Babymoon

Babymoon: a trip you take before you have a baby (duh).
We were planning to go back to our favorite all-inclusive resort in Cancun next May, but since baby Autry will arrive the month before we scratched that plan. Instead, we decided to take a trip this fall (while I can still travel) to a place we've talked about visiting for a long time... Boston! Turns out the Fosters wanted to visit the New England coast as well, so we combined our trips and went to Boston and then Kennebunkport, Maine, where we relaxed in the beautiful little seaside town for a couple days. Needless to say, my inability to participate in the pub activities and my absolute hatred for seafood was a slight damper for a trip to the Northeast, but I had a fabulous time nonetheless. Here are a few of my favorite memories!

Day 1, we went to this unbelievably beautiful park while on our way to the shopping district (helloooooo, H&M)

 

Day 2: We walked the Freedom Trail which took us to all the historic building and locations in downtown Boston. We started at the Old State House which was really beautiful. Right behind this building is where the Boston Massacre took place.

 

We went to the Old North Church (where the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal was sent) and it was beautiful! Each family had their own private pew box. Garland and I took a moment to soak it all in, of course.

 And Simon and Adriane decided to give the hymnal a once over

 Beautiful downtown skyline!

Garland was SO EXCITED to go to Fenway Park where the Boston Red Sox play. It was cold and cloudy and rainy, but what can I say, I like to make my man happy, so I went along :) 

Once we got to Maine, Adriane got straight to business! The seafood portion of the trip was lost on me as I absolutely hate seafood. Everyone else enjoyed it though! (I got chicken fingers...) 

It started to rain so I had to pull out my umbrella, but the pics actually turned out pretty cute with it in them! 

 Harbor in Ogunquit

Our B&B in Kennebunkport, Maine: The Maine Stay. This place was really incredible! The owners booked all our reservations and had an incredible breakfast in the morning. 

This is George Bush Sr.'s house in Kennebunkport! He was actually born and raised there and now has this home for his retirement. He and Barbara spend their summers there and they were in town while we were there! Too bad we didn't have a sighting :(

On the beach in Kennebunkport 

 Onto sunnier skies! By the time we were driving back to Boston the rain had cleared out and we took a beautiful hike up the beach in Ogunquit.

Last but not least, we had to stop and soak up some brain power at the Harvard campus. It really, truly is a beautiful campus and the neighborhood it is in, Cambridge, is a great place to hang out and eat!

The End!

Rushing Rushing Rushing

Garland left for Belize and I was home for a week by myself then I left for Colorado and while I was gone he got home, so long story short, we didn't even talk to each other for almost 2 weeks. After about the 6th or 7th day I started to feel single again. It was so weird because I did whatever I wanted and I didn't have to compromise about anything and since we literally couldn't talk at all while he was in Belize it was like he didn't exist. Needless to say, it took a little adjusting to get used to living with someone again. I missed him so so so much the whole time he was gone, but then when he got back, I caught myself thinking, wait, someone else lives in my house? Such a strange sensation for your husband to feel like a visitor.


The good news is, he's home for good (at least until Memphis in August and Fall Retreat in September, Dallas class in December, Belize in January, Chill Out in February, Memphis in March, Dallas class again in May... and so our schedule goes)! I got back on Saturday afternoon and even though we hadn't seen each other in two weeks we immediately had a family birthday party (for sweet precious itty bitty baby boy "Gawwett"), followed by church on Sunday and party #2 for the Golden Child, then 4th of July in Missouri with my family. WHEW! I am exhausted just thinking about everything that's already happened this holiday weekend.


But regardless, we had an incredible time in Belize/Colorado and seeing my family for the 4th. So here's a little preview of my favorite shots from the past week!

Me, Bestie, Adriane

 Hiking

 My silly lovies

 Drew and his two moms

FOURTH OF JULY!

Best friends :)

 Football training

 New baby (not mine!)

 Some DELICIOUS food!

 Lots of water games

 Grandpa holding his 7th great grandchild for the first time

 And of course, my favorite part, the fireworks!!

Four Christmas's...Christmas'...Four Christmi...More Than One Christmas

Ahhh yes, the joyous occation of divvying up holidays between TWO sets of divorced parents and FOUR households, not to mention the EIGHT extended families...

Holidays have been complicated in my family since my parents got divorced when I was 8. I always had two of everything, including trips to visit extended family for holidays (Mississippi for my dad and all over Missouri for my mom). But it was really all I ever knew, so I got pretty used to it. However, getting married to another child of divorce has begun to really shake things up. If you've seen the movie Four Christmases it's not that far off.

Here's the schedule so far:

We will probably be seeing three of the four extended families in the week/weekend before Christmas, then comes the real schenanigans...

Night of the 22rd/day of the 23th (BENTONVILLE, AR): His Mom and Stepdad
Night of the 23rd/morning of the 24th (ROGERS, AR): My Dad
Lunch/Afternoon/Evening of the 24th (FAYETTEVILLE, AR): His Dad and Stepmom
Late Evening of the 24th/day of 25th (LAMAR, MO): My Mom

And I guess somewhere in there we will have our own little Christmas with Bosco? All I know is that by the time we get to the 26th I will probably be so sick of holiday traveling and living out of a suitcase that my tree will be coming down and all my decorations will be put away...

But four times the families means four times the love, so I can't complain too much :)

A Shopping We Will Go

It's that time of year again, Thanksgiving shopping trip with "Mother" aka, Garland's mom (the boys never really warmed up to the term "mom").  If you've ever heard stories from time spent with Garland's family, you know that this will be an adventure. Details about this trip:
1) Mother and John (step father) take us all (both sons and their corresponding significant others) to go shopping each year as a Thanksgiving tradition. And to answer your question, no, this is not for Christmas. Christmas is separate, this is just something I lucked into when I married Garland.
2) This year we are going to the Kansas City Plaza and it's going to be a whole weekend extravaganza (Friday through Sunday).
3) The first stop on the journey is to eat at Mother's favorite restaurant in Missouri, which is technically a garden megastore that just so happens to make soup and sell really fancy plates.
4) Friday night will be dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and I am so excited!
5) Mother issues a spending minimum. This means that Garland and Garrett (younger Autry brother) will be forced to actually buy more than socks and undershirts (Garland tries to pass those items off as his entire "shopping" list every year).
6) Saturday morning will begin shopping-palooza, and my first stop will be ANTHROPOLOGY (sigh). Love at first shop.
7) Thanksgiving extravaganza weekend will take a momentary break on Saturday night for the Razorback game at 6, and this will determine the enjoyment of the rest of the weekend. While Mother, Libster (Garrett's girlfriend), and I go see a movie, the boys will yell and scream at the tv and (hopefully) be happy with the outcome, otherwise we are all going to have to endure pouty lips and poor attitudes for the rest of the night.
8) Sunday is the last day, and there is no telling what Mother has up her sleeve.
9) We will head back to Arkansas in our two cars (Mother insists on driving two so they boys can be in different cars. This way, if there were an accident, she would at least have one surviving son...).
10) I am very much looking forward to this! Craziness will ensue, but spending time with the in-laws is always entertaining and fun.

No word yet if there will be any Christmas outfits purchased for Maynard (Mother's prized cat). Wish me luck!

Made in Oregon

In June we went to visit our wonderful friends Josh and Laurel Eddleman in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a beautiful city and feels a little like a really, really huge Fayetteville. We loved how eco-friendly everyone was and all the fun outdoor activities they have. Overall, it was a blast to catch up with good friends and get a wonderful picture of their ministry on the Northwest coast!

It rained almost everyday, so this was my Portland wardrobe that I borrowed from Laurel :)

We went to the Rose Garden and even though it was raining, it was gorgeous!

After dinner they wrapped our leftovers in tin foil--in animal shapes! Mine was a swan :)

Let the Bicycle riding commence!

Hmmmm... this is just an overall interesting picture...

Then the boys bought matching hoodies, hahaha!