Our trip to TN (again!).

Somehow, the thought of staying here while Nathan went to TN, was not a good one and it motivated me to pack us up (again!) and drive (again!) to see family. It was a great trip, too. Nathan had a blessed time with his family, able to hang out with them and catch up while Amos and I stayed at my parents' house, playing with GrrDada, GrrMama, Aunt Abby, Uncle Jesse and the dogs. Amos had a blast. He loved seeing Abby and Jesse and I enjoyed being there, too. Amos is getting really good at recognizing his family and saying their names, now. Part of the motivation to go was to give him more time to be with them, and to not take them for granted. In the end, I was really happy we went.
After dropping Nathan off at Christen and Aaron's house, we headed home, making it in time for dinner. My mom had no idea we were coming (Dad and I devised a surprise!) and she was so excited to see Dad walk in with Amos. As I finished cooking dinner, Abby drove up, another surprise. I called her to let her know we would be in town and she drove up from Chattanooga to see us. So sweet! Jesse also came over for dinner and had fun playing with Amos outside.
And wouldn't you know it, that day also happened to be the 31st anniversary of "The day that Elvis passed into glory," a day that my mom marks each year with black clothing, Elvis Presley's favorite foods and napkins with Elvis' head stamped on them. This year, she was so busy getting back to work from vacation that she forgot to organize a party. But with all of us there, we were ready to observe the day with her. She got out some napkins, did some stamping and turned up the Elvis tunes. Apparently, our coming to surprise her was "An Elvis-passing-into-glory-day miracle!" The insanity never stops!
That night we also got to say goodbye to Bethany, as they prepared to travel back to Malawi on Sunday and Monday.
After dinner, Abby gave Amos a bath and then went happily to bed, having had a fun evening of playing with the "uff uffs," running around with GrrDada and bath fun with Abby.







Sunday morning I got to sleep in! Amos slept with Abby and I in her giant bed and she took him downstairs for breakfast, letting me sleep! Then I got up, packed, ate, and enjoyed more hang time. We left around lunch time to meet Nathan and his family in Nashville for lunch before hitting the road. Amos loved being reunited with Dada and loved seeing his Grandpa Joe, Grammy Carole and Aunt Christen!












We made it to the car in time for Amos to sleep and had a great drive back home.