Dream House

After 1+ year of searching and making offers and getting denied, I'd started to wonder if I should give up on my dream of having a little land, and just settle for a house with a little more space and sunlight to grow a garden.  The market is so crazy right now that houses are going to so fast, and there just aren't many out there.  And I wanted to be close to the schools, and I wanted Reid to be able to bike into work.  The houses that we were looking at didn't offer all of our criteria, and I was giving up.

In early February we'd made an offer on a house in the boondocks and it was, yet again, rejected.  I was so discouraged, and so sick of hearing myself talk about all of this.  And then i checked the MLS for the 14th time that day, and voila!  There was a house in a great location in the little town of Foxfield.  It's on about 3 acres, and close to the schools! I called immediately and set up a showing to go see it the next day with the whole fam.

Now, for better of worse, we've included the kids in this entire process. They've seen more houses than Reid, and know more about mortgages and septic systems than most kids their age. Sometimes they loved the houses, sometimes they inexplicably hated the houses.  But at the end of the day I knew that if I was going to pull them away from their friends and classmates here, I was going to need their stamp of approval, or I'd hear about it for months, maybe even years.  And honestly, apart from one house last summer, there hadn't been a house that 100% of us loved.

When we walked out of the house in Foxfield, Reid asked everyone who loved the house to raise their hands.  I will never forget the thrill and excitement as i looked around and saw everyone, including James, had their hand in the air.

Everything about this house (well, almost everything) is perfect for us.  And the things that aren't perfect can be changed (like the carpet).  The house is charming, with wood burning fireplaces, exposed brick and beams.  It's a little bigger than I'd wanted (have I mentioned that I don't clean?) But  Reid loved the size and the vaulted ceilings (which i hate, but can live with). Reid can bike into work on trails, not busy roads!  The kids can walk, bus or drive to school!  And there's a SuperTarget and Sprouts about 1/2 mile away, along with a 24 hour fitness...where I believe I have a long-forgotten membership!  It's zoned for 3 large livestock and 12 poultry, including a rooster.  There is ample area to plant our orchard, and a big old garden.  It's everything we wanted.

We prayed about this decision, and felt really, really good about it.  We made our offer and found out that there were 5 other offers that came in with ours.  So in our offer we included a little letter about our family and what we love about the house and how long we've looked for the perfect house, yada yada.  We even included a family photo :)

 Then we waited. and waited. Two days felt like two years! The girls would come home from school and shout "have they accepted our offer yet???"  And Reid called about 100 times from work because he couldn't think about anything else.  I spent countless hours reading about goats and chickens and pasture and fences and fruit trees and bees.  It was a very unproductive few days.

And then the call came.  The broker told me that they'd received an offer quite a bit higher than ours, but they're choosing us!!  The screaming in the house was unlike anything I'd ever heard.  We called Reid on his way home to tell him the news, and at first he couldn't even hear what we were saying--only screams.  He was thrilled, and we all were elated.

And then the reality of it all set in.  I started to think about our life here, and all the millions of memories we've created in this home.  I started thinking about our neighbors and church friends and my girlfriends and all the people who've seen my babies grow from infants to sassy little kids.  I started looking around at our little home and missing everything about it.  I started to cry.  And cry.  Then the girls joined in.  And by the time Reid walked through the door, ready to celebrate with us, we were all a mess.  He was, of course, speechless.

And so have been the past 6 weeks since we went under contract.  An emotional roller-coaster.  I have doubted this decision and freaked out and wanted to back out ALMOST as much as I am in love with the house and the area and our future there.  It's been exhausting and exciting and scary and thrilling.  The sellers needed some time to find a place so it's been a long process, which I've actually been grateful for. I've needed this time to go thru my ups and downs.  Not to mention that our kids want to finish the school year at their school here, so the later we close the better!  Right now the closing is set for the end of April, but I wouldn't be surprised if that got pushed back a bit.

Our house is going on the market in 8 days.  The count-down is on.  Homes in my hood are selling like hot-cakes, so i shouldnt feel too stressed...but i do.  The list of to-do's is slowly shrinking.  I've painted all the baseboards upstairs (why didn't I do that earlier? it looks awesome!) And I've had my brilliant designer friend over to stage the rooms.  I'm stressed about all that is left, and I needed every single minute this week.  Which is why it was particularly bad timing to catch grace's awful stomach flu today.  My fever won't break, and my subconscious won't let me expel the contents of my stomach. In fact, i'm not sure I'm in a state of mind to be blogging right now, but I'm so bored out of my mind that it seems like a good idea.  Thankfully Reid was able to work from home and be the dad and mom.  He's amazing, he really is.  We're in the middle of the world's worst Spring Break, and the kids have been at each other non-stop.  Yet today?  they did great.  He really should be the stay-at-home parent.  And the bread-winner.  Is that asking too much?

Anyway, here are a few photos of the house. Maybe it's not everyone's cup 'o tea, but we love it :)

As I type I am sitting in the dark on a hard chair in a corner of a very small and variably hot/cold motel room.  I shift positions so as to rotate between my rear end falling asleep and my tail bone aching.  (I am an old woman.)  Abby and Reid have already conked out.  James is singing "Angels we have heard on high" in his pack n' play, Grace and Eliza have collectively used the bathroom 5 times since we "put them to bed" an hour ago.  There's no one to talk to, no TV shows to veg in front of, and no projects to work on. This is apparently what it takes for me to sit down and blog.

We are on our way home from a wonderful Christmas and New Year's trip spent with both of our families.  (We'd hoped to get home today, but between the snow and the traffic, we decided not to push our luck.) We spent eight days with my family in Provo, then 3 days with Reid's in Salt Lake. Yet the highlight might just be the few hours we spent at this little motel.

Hopefully I'll get around to blogging about our trip--I no longer make such promises.   But for now I have at least enough wherewithall to cut and paste a letter that we gave to Reid's parents as part of our gift this year. It's a summary of the year's events, written largely by Reid (I take credit for anything clever).  I've deleted photos that are already on this blog, and added more than was necessary.

ALLRED FAMILY SUMMARY 2013

2013 will forever be remembered as the year of the budget and the home search.  In an effort to payoff our student loans and because we're not crazy enough, we lived off an extremely tight budget this year.  Despite this belt tightening, we spent much of the year looking for a new house. Makes sense, right?  Alas, our dream (well Emily's dream) of starting a hobby farm was not to come true this year. Fifty-three showings and two offers later, we’re still at our same house.  Luckily it is a wonderful house with amazing neighbors. If only it had more sunlight, garden space, ditch rights, a pasture, a chicken coop, fruit trees and a barn we'd stay there forever.  Even with the budget cuts and the rejected offers, we still had a wonderful and eventful year.

January.  Abby turned six and celebrated her birthday with her friend Maya at Chucky Cheese.  Emily rose to the challenge of the budget and started couponing (which she despises) and mastered frugal fun.  Our favorite date was playing racquet ball at the rec center.  All the girls did gymnastics at a local gym (at different times throughout the year) and really enjoyed it.  Emily cooked beans from scratch and took on a piano student to pay for their classes.     

February.  We welcomed our first family pet--Blue Jay the Beta fish. Emily hosted book club and made the most decadent chocolate coconut scones. Emily also made it to the post office to mail two 10" ponytails to Locks of Love.  Fortunately hair does not go bad, as these ponytails were lopped off of Grace and Emily's heads in late 2011. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Reid went to Washington, D.C. for the annual LDS lawyers conference.   Emily did not attend.  Justice Clarence Thomas and Elder Jeffery Holland spoke.  How romantic.  

March.  Reid turned 34.  When Emily gave him a birthday kiss, the girls surely said, “Let me be the first to say: Eeewww!”  (This is one of their favorite responses to their parents kissing.)  In March we were moved into a different ward/congregation thanks to a boundary change.  We've met some wonderful people and made new friends. Also this month Abby and Grace were coerced volunteered to perform at their school talent show.  Practice apparently does not always make perfect.  Someday they’ll be able to talk about it without crying.

April.  Grace turned eight!  For her birthday, we had someone come over and manicure her and her friends’ nails and make cotton candy.  Days later we traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend Aunt Karen and (new) Uncle Tommy G.’s wedding.  It was awesome and the temple grounds were beautiful.  The girls were thrilled to announce, “now we have three uncle Toms.”  While there, we had lots of fun with the Staceys and spent some time at Gettysburg and  the D.C.  monuments and museums.

May.  Grace was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Grandpa Ashworth, Aunt Julia, Uncle Nathan, Grandma and Grandpa Allred and Karen and Tom Gadberry were all there.  As were a lot of Grace’s friends, including her school teacher.  It was a wonderful day.  We are so proud of Grace.

June.  Emily and the kids went to Boise, ID to help Aunt Jana and Uncle Tom with their new twin babies.  They had fun, but Emily still has not recovered  from the 12-hour drive.  Reid stayed home and worked.  He biked to and from work (12 miles) all summer and enjoyed being fit (and was a little mortified to look back at pictures of himself during law school).  James turned 2.  He requested an "Elmo happy cake."  I invited a few little boy his age over, and he cried the whole time.  It was his party, afterall.  We also took lots of family bike rides and enjoyed trips to the zoo during the summer.

July.  Emily turned 35.  We celebrated her birthday with friends and BBQ, after we walked as Mormon pioneers in the Fourth of July parade.  We also went on a family campout with friends, hoping for a relaxing mountain getaway.  Instead we got a visit from the police and fire departments, had to run to town to buy propane, and were up all night in a wind storm—the tent blew over, pack ‘n play and all, in the middle of the night.  In spite of this, the dutch-oven food (courtesy of Reid) was amazing and will keep us coming back for more sleepless campouts.

August.  By summer’s end, Emily had run three 5Ks.  We had fun as a family at the BYU-sponsored event she ran in August.  Grace started 3rd grade (with Ms. Mercer for the 3rd year out of the last four).  Abby started 1st grace (with Ms. Tash).  And Eliza is in pre-school (with Ms. Michelle).  Eliza turned five.  She had a small Rainbow party that she insisted take place "during school and James’ nap time." Clever girl had her mom all to herself for the whole party! Grace and Abby played soccer again this fall (in addition to playing during the spring).  They play well.  Reid coached Abby’s team—for the last season.  Reid’s cheerleading skills are no longer cutting it as the league becomes more competitive.  Tom and Karen, in all their newlywed splendor, visited us on their way back to Utah from St. Louis.

  

September.  Emily had a well-deserved and fairly frugal weekend get-a-way with some girl friends.  Reid also had a well-deserved get-a-way...though his was of the less thrifty variety.  He spent a weekend in Utah with the Darringtons playing in the Strainer Head golf tournament, which he won.  The day before, he rented a bike and rode all over Deer Valley ski resort with Emily’s brother, Nathan.  After the tournament, he went to the BYU’s vs Texas game, which BYU won!  Emily encouraged him to sell a golf club to pay for it all.  The kids survived his weekend away.  He almost did not.  

October.  The girls sang in the church primary program.  They are talented singers.  And Abby especially knew ALL the songs and kept the primary on track.  In fact, when Abby was in charge of Family Night activity before the program, she had us all practice the songs.  More than one person has referred to the primary choir as “Abby and her back-up singers.”  We visited a local pumpkin patch with some friends and went roller skating, which especially Grace loved.  Reid and Emily attended a western-themed fundraiser dressed in cowboy attire—a first for both.  We danced together as Lone Star performed live the very song we danced to at our wedding—Amazed.  Also amazing was borrowing ALL of our kids Halloween costumes.  Thank you Lindsay and Gina--the budget and Emily's broken sewing machine thank you.

November.  All the girls continue to excel in school  Grace’s favorite subject is reading.  Abby’s favorite subject is math.  And Eliza’s favorite subject is show and tell.  James had a verbal outburst this year.  He began the year with a vocabulary of about 20 words and is ending the year with about 2000 and a repertoire of more than 100 songs.  He also mastered the art of giving glares.  We cooked our Thanksgiving turkey in the smoker this year.  It was amazingly juicy. We also made our own butter.  It was amazingly buttery. Speaking of crazy culinary ideas, we didn’t buy sandwich bread once this year, thanks to Emily’s delicious homemade bread from freshly ground wheat.  (The budget says thank you.)

December.  It has been a month of crafts.  Emily finished James’ Christmas stocking—she has cross-stitched a stocking for each family member.  The girls have also started cross-stitching.  Eliza has enjoyed it the most. We wondered how to make Christmas special while on this crazy budget, but things just worked out.  Emily finished knitting a sweater her mom started years ago for her little brother Jared, (whose name she had this year) and crocheted and sewed stuffed animals for the kids.  She made reusable paper towels for sisters-in-law.  The girls gave most of their dress-ups to their two neices (one on each side).  Emily won an Amazon gift card by taking some surveys.  And multiple friends gave us some awesome toys they were getting rid of.  In other words, the season was filled with Christmas Miracles and is one we'll never forget.  

If 2014 is half as good to us as 2013 was, we'll be as happy as a pig in an orchard.  And if things go as we hope, we'll end this year actually owning a pig...and an orchard...and maybe a goat...and some chickens...and a huge garden...with ditch rights.  :)  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Eliza's Preschool Graduation

This cute little girl graduated from our elementary school's preschool in May!!

.  

Eliza loved her school, her classmates, all of her amazing teachers...

and she loved being with her BFF, Sofia

 I loved watching her learn more social skills, gain self-confidence, and learn ways to deal with her intense emotions.  (seriously, this is the best school ever!  They leave the academics for Kindergarten, and get them ready by working on social problem-sovling--brilliant!!)

I also loved having her in an afternoon preschool, with a drop-off that was at the exact same time and place as Abby's kindergarten class.

I also loved that I dropped Eliza and Sofia off, and Sofia's dad got to deal with the pain-in-the-butt pick up!

Mostly I loved how she'd run through the door, anxious to tell me all about her day, what she learned, what award she got, what friend she made, or what fight she battled.  

Try though I may, there's just not stopping it--this little girl is growing up!  

We love you, Eliza Mae!!

Grace's Baptism

I have put off blogging about Grace's big day for so long that now I can barely remember it!!

Luckily, a few days after her baptism, I wrote Grace a letter.   Here's an edited version of what I wrote:

"Grace,

I am so proud of you for getting baptized.  I have so many things i want you to know and remember about that day.  So, bear with me here...

It was such a beautiful day.  The weather, which had been threatening to rain, cooperated nicely.  Your Grandpa Ashworth and Grandpa and Grandma Allred were here, along with Karen. and Tommy, Julia, and Nathan.

Grace with her living grandparents

Your Grandma Allred made you a beautiful quilt, in your favorite color--blue.

Grace with her beautiful quilt, handmade by her Grandma Allred

Julia and you went for a walk to Walgreens to get some white nail polish (which you'd insisted upon, to match your white dress) and while there Julia bought you the pearl headband that you ended up wearing.

Grace getting her nails painted by Aunt Julia

As you were getting ready, you told me several times that you had butterflies in your stomach.  But as nervous as you were, you were still so kind to everyone who came to support you.  And there were so many people who came--friends and teachers from school, friends from soccer, friends from girl scouts--all because you're so great and they love you!!

A few of the friends who came over to our house for dinner afterwards

You had a soccer game that day at 11am, then Abby's game at 1pm, then your baptism at 4:30.  It was a long day for an 8 year old.  

My cute little soccer star!

The whole crew at Grace's soccer game, before her baptism

You looked sooooo beautiful in your dress.  You wanted your hair in a braid down your back before the baptism, and then just to wear it down with the headband after you were baptized--and you looked so cute both ways!

You and Dad practiced at least 5 times, if not more.  In the front room, after Family Night and other times, too.  You wanted to be sure that you knew exactly what to do.

Originally you and your sisters--all three--were going to sing "I'm trying to be like Jesus" but then, after a small blunder at your elementary school talent show weeks ago, you announced that you would not be singing at your baptism.  And then, the morning of the baptism Eliza announced that she, too, was not going to sing.  So it was left to Abby to sing  a solo--which she did.  And it was beautiful.  She was so nervous, in fact she asked me right before if we could change it to just one verse, which we did.  But she did such a great job.  I hope you remember what she did for you--she looks up to you so much and really would do just about anything for you.

Braelyn, who was your first friend you made when we moved here 7 years ago, shared this day with you.  We've watched you girls grow together these past seven years, and it was so fun sharing the day with her and her family.  She got baptized first, and then you were second.

Grace and Braelyn--friends for 7 years!

Braelyn, Grace, and Serena (friend from her soccer team)

The water was cold, as I'm sure you'll remember.  My eyes filled with tears when your dad said the prayer.  Hearing YOUR name, my baby girl's name was just so exciting and enough to make me want to explode with joy!!

You'd asked me to say the closing prayer, but I'd been struck dumb--quite literally.  I've never lost my voice before.  And I doubt I'll ever lose it again.  I firmly believe that I lost my voice that day because I'm too loud and overbearing, and without a voice I had no choice but to shut up and just let you have your day--all to yourself!  Sometime here at the house, after the baptism, it came back.  It was too coincidental to be anything other than divine intervention. :)  

I was so happy to be the one to help you out of the water.  The bathroom was FREEZING cold--the AC was so high.  And you were shivering so much.  I got you dressed as quickly as I could, hoping to warm you up.  You were so cute in your dress, your headband, your pearly-white fingernails--I just felt so much joy and happiness...and mostly you just felt cold :)

The next day, when Dad asked you to write down some of your thoughts, you told him, several times, that all you could remember was that it was cold.  After hearing it so many times, it finally just really hurt his feelings, and he got really upset with you, which in turn made you upset.  It was the exact opposite of what he was trying to do.  He felt bad.  You felt bad.  And I was worried that all you'd ever remember was your Dad getting mad and the water being cold.  But I've noticed, as the days have passed by, you've had more of a chance to think about the parts of your baptism day that meant the most to you.  And i hope that you'll always realize just how awesome it is that you have a father who honors his priesthood and was able to baptize you!!

I love you.  So much, Grace.  You are just an amazing girl.  You are thoughtful.  You're considerate of how others feel.  You want to do what's right.  You try so hard to be kind to your sisters--even when they're totally bugging you.  You're helpful around the house.  You're really good at communicating (as long as you're in a good mood :).  And have righteous desires--desires to understand and obey God's commandments.  I feel so lucky that God has given me the role of being your mom.  I hope we'll always be as close as we are now.  Chances are there'll be few ugly years when adolescence hits...but as long as we can pull through that, we'll be golden :)

I love you!!  --Mom"

Karen's Wedding/Trip to D.C.

Just a few days after Grace's epic birthday party we took the whole crew to Baltimore for Karen's wedding.  (Remember how she and Tommy got engaged at our house on Thanksgiving?? They finally got married!)

Originally just Reid and I were gonna go.  But ticket prices dropped, and arranging childcare felt more overwhelming than just taking the kids with us--so we made a big ole vacation out of it.

Day One:

My fear of flying is greatly subdued when my spouse and all our dependents are on the plane with us.  It's almost enjoyable actually.  The girls did great.  James finally fell asleep.  The people on our rows actually liked kids--it was an ideal flight, really.

We landed, got the rental car (which Grace was so in love with she asked if she could use her allowance to pay for us to always drive a rental car because they're "so clean!!") and headed to Alisa's house where all the Allreds, plus a delicious picnic dinner, awaited us.  We chatted about how green and lush and warm and beautiful everything was.  And I was starting to feel a tinge of why-don't-i-live-in-the-east??? when Alisa started talking about the lice, the ticks, the humidity and the spiders.  Thank you for the reminder!!

Day Two:

While everyone else made themselves useful in wedding preparations, we ditched and took the kids (minus a napping James) on a really quick trip Gettysburg.  It was beautiful, informative, and sobering, and I'd like to go back someday when we have more time!!

Outside of the Gettysburg museum

Inside at the Gettysburg Cyclorama painting

Day Three: The Wedding

Okay, before I show wedding pictures, I must tell you about the dresses my girls wore.  I knew I wanted to make their dresses since shopping for dresses overwhelms me and sewing them soothes my 200-year old soul.  But it wasn't until Karen chose the color peach that i knew exactly where I wanted to go with this.

You see, that is the same color that my sister, Melanie, chose for her wedding 23 years ago.  And it just so happens that Julia and I, being the sentimental beings we are, held onto our handmade (by our mom and grandma) peach Bridesmaids dresses all these years.  And it just so happens that of the many ugly styles of the late 80's that have made their way back into our current clothing repertoire, these dresses were not among them.

So, I cut and cropped and unpicked and sewed, and unpicked some more, and....voila! Upcycled bridemaid dresses!

Julia's dress (well, the bottom half) became...

Abby's dress

And my Pollyana-inspired drop-waisted pirate-sleeved dress became...

Eliza's dress!

Since Grace was getting baptized just days after we'd get home from the wedding, I decided to throw a peach sash on her ivory baptism dress I'd made for her and call it a two-fer.

And James, though completely uncooperative with the camera, looked quite dapper in his black tuxedo that I bought 8 months earlier in the costume section at GoodWill  (such foresight!)

The wedding was beautiful.  It was so nice being inside the temple with Reid's parents and all of his siblings. (Tom's wife, Jana, was greatly missed.  She was at home with 2-week old twins!!)  Karen looked out-of-this-world gorgeous.  And the words of council that Tommy's Grandfather gave were worthy of being written down.  I really hope someone did, since I can't remember a bit of what he said.

The girls loved all the excitement around the event.  I'm so glad that we abandoned our plans of leaving them here.  I think Karen liked having so many of her nieces/nephews around her.  Tommy tolerated it, too. :)

Alisa did the photography for the event (8 months pregnant and all!) so I just snuck in beside her, after she posed people, and took a few shots.  Of course her's turned out about a billion times better.  But I don't have hers, so here are a few of my shots of the day:

Day Four

We slept in, ate donuts, recovered from a pretty tiring day, went on a picnic, took the kids "fishing", enjoyed being with family, and didn't take a single photo.

Day Five

My little brother and his wife were in DC that weekend for a get-a-way, and Alisa was kind enough to let them come crash at her house all Sunday.  Jared and Kristie are great and all, but really it's my little niece Alia that i was dying to see! :) Oh, that girl is so stinkin' cute!  She's 4 months older than James but talks like a 5 year old.  She is chubby, and sweet, and reminds me of everything I loved about my sweet round baby girls!

And Jared claims that he's just as excited to see my kids.  That's nice, 'cause they sure do like him.

Alisa has the world's awesomest tree swing in her backyard.  The kids made it look so easy.

 Reid made it look...ahem...less easy

I was perfectly fine not swinging at all, but my kids insisted.  I, of course, complied.  And screamed like a child the whole time!  I'm so brave.

While the kids played in the sandbox, got ticks and lice and Lime's Disease i'm sure, we adults just chatted about life, and how much easier parenting was before we had kids.  

 The conversation soon turned to baked goods, as all good conversations do, and it turns out that Alisa, Kristie and Reid ALL believe that they make the best chocolate chip cookies.  There was only one way to find out for sure!

The three contestants with their goods laid out in front of them

We all did a blind taste-test and cast votes to determine the best cookie. I honestly can't remember the outcome.  Six dozen cookies later, I think it'd be fair to say we were all winners.  

Day Six: 

We were really excited to show the kids Washington D.C.  Sometimes when Reid and I are really excited about something, the kids feel the need to balance our eagerness with some apathy and grumbling.  But, unless my memory fails me, they were all pretty pleasant this day!

Abby holding the entire Washington Monument in her hands--scaffolding and all.

Eliza, Abby, Ella and Grace in front of the ever-impressive Lincoln Monument

Grandma with her grandkids, including a very ornery Kate and James

These girls aren't angry, they're just trying to look like MLK...who actually looks angry.  Rightfully so. 

Being silly at the FDR monument

Korean War monument.  I'm telling myself that Grace was pensively gazing at the reflection and thinking about her grandpa Ashworth who was in the Korean war.  There's a chance she was just tired.

I'd never seen the Martin Luther King monument before.  It's really breathtaking.  Grace learned quite a bit about him in school this year, so that made it even cooler. Abby loved the Lincoln monument, especially after all we'd learned about him at Gettysburg just days earlier.  Eliza liked the reflection pools.  And James liked to cry lots until we gave him another snack.

As for me, I can safely say that everything I currently know about FDR I learned walking through that monument.  Why didn't any of his MANY accomplishments ring a bell? Seriously--did I go to school?  Where did all of that info end up?   Why can't I access it when my children ask me questions?  Someday they're gonna ask me why they even have to go to school.  Heaven's knows i won't have an answer for that!

We also went to the Museum of Natural History, but i didn't get any great photos of that.  We were pretty tired and hungry by that point.  We headed back to Alisa's house, via back roads and scenic byways, passing beautiful estates and charming cottages all along some verrrrry windy roads.  If I hadn't made the car stop to puke on the side of the road, it would have been my favorite part of the day.

Day Seven

We spent the morning at Alisa's house.  My children (one, in particular) caused all sorts of hurt feelings, which is how we knew it was time for us to head back home.  We were so thankful that Alisa's family put up with us for as long as they did!

It would have been nice to come back home and spend a few days relaxing, but we had exactly 48 hours before family and friends would start arriving for the big weekend--Grace's baptism!!!