Journey home...the Vacaville day edition

After our Rocklin visit we headed back down to my Uncle and Aunt's for the night. The next day was a full one, since we were heading to Vacaville where so much of our family members have moved to over the last 10-20 years.

We began our time in Vacaville by meeting my Aunt Connie and cousin Jaime for a late breakfast. It was so good to see them and laugh (you can't hang out with my Aunt Connie without laughing, she just has the best sense of humor). Again I forgot the camera, but since my cousin Sal (Aunt Connie's son) is getting married in a couple of weeks, I will try to remember to take pictures then. :-)

After breakfast we headed over to Allen's brother's home where we got to visit with Bubba (Allen's brother Brian), Karen (his wife), Danielle (their daughter), Sean (their youngest son, at 19), and of course Luke (the dog). It was a nice visit and the last time they saw Lizzie and Ellie was during the same visit when we had seen my Grandma 3 years earlier. We enjoyed catching up and hearing about Nathan's (their oldest son's) recent wedding to his beautiful bride Bridgett, complete with wonderful pictures.

Brothers being forced to pose for a pic

Karen, Brian and the girls

The Rexford clan minus Nathan and Bridgett
(Sean, Danielle, Karen and Brian)

Karen and Sean with the girls
(doesn't Sean look thrilled :-) )

Once leaving Brian and Karen's home, we headed over to Fenton's ice cream shop to meet my mom's cousin, Donna Lee, for some dessert. It was so nice to see her, since the last time I saw her was at my mom's service and before that she was there helping us care for mom at the end. This was the first time I had really gotten to just enjoy hanging out with her, and the first time the two older girls were able to meet her. Again no pictures, but after typing "no pictures" as many times as I have in the last weeks, I think I will be a much more determined picture taker.


Aside: The general consensus for the day is that Lizzie is very much like I was as a little girl (looks and actions), Ellie is just like my sister was in the way she acts and apparently very much like my mom was as a kid too, though takes more after Allen's side of the family in appearances (similarities to Allen and Allen's mom). Gracie is too little to tell still, but does favor my sister in appearances. It was funny to hear about how our girls are taking after different family members.

Journey home...the Great Grandma Sewell edition

After a very short visit in Bakersfield, CA we headed 6 hrs north to El Cerrito, CA, where we would be staying with my Uncle and Aunt for the next few days while we attempted to visit as many family and friends in the Bay Area as we could.

Our first visit in the area took place the following morning, when we headed up to visit my Grandma at her home in Rocklin. We also got to see two of my cousins (Kim and Ashley), as well as Ashley's little guy, Caiden, whom we hadn't met yet. It was a great time visiting and watching the kids play together while we stayed dry inside (it poured that day). Being that it was Grandma's, we had lots of food and TONS of dessert (my favorite was of course the homemade strawberry pie, because what is better than a made-by-Grandma strawberry pie).

Grandma with my Cousin Kim, me and the girls
(Note: Ellie seems to have acquired the Hutchison curse of closing her eyes in pictures)

Ashley with Caiden, Grandma, me and the girls (again the curse continues)

Grandma, me and the girls (yes! finally Ellie has her eyes open, though she isn't looking at the camera :-)

It was so wet that occasionally the kids would stand at the window looking longingly into the backyard

It was a wonderful visit, and so nice to spend time with Grandma and some of the cousins. It had been 3 years, and Ellie was only 5 months old when we last saw them all, so this was a refreshing treat to be able to see them again.

Journey Home...the Great-Grandma Smith edition

After leaving NM we finished our westward drive landing in Bakersfield, CA, where we spent the late morning hours visiting Allen's Grandma Smith and Uncle Jesse. It was a short visit, but so nice to see them both again and to finally see their lovely home that we have been hearing about for years.

Here are some family photos:

Yes, Allen is closing his eyes, but his family will understand, since it is a family trait

Thanks Grandma and Jesse for a great visit. We all enjoyed it, and the cookies were an added bonus. :-)

#4 is a....

GIRL! Still due around November 20th and seems healthy from the ultrasound, though we will be having a precautionary Fetal Echo-cardiogram to be sure that this little girl doesn't have to go through what Lizzie did.

Thanks for the guesses from those that participated. It was fun to see how many people were sure we were having a boy. It was even more fun when the ultrasound tech confirmed that there was no doubt that this was indeed a little girl.

Now, to come up with another girl name that is just as impacting and significant to us as this baby girls older sisters' names have been. Any ideas?

Journey Home...the Donis edition

From AR we continued west to Albuquerque, NM, where we got the chance to spend a day seeing some of the areas of Albuquerque with our good friends, the Donis family. Again no pictures, but trust me when I tell you that the area is beautiful and the Donis' aren't bad either. :-)
We got to do some shopping, eat some wonderful Mexican food and later some amazing pizza, and of course get caught up a bit on the Donis' last year, post Scott Donis graduating from GCTS. It was a wonderful time and a perfect day out in the sunshine. The girls loved to "get caught up" with their friends, by running around endlessly, and we loved sitting at chatting like old times.
Thanks Donis' for showing us your home town and spending the day making us feel so welcome.

Journey home...the Brock edition

From GA we began a two day drive to Siloam Springs, AR. It took some planning and forethought, since we had to get through quite a bit of INTENSE rain. In fact in Mississippi we had to stop at an Olive Garden for a lengthy dinner, because the roads had flooded so bad that we could not keep driving. God was gracious and kept us safe, and Allen alert as he drove.

Once in Siloam Springs we were able to spend the day with the Brock family. Far too short a visit, but as they were preparing to move back to the Northwest shortly after we left them, we knew that there would be many more times for us to get together again. It was great to catch up a bit, meet the two Brock kiddos (that have been born since we last saw our dear Northwest friends), and have a true John Brown University dorm experience. In fact I even took a shower in the guys dorms , which I am told is an extremely rare privilege (don't worry, the guys were all gone for the summer by this time).
Of course, no pics of my own once again, so I was only able to "steal" pics of my kids from Carolyn Brock's Facebook account. But here are the girls playing at their home.

Thanks guys for the hospitality and the visit amidst your preparing to move.

Journey Home...the Thompson Edition

So back to our regularly scheduled updating (following a brief break due to HOT weather that kept me from the computer).

Once we left NC, we continued southward to Brunswick, GA where we got to spend a couple of days with Drew and Mandy Thompson. It was such a pleasure to see their home, their church (where they both minister), and to enjoy meals with them (especially the delicious BBQ). We were also able to go to a local beach on our own (while Drew and Mandy were hard at work at their church).

It was so encouraging to see our GCTS friends ministering with the gifts that they have been given by God and the skills they acquired while at seminary.

Drew and Mandy you are such a blessing.
Thanks for letting us taking over your home for a couple days!

Journey Home...fiction made into non-fiction

Those that have viewed my collection of movie favs know that I really enjoy the film, "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton". In the movie 3 of the main characters work at a grocery store known as "The Piggly Wiggly". I had heard that they existed, but honestly, I just could not picture it. Well:

Journey interrupted

So, I wanted to take break from sharing our journey home with you, in order to let you all know that hopefully, in a couple of weeks, we will find out whether this new little one is a boy or girl. So, anyone care to guess??? You have until the morning of July 14th to get your guesses in.

The Journey home...the Parham edition

After leaving the Hansen's in VA we headed even further south stopping in NC for lunch, where I was able to reunite with my beautiful cousin, Amber, after roughly 20 years of having no contact (due to family issues beyond us, that I need not get into here). We met at her church, Manna Church in Fayetteville, NC. It was only about an hour or so, but it felt strangely as though we had never been apart. She told me in brief what life had looked like for her the past 20 years and I marveled at what God brought her through to bring her to today. Now she is a born-again Christian, on fire for the LORD despite her past. And though she still faces obstacles, she relies on God in a way that is humbling and pushes me to seek God more. Of course, once again, I didn't get my camera out, so you will just have to be pictureless for this post.