Memorial Day Weekend

Last Wednesday Matt and I decided to take the kids to Missouri over Memorial Day weekend so that Lily could meet her great-grandparents and her Aunt Sharon. We knew if we didn't go this weekend, we wouldn't have another chance to see Sharon and the girls until Christmas. As soon as we decided to go, I was overwhelmed. Trips to Missouri require ALOT of packing, and that's without a new baby! I kept telling myself that it would be so much easier to just stay home! As I hurried to get things together, I remembered a conversation I once had with a dear friend from the first church that Matt pastored.
Mrs. Ruby and her husband had six daughters. When one of the girls (I'm not sure whcih) was a baby, she and her husband Leon decided to make a trip from Mississippi to California. This was before the days of disposable diapers, so they washed diapers in the motel rooms at night and hung them out the windows of the car to dry as they drove down the road the next day.

"We looked like the Joads!" Mrs. Ruby laughed as she told the story. I'm sure there were some moments on that trip that weren't very fun, but she didn't seem to remember any of them. I remember the joy on her face as she looked back what was now a wonderful memory. Mrs. Ruby was a great blessing to me during our time in Durant, and I hope that I have learned a little from her wisdom and her outlook on life. It would have been a lot easier for us to just stay home last weekend, but look at all we would have missed!

Lily's first meeting with her Great-Grandma Tracy was worth the trip! The minute we put her in Grandma's arms, her face lit up! It was also a good chance to get a picture of all the cousins with Grandma. Here she is with seven of her thirteen great-grandchildren.

Lydia and Nathan adore their Great-Grandpa Brady, and I'm sure that Lily will too. Today she didn't seem too sure about meeting another new person!

Aunt Sharon brought a slip & slide and some fun water toys for the kids to play with while they were at Grandma's. The side of the yard was a giant mudhole by the end of the day, but everyone had a great time!

Nathan has a scar just under his hairline from crashing into this birdbath when he was about 17 months old. That marked his first, but certianly not his last, trip to the emergency room. Now we stand him next to it to see how much he's grown!

Last spring, floods washed out one of the bridges across Roubidoux Creek near Grandpa Brady's farm. The kids enjoyed playing on the broken bridge and got to participate in one of their favorite pastimes--throwing rocks in the creek!

Matt unknowingly started a tradtion on our way home from his grandparent's this past Christmas when he stopped at this statue in Ravenden, Arkansas and let Lydia and Nathan get their picture made under it. They've always enjoyed looking for the big black bird as we're driving, but now they expect to stop for pictures every time we pass it!