Nashville in October

October was a sweet month filled with spending time with family and those who are just like family. Lynn, Abigail, Mom, Dad, and I met in Nashville for Community Bible Church's annual missions conference. Gail was missed as she had to stay in school! We stayed at a close friend house and were able to just hang out. It was the first time many people had see Abigail and she put on the charm!

The Searles had a new edition, Tegan had little Gavin (Stephanie will have to tell me if I got the spelling right) but he looks like he could be in a Gerber commercial! Precious!

I got some play time and smiles!





Abigail was thrilled to be staying at Emily Ann's mom's where Ginger (the dog) lived during the day. It was a highlight of her day to be able to pet and feed the dog. A highlight of my day, besides seeing all of the precious people, was to get to drive the rental car.We all had a blast riding with top down!

Coincidentally and luckily the weekend we were in town was my high school homecoming football game. My cousin was playing in his senior game so we took Mau Mau and watched #44 work his magic. I was able to see people I hadn't seen in 6 years. The track team was an important part of my high school life and I was excited to see the girls on my 4x800 team and one has two kids now. My how life does keep going!

People were so generous to open their homes but sometimes Abigail and Lynn just needed to hide a bit from the crowds:)

Mom was in charge of speaking at the women's brunch and did a great job with a slide show and power point presentation to communicate what she is doing in Bangladesh.

Miss Ruby is one of our dear friends in Nashville. It is truly a joy to be able to sit and talk with her sister and her and hear the tales of their childhood and nursing experiences. If I am half as spry and encouraging as Miss Ruby is when I am in my 90s I will be one happy chick. I guess add my Mau Mau to that list of 1/2 as well as someone is in their 90s. She was a champion and just jumped into whatever we were doing at the time!
Mom's good friends from college Barb and Natalie came for the missions conference to hear her speak. It was good to have the support of so many who have been praying for us all though the years.

This is one of my favorite photos with Mrs. Haver and Mau Mau and then below with Mrs. Ramer. We stayed in Mrs. Ramer's house since she is living in an Altzimers home in Nashville. I don't understand why God has us all age so differently. It was great to be able just to sit and go through some photo albums together.

Cousin Melissa came and of course Abigail chose the 2 1/2 year old favorite toy to play with- the brown box filled with peanuts for packing. Abigail's laugh makes everyone else smile:)


Abigail at the International Market learning how to use chopsticks. She was quite proud of herself!
Mau Mau recently moved to a different apartment where she could have a bit more help if needed. It has worked out really well with most all of the staff being very helpful and kind. I was looking around her place one day thinking "this is about the size of house that I would like to be responsible for cleaning." It is a beautiful facility and comforting to know Mau Mau is being well taken care of. Abigail liked it because there were always plenty of crackers for her to eat!




Abigail liked to 'help' Mau Mau walk. Some friends that had been displaced by hurricane Katrina came to visit. Fran has been a friend of my Aunt's and it is great to have her living in Nashville now. Abigail loved playing with her grand kids the twins and as you can tell we just had wonderful weather.

Always wonderful to spend time with Emily Ann and my roomie from college Becky!

A really special treat was getting to have dinner with Gretch and meet her husband. I felt like we were able to be open and maybe that is a part of having history with one another. It was a sweet time to get to sit and share what life is teaching us in this season.

Stephanie and me in the good old 'camera on top of the other car in the parking lot' shot. You know what I am talking about!
Then it was time to go. Abigail carried her own suitcase like a grown up. Mom and I spent the morning with MauMau and then grabbed some breakfast at a place where you could have gigantic pickles with breakfast. What more could you want! In this season to be thankful I can say that I am most thankful for my family and friends who continue to walk with me and beside me on this journey.

Sun, Sand, and Family

September brought the beginnings of travel. On the 18th I headed out to California to spend two weeks with my family. Gail was accepted to UC Davis and this was a chance to get to see the beginnings of her life there. We took family photos before she left with all 4 generations and those are what I started these pictures off with.

Here is the college girl and Abigail who we adore! She knows all of our names, knows what she wants and loves to be tickled by her Aunts who pretend like they are the infamous 'Crusher'. We love to make Abigail laugh:)

The 'Crusher' in action!!

Since Will died I feel as though I am a bit back in the family that I grew up in, different last name, different person in some ways, widowed now, but back in the flock in a sense. We decided to take a few pictures of the 4 of us and below are some of  what we got! 

We spent the Sunday before Gail moved into college at my sister's church. Below is my sweet niece. She looks cute in he Sunday dress and cute teaching the raccoons how to go to the potty like she was learning. 

Here are the three sisters before we made the trek to drop Gail off at college. The next step for her new 'American' adult life. 

University of California in Davis (UC Davis) is in a town called Davis near Sacramento. The sky is nearly always blue and the grass green due to irrigation. Gail's dorm is a remodeled motel with a middle courtyard equipped with laundry, computer rooms, and of course the college essential - a hot tub and pool! Blow are just some assorted family photos of our campus invasion. Even the grandparents came on one trip making it really a special time! 

Below is our family and the Jessica's (Gail's roommate) family. They are town nearby Lynn and although Gail and Jessica are very different (ex. Jess is not into sports) she has been a great roommate for Gail and a sweet friend. 

Gail and Jess are below. They share a bedroom and a sink with each other and a bathroom and living room with two other girls. Davis is a very culturally diverse college making Gail feel right at home! We lofted Gail's bed to let her have more room. None of us could believe we were actually moving the baby into college!

Abigail playing in the pool. She thinks college is great!

We had lunch at an Indian/Nepali place. We all enjoyed the curries and lots of good spices.

My Grandma had her 84th birthday while we were visiting! Lynn came in and we went out for lunch with a wonderful family friend, Kathy Dean, who brought her 1940s car named Milly to transport us to lunch. It was a beautiful day in CA to ride with the top down and just celebrate my Grandma's life. 

Of course there was plenty of chocolate cake for lunch....

.......and dinner!!!

This is what my dad calls a Will picture ~ taken with one person's arm stretched out. He never understood how Will could take such good photos with one arm:) 

Another highlight of the trip was getting to spend a day in the city with Marcelle. There were beautiful sunsets and just a gorgeous day to lay in the park, eat sour frozen yogurt, and talk about life. 

We ended up at the beach across from where we used to live and just enjoyed the view and each other. I really had a fantastic day getting to be with my cousin. I am thankful for my family.

After Gail was moved in I kind of enjoyed being the only kid for little bit. Mom, Dad, I spent time just messing around Novato where my grandparents live eating breakfast and spending time around the house. 

We took the ferry into the city and just acted like tourists all day. We started off a Fisherman's Wharf eating clam chowder in sourdough bowls and then headed off to Lombard street to walk up the most crooked street in the USA.

It was another beautiful day full of sunshine and lots of walking which my dad was a good sport about. We enjoyed some treats at Ghiradelli Square and then kept on walking:0 

We ate some delicious sushi in the city and established that I really am a pescatarian vs a vegetarian. 

After two weeks in San Fran it was time to head back to Kansas City for a week of work before heading to have some more family time.