Saturday, February 4, 2012

Big OL RV TRIP...THE END of the road!

We woke up and were driving by 7:15am on the morning we left.
We left most of the kids in bed sleeping.  
I knew THE END would eventually come.

I think my sadface was contagious!

The sign as we exited our home..

The blurred campground & fishing bridge in the background as we drove away..
Oh how I missed it all instantly..

I also miss the palm trees..

The sunrises...

The boats & fishermen..

The beautiful scenery..




And mostly just the "LAID BACKEDNESS" of it all!
I can tell he missed it too. He fell asleep in his swimming goggles!

The kids were SO GOOD on the drive. We decided to get out and go to FAMILY DOLLAR at the end of our first day traveling home and let them all pick out one thing..

We got..A rainbow pad of paper, a police set, a New Testament, glow bracelets, a plastic knife, plastic earrings and BALLS for the baby. ALL WERE THRILLED!

UNTIL.....

THIS TRAIN WRECK HAPPENED. Bits stuck his finger in one of Lollis balls..
And it got stuck...I MEAN REALLY STUCK...
He was hysterical..which made me a bit hysterical...
THANK GOD The Captain remained calm..
AND THEN IT GOT WORSE...

MyMy came up and calmly said "MOMMY, I HAVE A PROBLEM."
His older sister who protects and looks out for him AT ALL TIMES decided to "REENACT" his   action to see if she could find a way to help get her brothers finger out
AND GUESS WHAT??
YUP!!!
2 balls stuck on 2 fingers and 2 kids WAILING as we drove down the highway.

At this point The Captain of our Ship decided that it was time to pull our rig over and check things out..... He got out his bag of tools...

And the surgery on both kids was performed. 
He did a fantastic job remaining calm as I remained a BASKET CASE!

THE "DOUBLE FINGER BALLECTOMY" was a SUCCESS!

Then it was time to handcuff the baby so that no more ball incidents happened again!

We stayed in a our usual Wal-Mart parking lot that night and headed out the next morning early. We wanted to be at our friends house by supper time so we had to put the pedal to the metal. I showered while going down the road and then it was The Captains turn..Which means I had to drive the big rig. It was the longest I've ever driven er' and YES, I know I didn't have my seatbelt on. I WAS SO NERVOUS I guess I just forgot. I held er steady while The Captain got his shower in. I was white knucklin' it ALL THE WAY!  You get quite the jolt when the semis pass you. It's kinda scary.. Maybe one day I will take more of a role in the driving but I am hoping not!

We arrived at our friends house in time for dinner! YUMMY!

My friend of 10 years! 
We've been through a lot together and I was THRILLED that we stopped by to see them!

T was happy to spend the night in the house with the girls!
That is what is SO NICE about the RV..You can go visit, hang out and not feel like whoever you are visiting is inconvenienced by having to find a place for 9 people to sleep!

My friend and I stayed up talking after everyone else crashed out until we both started nodding off on the couch after midnight! It was such a blessing to catch up!

We woke up to my friends FAMOUS homemade Cinnamon rolls!
I can still taste them now.. DEEEEEVINE!!

The girls..

The boys..

You don't know my friends husband holding Blakely here but let me just tell you...
He is one of God's favorites..
He did ALL SEVEN of our adoptions including Blakely's embryo adoption.. He is a compassionate friend and attorney. We will be forever grateful for his unselfish service to our family. He (with God's help) is the reason that we have some of our kids and we are so thankful for him! Lolli loved him!

All the kids before we headed out!

Our last stop before home!
Waving goodbye!

Several people have asked me if I missed home.. If I am happy that we are back in our house.
I am, don't get me wrong but HONESTLY I cannot think of one thing I missed. I missed a couple of people but I think I could have stayed there forever. In a beautiful place. meeting new people, where the weather is always warm and the atmosphere so relaxed. A place where I didn't have to share my husband with his job or farm work-that's a BIGGIE! A place where we had no "running around to do" and could soak in the beauty of God's creations daily..

I didn't think I would survive 30 days in our RV with 9 people but it was extremely easy.. and fun.. The Captain is already talking about staying longer next year and I am game!! Especially as I look outside at the snow today..NOT A FAN!

I am thankful to the Lord for our time away to love our kids and bond as a family. A time that was ALL OURS. Memories made for a lifetime!

I DO HAVE SOME OTHER NEWS!!
I AM WRITING A BOOK!  
I have 4,000 words typed so far. and I WELCOME ANY ADVICE ON BOOK WRITING, PUBLISHING etc.. that any of you has.

I am still pondering the name but am considering the name of my blog as the book title. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?


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5 comments:

Kelly said...

I love your stories. You crack me up and the balls on the fingers, man that is hilarious. I know it wasn't funny at the time but reading it here made me giggle.

Awesome about your book. Funny too. Because I have just finished writing a children's book and my daughter is going to illustrate it. Maybe, just maybe I can get it published. Researching how to do that. Lots of info on line.

The Anglin Family said...

Oh, sweet mom of 8..you make me smile;) I was completely cracking up at the "ballectomy"!
I am still totally jealous of your trip but hoping for a long vacay this summer! I cannot tell you how nice that trip sounds!! I love love the keys!!
That is AWESOME you are writing a book and I love the blog title for the title. I can't wait to read it someday!!
Hope y'all have a great weekend!

BumbersBumblings said...

I just HAD to giggle at the balls stuck on fingers too!!

What a wonderful trip to take with your family! I enjoyed reading about it all!

Renata said...

Hi Jen
Oh wow ~ how exciting about your book!!
Your holiday sounds like it was wonderful & I imagine now you're back home you are enjoying it as well!
Thanks for sharing your holiday with us all! I look forward to hearing further about your book!
Have a wonderful day
Blessings
Renata:)

Oldqueen44 said...

Love the ballectomy. That was pretty darn funny.