There's No Place Like Home

I've been waiting to do this all week! Those whole "responsibility things" like cleaning the house, laundry and work tend to get in the way of things I want to do during my down time! So, I've got my glass of water poured, a quiet kitchen and typing fingers ready to share about our fun and fast trip with family and friends.

First off, the plane ride. Will and Sadie did fantastic. Thank you, Jesus! Also, thank you American Airlines--Rob was able to go with us as far as basically walking on the plane. Very nice. Will was excited to wear his new backpack that was full of goodies for the plane ride. He didn't need much entertaining, though, just his toy airplane. Once we were up in the sky he got some shut eye. Sadie girl must have really been jazzed about her second plane ride... she stayed up almost the entire time but remained a happy little lady. She was my vocal one this trip, but her squeals, albeit loud squeals, were squeals of delight. Sigh. Mission accomplished.



We were greeted by my Aunt Linda and Sam at the airport. Will loves his cousin Sam. He's got a lot to learn from his more "mature" three-year-old cousin. We'll get back to that later!!
Anyhow, my Mom surprised us by being at the house when we arrived. (She and Dad both had to work that day, but she was able to go on-call, at least for a little while!) The rest of the day was spent playing with MiMi, PaPa, Auntie Katie and Uncle Jeff! Will even got a chance to try out "PaPa's truck." We ordered pizza and Katie brought over a DVD of the 'Bachelor' from the night before. Doesn't get much better than that. ;)




The first night or two were a little rough as we discovered Sadie was in the process of cutting four teeth!! Yikes. Poor girl. That resulted in at least two nights of little to no sleep.
Thankfully, MiMi and PaPa don't mind getting up at the crack of dawn with their grandson! So, needless to say, Wednesday was a complete down day, recovering from the trip and lack of sleep.

The highlight of Thursday was our "Girls Night Out!" Yes, MiMi, Auntie Katie, Sadie and I enjoyed a night of shopping, eating and fun. We got some real steals on some dresses--that's what I'm talking about, we are the bargain finding babes!! LOL! Below, Auntie Katie shows Sadie how to use the debit card. Meantime, Will and PaPa had some good bonding time over Mickey D's and baseball.



Friday I spent most of the morning practicing my music for the wedding. Later that afternoon Mom and I got in some shoe shopping (unheard of in my life right now--so a real treat). That night was the rehearsal dinner for the wedding to which Kelly (my cousin) and Tom graciously invited me. It was awesome. Very classy. The food was delicious and I had the chance to get to know some of Kelly's bridesmaids and their spouses. What a fun group. We laughed a lot that night. Also, my brother, Matt, arrived home from college that night for his fall break. Double blessing to have him in town during our trip!

Saturday was the big wedding!! I arrived at the church around 12:30 PM to practice with the organist--what a talented woman. The two songs I sang were "Grow Old Along With Me" and "Beautiful In My Eyes". Gorgeous songs. I was a little nervous about singing the second song though. Thankfully, I think all went well, but the day definitely wasn't about me. Kelly looked absolutely radiant and the ceremony was beautiful. What stuck out to me the most was the sermon. The pastor really just told it the way it is! He basically said that the wedding day is the easiest day for couples to fulfill their wedding vows, adding that most look the best that day that they're ever going to look! He continued that it's the times down the road when you don't feel like loving the other person or when it's not convenient for you, that's when you're fulfilling the vows. Good stuff to chew on and a great reminder for all of us married folks who have made that commitment to our spouse before God and man.

While the "I Do's" were happening, my dear friend from church, Kathi, watched the little ones. We made a pit stop back at my parents in between the ceremony and reception so I could feed the little lady. Thanks, Kathi, for lovin' on our babies.

The reception was an elegant party! When I say elegant, I mean the tables look fabulous and the food was top notch. When I say partee', I mean we danced the night away!! When songs like "We Are Family" and "Celebration" come on it's like there is literally a magnetic pull to the dance floor--at least for my Mom, sister and I. We did manage to pull Dad on the dance floor once or twice. Matt, cool college bro, would have nothing to do with it, though! While there, I also had the chance to catch up with some family members that we don't get a chance to hang out with very often. What an encouragement that was. God is working in the Praechter family and it's a true delight to see.

(Sorry no pics of the wedding yet!)

Sunday it was off to church and then to my Uncle David's property for my cousin Cole's 16th birthday party. Yes, I said, 16th!! He's such a great guy. Ever since I had the chance to spend a summer with him and his brother, Lucas, many years ago, they both have a soft spot in my heart!! Back to the party... my Uncle owns this great piece of land in the country, about an hour or so out of St. Louis and it has lots of wide open space for my little man to run about. He loved it! However, he has some work to do on the whole sharing thing and that afternoon he got a little lesson on it, with some help from his cousin Sam. Thanks, buddy! I think he's catching on. It's so fun to see him interact with his cousins. Makes me wish we lived closer!! Sadie girl enjoyed being passed around from family member to family member. I loved catching up with everyone.



Monday--our last full day--was spent catching up with friends and a trip to the pumpkin patch. First, we enjoyed a morning playdate with my dear friend Brittyne and her sweet girls, Bailey, Abby and Riley. The little ones enjoyed playing outside while the two of us did our best to have a somewhat adult conversation in the midst of it all! ha! I love ya, girl and, yes, next time, we're doing a girl's night out!



Later, MiMi and PaPa, along with Uncle Matt, took Will and Sadie to the pumpkin patch. We went to the same pumpkin patch I went to as a kid so it was kind of one of those full circle moments! William could not get over all the "orange pumpkins" and was thrilled once we found the "park" or swing set that he could play on. The funny story of the afternoon surrounded my son's recent obsession with balloons. While we were swinging, Will found some nearly deflated, helium balloons that were tied to some hay bales that were probably used for a birthday party or something. They were pretty sad, honestly. Well, from that moment on, that's all William could talk about. He wanted those balloons. As I am trying to convince him the pumpkins are much cooler than balloons, his smart MiMi had already gone and asked an employee if we could have the balloons. Will's hero! If you could have only seen the excitement on his face and body language when we told him he could have the balloons--it was hilarious. Anyhow, now the trip to the pumpkin patch was complete, he had his blue and yellow balloons.:)



Once we got back from the pumpkin patch, my good friend from college, Jamie, dropped by with her sweet, just turned two year old daughter, Syndey! Here's a fun picture of the four of us today and about two years ago just after the little one's were born. Too fun. They grow up way to fast. We are so excited for the Newell family, they are expecting a baby girl in late February.



The rest of the evening was kind of "chill". Auntie Katie and Uncle Jeff came over for some Chinese and the ladies, of course, watched the "Bachelor" (sad, I know). Once everyone went to bed Katie, Matt and I stayed up talking for a bit. That was fun. It reminded me of back in the day when it was just the three of us at home.

Tuesday we packed and headed to the airport for the return flight. Despite a meltdown going through security, the two did fantastic! Again, thank you Jesus. And thank you, Dad, for going to the gate with us. As a quick side note, William's vocabulary is really cracking us up lately and he's getting a little confident with it. Case in point, while were waiting to board the plane, Will and I were playing a "seat chase" game in an area of empty seats. He would run to a chair and sit in it, and I would follow and sit right next to him. He would move and I would follow and plop down next to him again. This repeated a couple times and one time I leaned into him and said, "Mommy's sitting right next to you." He look up at me, didn't skip a beat, and said, "I know that!" Well, thank you son! It really cracked me up!! After a non-eventful flight, we were back at home with Daddy.

All in all a great trip! We decided on a ten day minimum for the next one. Thanks for reading and we leave for Rob's family's house late next week, so expect another trip recap real soon!

Y'all come back now, hear!

Jamie