Home is where friendships are formed and families are grown;
where joy is shared and true love is known;
where memories are made and seeds of life are sown.
This is the place...that people call HOME.
where memories are made and seeds of life are sown.
This is the place...that people call HOME.
Our visit to my native home was a good one. Though the days there were short, they were very full and it seemed as if the Lord really multiplied our time there to make it seem longer. I think the girls enjoyed their time there and I know that Lon and I did. It was a good time to visit old friends, see new things that were actually very old things, and to reconnect with family.
On Wednesday, we went to visit Miss Alma, a dear family friend, who is really fond of the girls. She enjoyed watching the girls play and enjoyed holding Abby. We got some sweet pictures of her with the girls. It's such a blessing that our little girls get both to bless and be blessed by someone of an older generation. I hope that's something that's a constant in their lives. Nana took Lainey and Sarah Grace back to see her on Friday and let Lainey read to her.
Visiting with Miss Alma
Also on Wednesday, we went to Ashley Heights Baptist Church where Lon served as associate pastor and were able to reconnect with several old friends. It was a blessing to be able to see them and hear them pray for us and to see how the Lord has blessed and is continuing to bless them as a congregation.
On Thursday, we traveled to Raleigh to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences to see the exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The girls weren't all that impressed with them, but their parents definitely were. Upon entering the exhibit, the guide told us that the glass cases were really sensitive and that if they were bumped, touched, kicked, looked at, or breathed on too hard, an alarm would go off, so it seemed that we spent most of our time touring trying to prevent the girls from touching anything-not always (or ever) an easy task! It really was an amazing thing to see scrolls that someone wrote upon 2000 years ago and also to see the relics discovered-dishes, sandals,combs, and even a hairnet (I said that was for the Qumran cafeteria workers). It just gives you a little perspective that the world is much older than we are and that the people that lived in biblical times were probably a lot like us. We also saw several fossils of dinosaurs while we were there and Lainey was really impressed with those. I'm pretty sure she probably thinks that dinosaurs roamed the earth at the time the Dead Sea Scrolls were written, but we'll work on correcting that. As we walked into a room with a huge dinosaur, Lon pointed it out to Lainey who then looked up and said, "WHOA!"
Standing in a footprint at the museum
Huge Dinosaurs
Friday we went to visit my best good friend Clen at her parents'. Her dad got out his tractor and gave Lainey a ride along with Clen's son Toby. He also drove her around on his John Deere tractor and his Harley. When we asked her later what her favorite part of the day was, she said, "Riding the motorcycle." They had a great time playing outside and I enjoyed being able to visit with Clen and her parents. We've both had babies since we've seen each other so it was neat to be able to reconnect and see how the Lord has blessed us. It's a blessing indeed to have lifelong friends.
Riding the Tractor with Uncle Pappy
Taking a Ride on the Motorcycle
Lainey swinging with Toby
Sarah Grace, Toby, and Lainey
Abby and Uncle Pappy
Clen, Hollee, Abby, Amy
Finally on Friday evening we had supper with a great number of my aunts and uncles. I have to say this was probably my favorite part of the visit. I love, love, love my family and it just thrills my soul to be able to visit with them. Visiting with them is probably the thing I miss most. The evening was too short with them, but we enjoyed it thoroughly. It was good to see our girls playing with their cousins and brought back memories of my growing up.
Natalie, Aunt Janice, and Abby
Abby and Uncle Martin
Amy, Abby, Aunt Janice, and Emma
Uncle Jerry, Abby, and Sofia
Yesterday was the longest day ever with all of the flying and such. We had a lengthy layover in Chicago so we left the airport and rode on the train for about 4 stops, got out and walked around a bit and then rode the train back to the airport. The girls enjoyed that and it broke up the layover quite nicely. They did pretty good flying though there was talk of leaving Lainey a couple of times. We persevered and arrived home safely last night around 10:00. And now we're hoping it doesn't take us long to get over the jet lag and back on schedule.
"A train, a train, a train, a train. Could you, would you on a train?"
All in all, it was a great visit and left me feeling thoroughly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to visit with. I pray that the home we create for our girls is one that they want to return to with their own families in the years to come.
On Wednesday, we went to visit Miss Alma, a dear family friend, who is really fond of the girls. She enjoyed watching the girls play and enjoyed holding Abby. We got some sweet pictures of her with the girls. It's such a blessing that our little girls get both to bless and be blessed by someone of an older generation. I hope that's something that's a constant in their lives. Nana took Lainey and Sarah Grace back to see her on Friday and let Lainey read to her.
Visiting with Miss AlmaOn Thursday, we traveled to Raleigh to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences to see the exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The girls weren't all that impressed with them, but their parents definitely were. Upon entering the exhibit, the guide told us that the glass cases were really sensitive and that if they were bumped, touched, kicked, looked at, or breathed on too hard, an alarm would go off, so it seemed that we spent most of our time touring trying to prevent the girls from touching anything-not always (or ever) an easy task! It really was an amazing thing to see scrolls that someone wrote upon 2000 years ago and also to see the relics discovered-dishes, sandals,combs, and even a hairnet (I said that was for the Qumran cafeteria workers). It just gives you a little perspective that the world is much older than we are and that the people that lived in biblical times were probably a lot like us. We also saw several fossils of dinosaurs while we were there and Lainey was really impressed with those. I'm pretty sure she probably thinks that dinosaurs roamed the earth at the time the Dead Sea Scrolls were written, but we'll work on correcting that. As we walked into a room with a huge dinosaur, Lon pointed it out to Lainey who then looked up and said, "WHOA!"
Standing in a footprint at the museum
Huge Dinosaurs
Friday we went to visit my best good friend Clen at her parents'. Her dad got out his tractor and gave Lainey a ride along with Clen's son Toby. He also drove her around on his John Deere tractor and his Harley. When we asked her later what her favorite part of the day was, she said, "Riding the motorcycle." They had a great time playing outside and I enjoyed being able to visit with Clen and her parents. We've both had babies since we've seen each other so it was neat to be able to reconnect and see how the Lord has blessed us. It's a blessing indeed to have lifelong friends.
Riding the Tractor with Uncle Pappy
Taking a Ride on the Motorcycle
Lainey swinging with Toby
Sarah Grace, Toby, and Lainey
Abby and Uncle Pappy
Clen, Hollee, Abby, Amy
Natalie, Aunt Janice, and Abby
Abby and Uncle Martin
Amy, Abby, Aunt Janice, and Emma
Uncle Jerry, Abby, and Sofia
"A train, a train, a train, a train. Could you, would you on a train?"
Green Eggs and Ham
All in all, it was a great visit and left me feeling thoroughly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to visit with. I pray that the home we create for our girls is one that they want to return to with their own families in the years to come.
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