back home

The trip was great!! I had so much fun visiting my family. I miss them a lot, I only wish we lived over there too. The trips went very smoothly. The day I flew there I was exhausted. My shin splints starting flaring up again after I got off the plane (I'm wondering if flying has something to do with it? Or maybe just sitting in the same position for so long) even though I got up 3 times during the 1 hour and 45 minute flight there. I spent the afternoon HERE waiting for my dad to finish teaching his class and come pick me up. He was teaching on a military base and so I couldn't go in to meet him like I would for one of his normal classes. The presidential library isn't my first choice of where to spend several hours, but it was air conditioned, had lots of benches, and they held my luggage behind the desk so I didn't have to carry it around with me. However, I was very glad when 4:00 rolled around and Dad was there to pick me up!!

We drove out to Fort Smith and I was able to spend much of Friday relaxing and resting my legs and feet, which were still bothering me. My grandma and I went shopping that afternoon and she bought Evan several little things that could fit in my suitcase. That evening people started arriving for her anniversary party. It was also my great-grandmother's 88th birthday last week and so we had a birthday party for her on Friday night with a huge brisket dinner, cake, 2 pies, and presents!

Grandmother (my great-grandma) at her party:

That night I actually had to sleep on the sofa at my aunt's house because there wasn't enough room at my grandma's house anymore. It was crazy, everyone was sleeping on couches, the floor, every bed was filled. I was happy to give up my bed for my great-grandmother though. It actually worked out great because I was downstairs by myself, near a bathroom, so I didn't have to worry about waking the rest of the house up when I got up 4 times. I slept there the next night too even though I was offered a bed that time.

Me & Evan, Grandmother, and Dad:

Saturday was my grandparents' 50th anniversary party. It was gorgeous! More family from out of town arrived and although the day was about my grandparents, Evan received a lot of attention and some presents too. :-) We relaxed some more after the party, everyone sat around talking at my grandparents' house and there were lots of leftovers for dinner. I even splurged and ate a little piece of cake that night!

My grandparents at their anniversary party:

Sunday my entire family was still around and we all had a big lunch together. My dad and I had to leave to drive to Little Rock shortly after and the return flight home went smoothly as well. My dad didn't even leave security at the airport, he had a flight to Birmingham an hour after our plane landed. So I said bye to him and headed down to the baggage claim area where Matt was waiting on me!! It was great to see him and I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me at home. He had fixed up the closet in the nursery. It's painted (the walls in there were dented, scratched, and had dirt and black marks all over), the shelves are up, it has new doors, and he even put some of Evan's toys and other things on the shelves!


It's good to be home, yesterday I didn't have much of a chance to rest, but I'll post about that later. :-)