The Good and The Bad

This past weekend Chris had the wonderful opportunity to go and visit his newborn niece, Savannah Elizabeth, in Charleston. His parents were there at the time and his brother was still taking some time off work. It was an amazing time for him to bond with this beautiful little girl while she is still so tiny. She is perfect and so sweet. Chris had a great time! The boys and I are looking forward to when we get to meet her.

Now for the not so good....While Chris was in Charleston, the boys and I had to take a trip back to Missouri. My mom's sister, my Aunt Pat, passed away suddenly last week and we needed to go back home. The idea of the 12 hour trip home alone with the boys was a bit overwhelming, but necessary. I received some terrific suggestions from friends on how I could tackle this project. We left Michigan armed with new bags of toys, new books, and a ton of DVDs. I never would have thought that a 3 hour Dora DVD would be a good thing, but it was a lifesaver. The boys were great... Much better than I expected them to be. I'll even forgive Seth for opening the bathroom stall on me while at Cracker Barrel somewhere in Illinois. While we were there for a sad occasion, it was nice to see some family that I hadn't seen in years and introduce the boys to cousins that they had never met. We took a trip to the zoo the day before we drove back to Michigan. We needed a distraction and an opportunity for the boys to do something fun before the long car trip. Papa, Aunt Ninnie, and my cousin Jerry's son, Micah, joined us. Unfortunately my Aunt Ninnie had to leave soon after we arrived. Total bummer. Micah's family joined us a little while later and it was good to spend that time with them.

The boys with their beautiful twin cousins, Samantha and Jordyn.

Seth with Kim. Love this picture...so cute.

Seth and Austyn became great friends. Seth preferred to hold her hand over mine.

The boys and Micah.

Feeding the ducks and fish with Papa.

I'm a horrible aunt, sister, and niece because I didn't get one picture of Gavynn, Riley, Uncle Bub, Elmo, Aunt Ninnie or anyone else! I'll make up for it at Christmas. You'll be tired of me and my camera!

Much love to my family back home....

-Shelby