Friday, November 09, 2007

Awwww....Home....

After a total of 2500 miles round-trip and 7 states...we are back in Sunny Florida - it is SO good to be home! I can honestly say that we know the interstates and backroads of FL, GA, AL, MS, TN, AR and MO WAY too well!! Ok - I've most likely lost all my readers and you're probably already looking at my pictures...so I'll just move it on along. :)

Last Friday was spent with my parents...we hung out with mom and Mike at their home in Cherry Creek and then spent the afternoon with my dad and Judy in Maumelle Park. It was a beautiful day and we got to meet Ringo - dad's new Yellow Labrador....such a cutie! :)

Saturday was SUCH a great day (minus Rauly's temper tantrums due to lack of a nap!). Early that morning we headed up to Terri Lee's home to visit and then me, Melis, Kristin and Terri headed over to our college friends baby shower - Amanda and Jeffrey Thorton had a baby (Graecen Belle sp?) and she was such a cutie...their little girl is blessed to have them as parents! It was really fun to catch up with so many old friends! After Amanda's shower, we had lunch with the Hicks and then went over to the HU's Front Lawn for a photo op of our adorable kiddo's! If you look closely at Rauly's cheerleading outfit, you will see her little bottom cheeks hanging out...her legs were WAY too long for that costume! It was so fun to have Shep, Rauly and Kayden together - I love watching Melissa and my kids make memories together! We got to visit with my old college roomie, Kristy and her sweet family in the Heritage Inn briefly before the game began - she looked so good and her lil' Will is such a looker!! After that, we walked over to watch the Bison score touchdown after touchdown...ok, so the other team scored a lot of touchdowns also - but the only thing that matters is that HARDING WON! Chad and I ran in to so many old friends (like the Neals and the Siegels)and it sad to say goodbye to everyone! We left Searcy at half-time so that we could attend my highschool BFF's wedding in Little Rock - introducing...Mrs. Lindsey Swayne!!! Linz looked GORGEOUS - her ceremony was perfect as was the reception afterwards...and I was so happy to meet her sweet husband - I'm so happy that Linz married a Godly man who I know will cherish her always! Congrats you two!! One of the first couples we saw after arriving at the church was Justin and Shauri Phillips - their son Jace was the most adorable ringbearer...he is such a cutie!! It was so good to visit with Shauri (even though it was brief!)!! Throughout the ceremony and the reception, Chad and I got to visit with my other highschool BFF (Hayley McGuire Frye) and her hubby Jason - it was so much fun to catch up with her - I miss those girls!!

Sunday was spent at my childhood congregation - LRC - I got to sit with Rachel Smith and her new bundle of joy, Caleb, during the second half and afterwards got to laugh my heart out with Jennifer and Reagan Baber - omiword...our daughters are WAY too similar!! Rauly and Avery are so adorable but SO strong willed - we swapped stories for about 30 minutes...it was really nice to catch up with those girls! Sunday afternoon was spent with my dad and Judy and her children. I could go on and on about that afternoon, but I won't. God is faithful and He is good! It was a really good day!

Monday through Thursday was spent in Branson,MO with my mom and Mike. Rauly rode a horse for the first time - we were very impressed with her courage! Chad, myself, mom and Mike all played cards each night - we laughed so hard and probably had more fun during those hours then during any other time that week! Silver Dollar City was a blast and the Christmas parade Thursday night was definitely the finale! On our way back to FL yesterday, we were able to stop off in Valdosta and visit with the Hicks for a while - it was nice to not have any distractions and they were the perfect end to our trip!! :) Kayden is turning 2 today - Happy Birthday KAYDEN (I can't believe that!!!) and so we got to give her lots of hugs and kisses yesterday - I hate it that we couldn't stay for her party last night but I have no doubts that she was surrounded by TONS of love!!!

Well, if anyone read all of that, I will be forever impressed. Thanks for taking the time to share in our vacation - for those of you we got to see - it was GREAT to visit with you all...for those of you we missed - fingers crossed for next year!! :)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Lindsey, The pics were great! Love the way you arranged them. I got to relive a little of our adventures with you, Chad and the kids again. It was sooo fun and it passed way tooo fast! Looking forward to seeing you all again in December in Florida! Thanks for taking the time to get this post out soooo soon, especially knowing how very tired you were from it all! Your energy level and organization skills continue to amaze me! You're like your Mimi was! Love you! Mom

Unknown said...

Glad that you had a great, but very busy trip. It's so nice to get away from home for a little while, but it's really nice to get back home! There's no place like home!

tleaf10 said...

Hey Linds .. .the pics were great and I was glad I got to see you even if it was for just a little while. Your kids are too cute and Rauly is especially looking like a big girl these days! Glad you made it back safe. love ya,
-TL

Anonymous said...

Ahhh....I'm so glad we got to see you, Chad, and the babies. Even if it was for only a few minutes! I wish we could have at least sat together at the reception but that's life for ya! Justin and I will have to go to Harding's Homecoming next year. I had no idea that so many people we knew went back for homecoming. I promise we'll go next year! All your pictures are gorgeous. Those babies are incredibly beautiful as are you! Love, Shauri

Zach and Alyson said...

Looks like y'all had an awesome trip! Glad to see you back in the blogging world.

lauren said...

I am so sad we didn't get to go! I would've LOVED to see you and your family! I left you a little comment about the gorilla back on my blog. That made us laugh so hard reading that! Gotta love the gorilla!

Michael and Hannah said...

Yep, read every word! I've been waiting for an update! You look so gorgeous in every the photos... you look downright pre-motherhood! Don't know how you do it!

kristy said...

I agree with Hannah! You look AWESOME!! I loved looking through all of your pictures and am so glad you had such a fun, safe trip. It was great to get to see you, Chad and your beautiful children in Searcy. I am glad that we got to catch up, even if it was a brief visit. Next year we'll have to do lunch or something so we can have a little more time :) Hope you have a wonderful week and are able to relax a little now that you're back home.

Kate said...

I am sooooooo homesick right now!!! I wish I could have been there. I hope all is well with you guys. Sorry I've not been reading as much--I catching up after a month of no blog reading!!! Love ya!

Lane said...

LOVE the blog! We are so sad we didn't get to go to Homecoming! If I wasn't going to SEarcy this weekend, we would have gone, but hopefully next year. It's so neat how so many people go back! Your kids are so cute and are getting so big. I bet it was neat to see them running around campus! I agree with Kristy and Hannah, you look amazing! Course, you always have! Whew, what a busy trip, but glad you guys had fun. Catch up on your rest...if that's even possible! :)

Sarah said...

Lindsey, I'm so sad I missed you there! I saw Chad from afar, but didn't find you. I don't think we made it there until late in the first half, so I bet that's why. What a fun trip!

Anonymous said...

I think your post was actually longer than mine! I loved hearing about your week. It was good to see you even though each time was short. Maybe we can get together next week. I need to get out of town, yes, already...