the big day, was only upset that he was going to miss a week of school (which made his teacher super happy!). 

The day before surgery I told him that I could pull out the once-beloved Puppy and Sheepy for him to take along.  He said I could if I wanted to, he didn't care either way.  However, the morning of surgery he sought-out Puppy and didn't let go...which made Mommy happy.  (I've missed Puppy and am a little sad that Seth is growing up and doesn't need him around anymore)

So, all went well with the surgery.  The doctor, upon coming out to the waiting room afterwards, informed us that Seth's tonsils were HUGE and everyone in the operating room could not believe how big they were!  Glad we got them out!

Recovery went very smooth (though it was touch-and-go with my attitude and Seth's around day 5-6!) and Seth is no longer snoring or having moments of sleep apnea that we have noticed.  Wahoo!!

Seth before surgery

Puppy got a new friend (appropriately named), "Tonsils"!

And that sums up January.  Whew!

2000 Miles...part 3...Ohio

Even though we were all tiring a bit of riding in the van, it was good to be on the way to Ohio and know we had 5 days of NOT riding in the car to spend with family and friends!

We arrived Monday evening and spent Tuesday doing nothing but playing. Papa Dana came over to hang out with us Tuesday and we all enjoyed visiting with him. The kids also had a great time climbing the tree outside Shannon and Jason's house. Both of our kids are little monkey's and got rather high in the tree.They even planned a little welcome tree-skit for our good friends, Sara, Anna and Dayton when they arrived for a visit on Wednesday. I'm not sure what all was involved apart from all of them being in the tree and waving hello and jumping out of the tree!

While Sara and the kids were at the house we did more of just playing and enjoying spending time together. The kids swam, ran, crafted, did puzzles, schemed and made posters for a lemonade and cookie sale they planned. Aunt Shannon and the kids set up the stand at their church before Wednesday evening services. All the money collected went to a special ministry called "Life Straw" - straws with filters that make even dirty water drinkable. They raised $163!! Pretty cool!

We were so glad that Sara, Anna and Dayton made the 3 hour trip to hang out with us for a couple of days. It is always good to spend time with them and makes us miss them all the more!

Thursday evening we celebrated Aunt Shannon's birthday at a Japanese Steakhouse. Jen and the kids had never been to one before so it was quite a treat to watch the chef cook in front of us! Here is what Katey thought of it:
Do you see her in the pink shirt with her hands on her face? :-) Seth kept scooting back further and further in his chair as the chef flung stuff and lit fires. It was pretty funny! We all had a great time and enjoyed the delicious food!

Shannon with Aubrey. We don't think Aubrey liked the fire very well.

Friday was Shannon's actual birthday and she was awakened to Gabriella and Katey calling her on the phone to tell her to come to the kitchen for breakfast. The girls had worked hard on a special birthday breakfast. And, when I say "special", I mean it:
Why yes, those are grapes and green peppers placed artistically on a plate! Shannon was so very surprised!! And, we were all surprised that she was willing to share her wonderful birthday breakfast with her girls.

They decided to take advantage of the chop sticks we got from the Japanese Steakhouse the night before.

Later that day we headed to Jay and Kathy's house for another day of fun outside. The kids rode the zip line, got to see Emily and meet our new little cousin, Laken;
and put on swim suits and goggles for a fun surprise...THE SHAVING CREAM FIGHT!!
It was tough to get good shots of the kids in action, but here is Aubrey after the fight. They all pretty much looked like this. HA!

We also took a little trip to see Great Grandma Brown and Great-Great Uncle Carl - but I forgot to pull out my camera. Grandma's house smelled delicious as she was working on freezing some Incredible Corn (can't wait to hopefully get a taste of that over Christmas break!) and we had a nice time catching up with them as well.

The most surprising part of the trip was discovering that Seth is a HUGE kitten lover! Our son, who seriously claims to be 1/2 dog (I wish I was kidding on that part, but it is true - he tries to convince us daily), fell in love with Summer the kitten, whom he dubbed "Kitty Litter". He spent the entire time we were at Shannon's chasing the kitty around and picking her up. He was holding her one day and exclaimed, "I'm not sure why dogs don't like cats. I just don't understand because this cat is pretty nice!"

We headed home on Saturday and, while we would have liked a few more days of vacation, we were grateful to be home (and out of the van) and end our 2000+ mile adventure of the Eastern United States...and what a great adventure it was!