We're Back

We left California on Friday, January 18th. We flew from LAX to Detroit and then Knoxville. Our flights went smoothly and the children did well. I asked Andrew to please not spit up on me or have a leaky diaper. Thankfully he didn't do either one.

We arrived in Knoxville around 10:00 p.m. (EST). It had already been a long day as I had been up since 4:45 a.m. (Pacific). After renting 2 cars for the drive to Kingsport we drove to the home of our dear friends the Riveras. Since neither flight offered any food/snacks other than items to be purchased, we picked up dinner from McDonald's on our way. We enjoyed our brief reunion with the Riveras. Around midnight we loaded everyone up for the 90 minute drive to Kingsport.

Everyone was excited to see our Kingpsort house...not only because we hadn't seen it for 5 months, but because it also looked different. A couple of months ago my father and brother put on a new roof and new siding. As soon as we get the doors painted and add shutters, we will have a "new" house. We were pleased with the work they did. The house looked great!

Upon entering the house I was delighted to see that the air mattresses and pack 'n plays we had borrowed were already blown/set up. All the kids had to do was crawl in them and go to sleep. This was a huge blessing as it was around 1:30 a.m. when we arrived home. I also noticed some extra cleaning had been done in preparation of our arrival. Thank you Saulsbury family!

Saturday the kids enjoyed a brief time playing in our yard. We left 70 degree temperatures in CA for highs in the 20's in TN! Before going outside Luke asked me where his sandals were. I told him this wasn't shorts and sandal weather!

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship and dinner with the Simpsons, McLeods and Bradleys. This was also an early send-off for the McLeods. They will be moving to England in March for the completion of an Eastman project. Lord willing, they will return to Kingsport in December.

Worship at Westminster PCA on Sunday was one of the highlights of our trip. The preaching/teaching, singing and fellowship we have enjoyed there for the past 7 years are some of what we have missed most. Being back at Westminster truly made us feel like we were "home". Andrew was baptized our first Sunday there. We were also able to enjoy an extended time of fellowship as it was a 3rd Sunday which meant there was a fellowship meal after the service.

On Monday we drove to Timberlake, NC to visit my family. We enjoyed our time with them, had many extended family members come by, and ate delicious home cooked meals. I was able to visit a high school friend who had been in a serious car accident in early December. I am thankful to have been able to also visit with each of my 3 living grandparents. If the Lord sustains her, my Grandmother Berry will be 100 in September!

Emily had a special time with Mimi (my mom). At age 10 we allow the girls to get their ears pierced. When Ashley turned 10 I didn't really want to be the one to take her to get it done. My mom eagerly voluntered. It is now a tradition for Mimi to take the girls to get their ears pierced. Emily will be 10 in a couple of weeks, so she got her ears pierced while we were there.

On Thursday we drove to Greenville, NC to visit Brian's parents. While there we attended a 70th birthday party for his dad. (Look for a separate post about that later.) We enjoyed seafood from our favorite seafood restaurant and Brian and the oldest 5 went to an East Carolina basketball game. Unfortunately they weren't able to cheer the Pirates to victory. We left Greenville early Sunday morning in order to attend evening worship at Westminster.

Monday was our final day in Kingpsort. I tried to get too much done that day. In addition to packing, I had a dental appointment, Ashley had a dental appointment, Brian and I had health screenings at Eastman and I ran a few other errands. That evening we had dinner at the Chop House to celebrate Brian's birthday. After dinner Brian took the kids home while I went to my friend Susan's house for a Discovery Toys party. She kindly scheduled it for this night in hopes I could attend and see additional friends. I was glad to see some ladies from our Homeschool Moms' Group and grateful to Susan for allowing me to use her washing machine! (The one in our Kingpsort house doesn't work.) It was a full day, but I was happy to have spent it in the town we have come to call "home" and with dear friends.

This post has become lengthy, so I will end here. Our trip home deserves an entry all its own. Hopefully I will be able to post about it and the birthday party in the next few days.

10 Days and Counting!

In 10 days we will board a plane for a much anticipated trip back east. Eastman pays for one trip home each year. We will be flying from LAX to Detroit and then on to Knoxville, TN on January 18th. We will spend a couple of days in Kingsport before traveling to NC to spend the week visiting family. We planned this trip in conjunction with a 70th birthday party being given for Brian's dad. We will return to CA on the 29th. We are looking forward to spending time with our families and our Kingsport "family". We are also looking forward to our Lord's Day worship at Westminster PCA. We have been able to stay in touch with family and friends through email, letters, phone calls and visits, however we have deeply missed the preaching, singing and fellowship at Westminster.

A Belated Christmas Gift

In a previous post I mentioned asking Andrew for 2 Christmas presents. The first one, a smile, he provided several days before Christmas. He has now given me the second gift... a full night's sleep! He has been sleeping 8-10 hours for almost a week. This gift was a little late arriving, but I am very thankful for it.

Rose Parade

Fluor, the company Brian is working with, treated their Eastman co-workers and families to the Rose Parade. Brian and the oldest 5 children attended.

I woke the children at 3:15 a.m. to get ready. They dressed in layers as the temperature at 6:00 a.m. was around 45 degrees while the noontime temperature was 70 degrees. Everyone met at the Fluor office at 4:00. A chartered bus drove them to Pasadena. All buses had to be parked by 6:15. Brian and the children then had a long wait for the parade to begin at 8:00.

Their seats were located at the beginning of the parade. This was good in that they didn't have to wait long for the parade to reach them. However they were just before the TV cameras. Some bands didn't begin playing until they reached the camera spot. They also missed seeing all of the movement on some of the floats. I don't think any of this bothered the children. They loved it. Luke and Will had never been to a parade. As soon as it was over Luke asked Brian if they could watch it all over again! Below are some of the children's favorite floats.

This was Emily's favorite.

This was Luke's favorite. There were cowboys on top of the buildings staging a fight.

Ashley enjoyed this one addition to all the horses.

This is the band from VMI. The young man on the left is Daniel Emery. He is a member of our church back in Kingsport.

Kathryn's 2nd Birthday

Kathryn turned 2 on December 28th. When Ashley turned 2 she had a huge friend party with a professionally decorated cake, Pooh theme, favor bags, etc. Kathryn had a simple dinner with her family followed by chocolate cake for dessert. Thankfully we no longer do friend parties at such a young age, because this year we wouldn't have had any friends to invite!

Kathryn received a baby doll for Christmas. She keeps it with her constantly. For her birthday she received a stroller and diaper bag. She loves playing Mommy to her baby.

All smiles

I asked Andrew for 2 gifts for Christmas. The first thing I asked him for was a smile. The second was a full night's sleep. He gladly provided the first several days before Christmas. We are making progress on the second.

Mystery Solved

The mystery gift has been opened and is now receiving much use. It was an air hockey table. The girls figured out what it was after overhearing Brian in a phone conversation with his Dad. The boys never knew. They were all very excited to receive it. We have had lots of air hockey battles since then. Luke has proven himself quite the player. He seems to enjoy playing more than anyone else (except for Brian). When no one else will play with him, he plays with Kathryn. Thankfully he hits the puck very slowly when playing with her as opposed to his usually slams!