Our Arkansas Trip

Thank you for your kind words concerning the loss of David's mother. I know I speak for us both when I say how much it means to hear from you and know you are covering us in prayer. Thank you.

Despite the sad events that surrounded our visit home, we still enjoyed many fun days with family. I'm going to try and give you the quick and fast version with as few pictures as possible. Nothing like a full camera chip of 300 and narrowing it down, right? : )

Our trip started with a drive from Detroit to Chicago at 2:00 A.M.

My train left Chicago at 7:00 in the morning,

so we got there with time to see Navy Pier as the sun was coming up.

We were sad to leave Daddy, but we boarded and rode south

to St. Louis where my parents were to meet us.

We unloaded our train and caught our first glimpse of my parents from the catwalk at the St. Louis station.

{To see a full tour of the train, the dining cars, observations decks, and cafes on board,

read this blog post about our first trip from Little Rock to Chicago.}

And when Harbor saw them waiting, he happily took off running toward them.

We drove around downtown St. Louis for a bit.

People were sightseeing and climbing the steps to the arch.

From St. Louis, we had another six hours in the car.

Upon arriving at my parents' house in Northwest Arkansas, I saw my mom had some cute

Razorback outfits for my two boys to welcome them. : )

Playing with toys you only see a few times a year is always a treat.

But opening new "Welcome Back Home" toys is even better!

The weather in Arkansas was quite a contrast to that of Detroit.

It was in the 80's in Arkansas and we spent many days outside,

running my parents' two acres of pasture.

And getting our workout running to check the mail at the end of their driveway. : )

Harbor and my dad, Poppy, entertained one another in his shop.

They took turns hoisting each other to the ceiling and back down.

Harbor played in warm sunshine with sidewalk chalk.

It seemed the cold, fall days of Michigan were far away at that point.

We had lots of visitors!

My aunt, Cathy, stopped by with presents for Harbor.

We feel so blessed to have a loving family!

Harbor and Poppy hugging and playing in my parent's breakfast nook.

And Rachel stopped by several times to visit with us, as well.

Harbor was reading sight words to her- she is an education major also- so we had fun

running assessments on Harbor! Haha!

And we spent a few days at the family farm together. More than anything else in Detroit, I miss the farm. The rolling Ozarks covered in thick forest, gurgling streams for deer and wild coyotes, cows and horses grazing aside haystacks... just wide open spaces.

Harbor helped to inspect farm equipment and gather grain for the calves.

We spent time at the fence rows, watching the cows feed and eat.

I have memories of doing this,

spending time on these 400 acres or so, all the way back to my first memories.

My dad called the cows in...

and my mom explained to Harbor what was happening while I took some pictures.

To me, there is nothing as pretty as our hillside.

We went out to eat as a family for my and Rachel's birthdays.

We are both September babies, so this trip worked out really well for a birthday celebration.

And so far, turning 31 has been a pretty good ride! : )

I brought Rachel a Detroit Tiger's Baseball shirt with me on the train.

Now that we are in the World Series, it has even more special meaning.

Harbor and my mom, Gigi, being silly!

I went to several dinners with some of my girlfriends.

Lyndsey and I were in each other's weddings and have been friends for ages.

It felt so good to see and reconnect with familiar faces.

My mom took Harbor to the duck pond to feed the geese.

And before we knew it, two weeks had passed.

With a baby shower, family events, and sadly, an unexpected funeral for a lovely woman,

our time had seemingly ended in Arkansas.

We got up bright and early.

Snapped a few last minute pictures,

and headed back to the train station for our ride back north to Chicago.