What a TrIp!

Last weekend we packed up and headed northeast to the beautiful state of Tennessee! ....one of my home sweet homes.... The trip was part of Brian's birthday present....TICKETS to the STEELERS game at LP Field, home of the Titans. A BIG thanks to my girlfriend Alicia for the hook up on the seats! The trip started on Friday, the 17th at 8:30 a.m. rolling out of the driveway. I was sure to feed Samantha before we left, however, about an hour into things she apparently hadn't had enough b/c she was screaming from the seat behind us and NOTHING made her stop! So, first stop...not even an hour into this 10.5 hour drive...a 10.5 hour drive without kids and a zillion stops! I thought...OH. MY. GOSH. WHAT are we doing/thinking?!??!? Is it too late to just change our minds?!??! Lol. OIY After a quick 'snack' for my little we headed out AGAIN for TN!!!

On our way to see Cole, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Clint! :)


Happy and content with a FULL belly!! <3


About 2 hours in everything was running smooth....and did so pretty much the entire trip there. :) We stopped every 3-4 hours to stretch and feed Samantha. THANK GOD for DVD players in vehicles these days. If they have to be strapped down at least they have something to watch while they have to sit there...right?!!? So we had a constant stream of children's movies, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Wall-E, Care Bears....aaahhhhh.

Home Sweet Home <3



After 11.5 hours in the car we were a short hop, skip and a jumps 20 miles away from the Kingston Springs Exit off of I-40 and another 5 minutes from there to my bestie's house!!! Samantha decided that she was done with the car seat and wanted fed again so she starts crying/screaming....then Abigail, bless her heart, being so wore out from the trip starts crying b/c sister is upset....then Brian contorts his body so that he has Abigail's hand in on of his hands and one of Samantha's hands in the other hand and is singing to them to try and calm them down, what I don't recall......and I am laughing, almost hysterically to keep from going crazy! hahahaha Oh to be a fly on our windshield!

Nice job Brian!!! lol


So we pull off at a rest stop right outside of Dixon and stretch out and I feed Samantha. Pack them back up and can't get there fast enough! There were deer all over the place...I don't remember seeing so many deer before.....so I was not speeding and darting my eyes side to side to make sure I wasn't going to be taken by surprise. We get off the exit...stop at McDonald's for dinner to go and head up the road. We are about 1/2 way to Kelly's house and Abigail has been whining/fussing since we stopped at the road side rest stop and out of nowhere she says...Daddy, I need a nap! In this pitiful but sweet little voice. We just busted out laughing and agreed that we ALL needed a nap after that drive. We pulled into Kel's drive way exactly 12 hours later! WHAT A DAY!!! Cole (Kelly's little man and my future Son-in-law) was SO excited to see Abigail and Abigail was just as excited to see him! They acted like they just saw each other yesterday instead of almost a year ago! <3 As soon as Mommy stepped out of the car my throat instantly felt the change in weather and instant sore throat....UGH! TN!


Saturday the 18th....today we met up with my brother's best friend Shel and his family. They were at a marina in Hendersonville celebrating Shel's birthday. It was so good to see them and it warmed my heart to see my brother's best friend with my little girl.....almost made me cry. I got to meet his little ones....3 yr old twins...and Abigail and Sophia bonded pretty quick. Wish we could have spent more time together but we had to get to the cemetery.

Shel with my sweet girl.... :)


Sophia and Abigail


Samantha just chilling with Daddy! :)


Forever friends


Making our traditional stop at Krogers we picked out our flowers and bought our supplies to clean off Darren's headstone. Abigail picked out her own flowers....a beautiful bouquet of green, yellow and purple...purple is her favorite color so they were a must. I picked out a bouquet of Autumn colors...gold and burgundy. I began cleaning Darren's headstone with vinegar water and a toothbrush. Wasn't long before I heard a sweet little voice saying, "Mommy, I help...I help, Mommy."



As I looked at my beautiful daughters face just eager to help me. She has no idea why we are there. She knows about her Uncle Darren, she'll point to him in pictures. But I'm really kinda envious of her child-like ignorance about it all at this time in her life. Where she is at right now in life, everything is so simple. So, she took over the scrubbing of the letters and numbers with the toothbrush for a while as I watched her....tears streaming down my face....my heart hurting but smiling. Oh how he would love her, I thought to myself. We continued to scrub and then washed it off with water and dried it off with paper towels. Brian was so sweet that he took both girls for a short walk to give me some time alone. When they came back Abigail wanted to put the flowers on his grave, so I let her do hers and mine.






She stood up after placing them and said, "I love you, Uncle Darren." ....oh honey, he loves you to!!! and to put it as he would say....you absolutely drip with preciousness. :) We got loaded back into the car and Abigail seemed upset to leave, repeating his name and whining a little....man that's tough to hear....but also amazing. She loves him, she's never met him but she loves him. <3 It was about 4:30 when we left the cemetery and at this time I had NO VOICE! NICE!

You will always be remembered....


Sunday the 19th....FOOTBALL TIME for Mommy and Daddy!!! Cole's Nena came over to Kelly's house to watch the kiddos as Kelly, Clint, Brian and myself headed out to the Steelers vs Titans game! Mommy still has NO VOICE but I'm determinded to SCREAM and HOLLAR for my team!!! We left you in your jammies but layed out your Steelers jersey for Nena to trustingly put on you later! ;) She later said you didn't want you jersey on until the game came on t.v. and she explained to you that Mommy and Daddy were there...she said you immediately wanted your jersey on! GOOD GIRL! We had a great time at the game, Steelers winning 19-11, but I was so ready to get back to you and your sister!!! We missed you! :)

The gang before the game

Me and my friend Alicia!



Our girls were happy to see us!! :)



Monday the 20th....packed up and ready to go! Hitting the road west bound at 8:10. The ride home was a llooonnngggg one. Both Abigail and her sister were tired and wore out. Note to self: be mentally prepared for an 11 hourish trip home with a 2.5 yr old that hasn't had a nap for the last 3 days and didn't get much sleep!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH.... I was ready to pull my hair out an hour into the trip!!! It's Daddy's birthday today so we sang happy birthday to him and the rest of the day Abigail felt it her duty to say, "Happy birthday, Daddy!" every 15 minutes or so. It was cute the first two hours....wore us out after a while tho! She's such a loving little thing! Somehow we made it and I don't think I was ever so thankful to be out of that car....I think my sweet Abigail felt the same way! lol Waiting at home were Mimi and Josh with a cherry turnover with a candle it for Daddy's birthday! :)

The girl does not like the sun in her eyes....so we had to block it with the pillow!


A few more from our trip..... :)

My handsome future son-in-law! ;)

Strawberry milk and cartoons….can’t beat it!

Kisses

I think Abigail missed him! Lol

Cole wanted to hold Samantha!

Abigail had to wear these things….

Hugs for Samantha!

Kelly all gangsta on our way home from the game! Lol