Today......

I know that I said my next post would highlight some of my favorite photos from vacation but I just can't decide which ones are my favorite because they are all my favorites! :) Anyway.....life is slowly returning to normal for us around here. We have been home a little over a week now and we are getting back into a normal sleep routine and everything else that has been out of whack from vacation! I have gotten all my pictures from my camera onto my computer and now comes the task of getting them developed and sorted. I have many ideas of what I am going to do with the pictures and sand from the beach from our vacation. So it is just getting it done, but that will have to wait until the kids go back to school!

In answer to my question from my last post about what 2 states we missed.....DRUM ROLL........West Virginia and New Hampshire we the two that we missed! Believe it or not, we found a Hawaii jeep in the parking lot at the Grand Canyon and Alaska somewhere in Nevada (and several more Alaska cars along our way home)!!!! The kids were sure that we wouldn't get Hawaii, but I told them to not be so sure of themselves! There was a whole bunch of whoop-whoop's going on in our vehicle when we found the Hawaii, I only wish I had taken a picture of it!!!!

So it is back to reality and back to life! Briana is all moved out and moved into her apartment in Watertown. She starts work at her new job tomorrow morning and school will start for her on the 21st of August. She is doing well on her own so far but lonely! Her roommate (and BEST FRIEND) isn't moving up for a couple more weeks so Briana has been on her own for almost a week now! It is strange around this house without her presence! I have been messaging her or calling her at least daily! My family of 6 is no more and it seems weird! We will always be a family of 6 but now it is just a different sort of 6. Once empty chair at dinner time, one less "goodnight mom" and one less random hug! That realization has hit me full force today and I am extremely sad about it! I am totally happy for this new chapter in her life but totally and completely miss her like crazy! I never in a million years would think that this would be so hard, but some days....YES IT IS!

Perhaps with scans looming around the corner next week, that has increased my emotions some! I hate scan time and the time leading up to and then the waiting! My trust is in the ONE above, I am a child of the ONE TRUE KING!!! But.....I want to control it all still! It's a daily thing for me....laying it all down and picking up my cross to carry! The Lord leads, sustains and loves me. That will get me through anything! Happy Wednesday! May the Lord bless you today and always!

Cathi


Here is the youtube video to Matthew West's song Hello my name is! I LOVE THIS SONG!

Vacation Day 13 and 14

We spent the last two days of our vacation in the car.  Sunday was spent getting through the mountains of Colorado and across the state into Nebraska!  We got to North Platte, NE at 11pm.  Checked into the Hampton Inn and got some sleep before getting up this morning and heading the rest of the way home!  We got caught in a heavy thunderstorm in  Colorado yesterday afternoon but the rainbow afterwards was SPECTACULAR!  Today was a LONG day but we made it home at around 4:20 this afternoon.  After being gone for 14 days, 9 hours and 35 minutes, seeing our house as we crested the hill was a total highlight for all of us!  We crossed (or touched) 10 states, put on 4,838.2 miles from start to finish and took over 1,200 pictures.  It was the trip of a lifetime and we had a BLAST!  There are so many fun things to remember and laugh about the whole thing and we will be talking about it for years to come!  I am thankful God blessed us with this time together and that I am on a chemo break to enjoy the time together and seeing some beautiful countryside!  Thank you for journeying with us on vacation!  I hope you enjoyed and lived the experience with us!  I will post some of my favorite pictures over the next few days but will end this entry with a couple of highlights from the last couple of days!  One last thing.....we played the license plate game while on vacation and came home with 48 out of 50 states seen.....any guesses on which two we missed?  Leave a comment with your answer.  I will post which two it was that we missed in a couple of days!  Until next time....blessings!

Cathi

The view from our hotel room in Cortez, Colorado

heading down the road

the beautiful Rocky Mountains!

more of the mountain

Colby catching a nap!

the rainbow after the thunderstorm

entering the state of Nebraska

making the final leg of our journey...leaving North Platte, Nebraska

entering into our home state of South Dakota

our trip meter in the Mountaineer

Vacation Day 13

Today found us going thru the Grand Canyon and going to the 4 corners.  We are in Cortez Colorado for the night and making the final leg of this vacation. The plan is to be home by Monday. It will be a long couple of days but the reward of being home is worth the long hauls. The Grand Canyon was AMAZING! And the 4 corners was just a money trap but still a fun memory. We had some good times today and some laughs as well. Memories for sure! Now we are just laughing and being silly trying to settle down but it is really not working.  :) enjoy the pictures, this will be my last post before we get home. I will blog again when we arrive home and give some highlights. Until then....enjoy!

Cathi

Vacation Day 12

Today we spent about 3 hours in Vegas. First driving the strip in both directions and then parking and walking to a couple of places.  We saw the MGM casino, M&M world, coke store, Hershey store and the New York New York casino.  We then got back in the car and headed down the road to the Hoover Dam! We got out and walked there too. It was HOT!!!!  We were all sweaty and beet red by the time we got back to the vehicle. Then we continued on to our destination. Williams, Arizona about 60 miles south of the Grand Canyon South Rim entrance....which we will see tomorrow. Our hotel is an overpriced dive...but we have 3 beds so no floor sleeping for little people tonight again. We are getting on each others nerves more now, we are tired, cranky and sick of living out of our bags. We miss home and all the comforts of it.  It has been a wonderful vacation but home is looking better and better every minute. Perhaps a good nights sleep will do us all a bit of good!!!  Good night from us!!  Enjoy the pictures!

Cathi

Vacation Day 11

Today found us saying goodbye to Laurie and heading down the coast. We stopped in Simi Valley and toured the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and having lunch there. By that time it was after 3pm and we needed to make the decision if we were gonna just get thru LA and drive thru to Vegas yet today.  Well we did and by 10pm we landed in Vegas! We had to deal with rush hour traffic and the headaches that all comes with. But we made it thru and hunkered down at the Homewood Suites in Henderson, we had a view of the strip from afar which at night is awesome! We are up and at em this morning and getting ready to head out. We are not sure if we are gonna walk the strip or drive it but our plan is to get to Williams, AZ today and go thru the south rim of the Grand Canyon tomorrow. We will see how the day plays out! We are tired and ready to get home but don't want to miss the sights along the way so we will keep pressing on! We are on the homeward stretch!  Just a few more days. We are ready to not be living out of a bag or in a hotel anymore. We have had some great times though and that will last forever!!!  Enjoy the pictures!