Our December has been a whirlwind, but I figured that I should post something of the trip to Canada and my brother's wedding, before any more excitement happens and it never gets written about!
For those want the two sentence version: We left our house two days before Thanksgiving and didn't get back until Dec. 9 .We had a great time; the kids were amazingly patient with the long driving days and we really enjoyed the time to be together.
For those who actually care where we went and what happened there: The first day, we only drove as far as Oklahoma City, where we stayed with the Kerrs. Glory really enjoyed playing in the fall leaves. Next we made the long drive to Ohio, where we were able to spend Thanksgiving with my Aunt and Uncle, which was a sweet treat for me...I love swapping songs with Aunt Debbie!! :) After spending a few days, we headed North to Ontario, where we would spend the week with the Mittons. We had a really pleasant week, and Taylor was able to work from the house, meaning that it cost us very little vacation. We were really challenged by their hospitality; I hope that we can do as well someday. Saturday, Dec. 4, my brother Jeremy married Liz Kuhn. We enjoyed getting to spend some time hanging out with Liz' family the day before the wedding. The ceremony was simple and elegant ...and little Nate slept through it so that I actually got to be in the same room...it was great! Welcome, welcome, Liz! I can't wait to get to know you better. :)
I can't tell about our trip to Canada without spelling out at least one adventure in detail...On the way back home we got stuck in a snow squall just outside of London, Ont. We pulled over for gas not even able to see what the gas station looked like for the snow. As the Lord had planned it, it was a truck stop with a restaurant, so we went in to eat and find out what we could about the storm. About that time, drivers from the other direction started coming in saying that they were closing the road. The waitresses were really kind and gave the kids coloring books and candy; they gave us free access to the WiFi, so we were able to check on the storm. Just as we were thinking to drive back the way we had come in search of a place to spend the night, the waitress came up to us and said, "there are hotel rooms upstairs. It's not the Hilton, but they're ok". We knew the Lord was taking care of us, when He directed us to the gas station, but now this! What gas station has hotel rooms? At this point, I didn't even mind the storm, I was just so excited to be cared for by such a God! We did spend the night. Taylor went to sleep really early; he was exhausted after driving in the snow...and my man being my man, that meant that he woke up at like 2:00 am. :/ So he checked the weather and watched the traffic crawl forward on the now re-opened road. It seemed that the storm was not going to pass for several days and that the road, at least temporarily, was pretty good. As soon as he saw the snowplows coming the opposite direction, we woke up the kids, bought coffee and banana bread down stairs and got ready to head out as soon as the snowplow came back our way. It was less than an hour before we were past the storm and on our way to the border.
On the trip home, we stopped by the Investortools office in Illinois, where we met up with friends from Taylor's work for a couple of days. One day while Taylor was working, I made a day trip with the kids to visit the Benders, who lived a couple hours off our route. We all made the drive back to Texas without much adventure...and had a whole 6 days before we left to celebrate Christmas with Taylor's family in Houston. :P Right now we are getting ready for my sister's wedding here in Snyder on Dec. 31. Exciting times! :)
