Family Alive

Ok, so I stalled on the iPhone updates.   Internet was a bit more sporadic than I expected, I didn’t take as many iPhone photos as I had hoped, and well… I just plain got busy living life, catching up with friends, chasing and chastising my kids, and falling into exhausted slumber at each new place we landed.  Sorry about that!  I’m going to try to sum up the trip here, because if I don’t… we we may never remember the fun/funny/sweet/silly parts of the 27 day adventure!

So after 7,100 miles, 19 states, 8 Happy Meal toys (yes, that number seems surprisingly low… but I’m grateful it’s not more!), 8 houses, 5 hotels, 6 bike races, and 27 days, we arrived back to the wonderful Sweet Home Alabama at 1am this morning.  Whew!  What a crazy undertaking!

If you were on our routes, we are so thankful we got to see you!  So much awesome hospitality!  I, personally, was overwhelmed at the places and memories that this trip took me back to, from foundational college Athletes in Action days to love-blurred weeks at Mercy Ships in Texas to emotional roller-coaster months of early marriage, pregnancy and Analise’s birth in Davis, CA.  We have such wonderful friends in so many places!

Analise and Josiah met countless new friends… somewhere around 19, I think??  Analise took to calling each new group of friends her “new best friends”, and she never seemed to know anyone’s name.  I finally realized midway through the trip that they were all so special to her – and there were so many! –  she just couldn’t be bogged down by the names, and really… how could she be expected to?

I got to see my entire family, too!  My parents flew to Seattle, WA, spent a couple days with Anna and Hal, and then met us in Bend, OR.  Anna and Hal (and Riley dog!) joined us midweek.  We visited Kat at her home in Denver, having an amazing dinner at the aquarium restaurant, a whirlwind trip through the aquarium, and a slumber party at her apartment.  She ran a VO2max test on Brian in her exercise science lab, and then she and I took the kids for their first mini-golf experience, topped off with ice cream.  Good times!  On the last days of our trip, we stopped at my Grandma’s in LaPorte, IN for dinner and a night.  It was so good to get to see her, too.

Ok, I know this is rambling, but if I try to make it organized and orderly, it may never get posted.  So forgive my randomness, and look for photos soon!