There's No Place Like Home!

In honor of our weekend trek across the GREAT STATE OF TENNESSEE, I'll be blogging in orange! We had a fabulous visit at home with mom, dad, Jeff, and that sneaky Nannie and Grandaddy showed up too! We left Thursday evening after Mike got off of work and stopped on the other side of Nashville for the night. Riley loves hotels and quickly set about collecting the free soaps and shampoos once we were checked in. She got ready for bed and put a little cup of water on the nightstand and loved that "they give you a note pad and pen right here just in case you need to draw or write something". She was truly blown away when she realized the second notepad and pen on the "executive desk". Mike had a similar reaction to the complimentary breakfast bar, so a good time was had by all!

I miss this guy!

I've gotten used to missing this guy over the years. My "first" best friend.

This girl loves her Grammie and Poppy!

It was Grammie's birthday, so it was a great reason (not that we need one) to go home. I hadn't laid eyes on my sweet little mama in 7 weeks! That was a lifetime! We spent the afternoon and evening at home and even got in a little shopping Saturday morning before mom's birthday lunch. Mike took Riley to visit with Granny and Papa and she even got a bonus visit since Broc, Baylor, and Uncle Brian were there. It was so nice to spend a little time with mom! Dad, Mike and Riley met us for lunch at Puleo's. Yummy! We got back in time to cheer on the VOLS and Nannie and Grandaddy came in from NC to see us! We were so happy that they could visit! Riley kept everyone "entertained". I thought Grandaddy was going to never stop laughing at her. Mom, Dad and I shed many a tear when it was time for us to leave, but I was proud of myself for "drying it up" before we were out of west Knoxville. I couldn't think about them too much on the way home or my eyes got all watery. Mike and I had lots of "I can't believe we live in Mississippi" conversations on the way home. We're still in limbo with regard to the "why we've ended up here" question, but are also still confident that moving was the right thing to do for our little family. We don't know the future, but we do know that it will become clear in God's time, not ours. GULP...that's a tough pill to swallow while cryin' it out, saying goodbye, red eyed with your mom and dad in their driveway.

Reading Junie B. Jones to Nannie before bed.

Being silly with Poppy. She wore an Ole Miss shirt to "make him mad".

She set up a shoe store with a few pair she borrowed from Grammie.