Months ago, we started planning our summer trip out west.  We knew that we had to be in Idaho for a family reunion the end of July, and were trying to work out how we wanted to plan the rest of our time.  Then, we heard that my niece, Brooke’s, wedding was going to be at the perfect time for us to swing down on our trip and attend her wedding. Suddenly, our trip began to look much different, and so besides going to Austin, we now were going to be able to stop and visit friends in Nashville and Albuquerque.  And it also made the trip a lot longer – an extra thousand miles and an extra week.

Well, we decided that to make it work, Kevin would stay at home and work the first week of our vacation, and then fly out to meet us for the wedding in Texas.  As it got closer, the preparations began, and on Monday, I started packing in earnest.  We needed to make sure we had Kevin’s stuff for the rest of the trip, as well as all we needed for 3 weeks of travel.  By nine in the morning, I already had 15,00 steps, and by the end of the day I had over 23,000 steps.  Nice.

On Tuesday morning, bright and early, the kids and I were on the road and headed to Tennessee.  We had plenty of movies, audio books, and snacks for the road.  All was well, until Arthur told me his tummy hurt.  This was not what I wanted to hear, and although none of our kids get carsick, I had thought to bring a bucket along with me at the last minute.  Thank goodness I did, because Arthur totally threw up in it, about an hour into our 12 hour drive.  Good times.  Luckily, it was the only time he threw up.

All in all, the drive went really well – especially since I was the only driver and it was twelve hours long.  I sang really loud with music and chewed bubble gum to help keep me alert.  And it worked.  At dinnertime, we got to my best friend, Pamela’s house, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.  It was so great to be there!  We had a blast talking and catching up, and stayed up until almost two am the first night.  Oops ;).

The kids had a great time playing too.  Wyatt and Houston, Pamela’s boys, absolutely loved playing with Derek, and Arthur would switch off playing with the boys and playing with Lexy.

Other than talking to Pamela, I spent a lot of time trying to get in the good graces of her youngest daughter, Madison, who was an absolute doll.  I never actually got a picture of her, and so Pamela gave me this one.  Her curly hair, brilliant blue eyes and cherub face – added to her spunky personality – and I was wrapped around her finger.  Such a sweetheart!

Other than hanging out at their house and playing, we took the kids to a splashpad.  It was so hot out, that it was the perfect activity.  The kids had a blast, and Lily even played for a little bit, but then she got tired and hung out with us.  (It may have had something to do with the fact that she threw up that morning.  Oops. I felt so bad that we inadvertently brought some sort of stomach thing to Pamela’s house.)

Right next to the splashpad was an awesome playground, and so we let the kids play so that their suits would dry off before we got into the cars to go.  If it hadn’t been so crazy hot out, they could have played there forever.

On Wednesday night, Cliff, Pamela’s husband, took care of the kids so that she and I could have a girl’s night.  We went to The Melting Pot, since she had never been there and had always wanted to go.  It was so much fun, and the food was delicious – especially the dessert.  We were so full, but we managed to eat every bite.  Yum!!  We had such a wonderful time.

We really had a fabulous few days, but we did have a couple setbacks.  On Wednesday afternoon, Arthur went outside to eat his popsicle, and within a minute, had been stung by a wasp!  He was screaming and crying, “Why did this happen to me?”  Poor guy!  And on Thursday morning, his toe got caught under a door and it ripped a huge chunk of skin off – it was so gross and bleeding everywhere.  Luckily, both times, Pamela and I worked together to doctor him – or rather, I held him and tried to calm him, while she cleaned and bandaged him.  Nothing that watching a little Paw Patrol couldn’t solve though :).

On Thursday, before we headed out of town, we stopped by the Nashville Temple, so that I could take eight year old portraits of Wyatt, Pamela’s oldest son.  It was noon, so the lighting wasn’t that great, but we still managed to get some great shots.  He is such a handsome boy.

After the portraits, we stopped at Sonic for lunch, and to say goodbye.  I hate goodbyes.

I sure do love this beautiful lady!  Twenty-two years later, and when we get together, it is like we have never been apart.  I will always be grateful that the Lord put Pamela in my life.