Long Story Not-So-Short...

We have just returned from a much awaited trip to Minnesota to visit Aunt Ginger, Uncle Kenyon and (most importantly) our cousins Talia (5) and Aiden (almost 3). Flying standby made the trip pretty interesting and it is an understatement to say that we're glad to be back home.

We left early that morning (after having spent the night in a hotel in the city). "Mommy, it makes my bottom feel silly!" Noah yelled as the first plane took off! When we went to check in at our next gate in Atlanta, it was pretty clear that there was not enough room for us so we hit the food court. Only two hours later, we caught a flight to Minneapolis and then drove four hours on into Moorhead. It was a beautiful drive! I can see why they love it there. Gorgeous country! As the sun began to set, Noah said, "Mommy, is that the sunset?" I said yes. "Mommy, I don't want to ride into the sunset! I don't want to ride into the sunset, Mommy!" Big brother didn't help. "The sun would burn us up, Noah." You've got to appreciate the timing of an eight year old with information. We told the boys we were close to Moorhead. "Are we at Head yet, Mommy? Is this Head?"

Finally, around 9 o'clock, we drove up to their house and were greeted by the smiles and hugs that only cousins give. We stayed up and played for a long time and then hit the sack, exhausted from our day, but looking forward to the days to come. Saturday and Sunday were filled with lots of activity: a museum tour, an alien themed restaurant, SCHEELS sports store extravaganza (seriously- you should see the place!), a shopping trip for the Aunts, and more play time with our cousins. Ginger and I enjoyed catching up that night. I got to see photos of her latest production at Bethel. Kenyon wowed us with footage of a guest artist they had at MSUM. And the Uncles managed to squeeze in a trip to the movies to check out, "Iron Man." Two thumbs up, according to them. The next day, we were privelaged to visit their church. It was a wonderful worship service and that congregation was just plain MADE for them! After a quick change, we got the grand tour of the percussion department at MSUM. The kids all enjoyed a quick drum lesson with Uncle Kenyon. Noah especially enjoyed that- anything loud is okay by him. Then I got to check out a drama team rehearsal with Ginger. She is so blessed to work with those people. It makes my heart happy to know who she's surrounded by. After a cook out courtesy of Uncle Kenyon, we enjoyed a sneak preview of Talia's upcoming dance recital (costume and all) and some cuddles during a cousins bedtime story. It was a lot of fun!

A couple of Aiden quotes:

When I asked him where chocolate milk came from, he said "Pigs. They squirt it out!"

We overheard him singing a new song on Sunday, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of BADNESS!"

The next morning, I woke up with a sinus infection- not the best way to end our time there. We said a sad goodbye and headed back to the airport in Minneapolis. Getting the rental car returned and to our correct gate was a bit frustrating, but all in all went well. We made that flight, but landed in Atlanta only to find out that, yet again, the next plane didn't "look good" according to the ticket agent. He basically told us we wouldn't make it, so we headed off for dinner at Chili's in the airport, thinking we had plenty of time. When Josh went back to change our reservation at the gate, he said, "Well, if you had stuck around, five seats opened up because of a delayed flight from New York." UG. It's never a good feeling to know "what might have been." At any rate, we waited around for the 9:15 p.m. flight. The kids were AMAZING. I couldn't believe how patient they were. Mommy and Daddy weren't handling it as good as they were! Mind you, I could hardly breathe at this point and had no usable kleenex left, so I was resorting to paper towels from the airport bathroom! The flight we were waiting for was overbooked and by 9:30 we found ourselves in line for a hotel shuttle. $200 later, we were resting comfortably at the Marriott, sleeping in our clothes (our suitcase was already in OKC) and waiting for our 6:30 wake up call to catch the earliest flight for OKC. Long story not-so-short, we made that flight, played an hour and a half game of "Hang Man" all the way (in which Levi made us guess the letters to spell "Bla Bla Bla") and now we are so very grateful to be home! When we got to the minivan, Noah said, "Oh, I LOVE this car!" I felt the same way! My dear, sweet Jami called me in a prescription for my ever-growing sinus infection and I'm feeling much better today, thanks to her. What a weekend! TOTALLY worth it for the memories we made. And a HUGE reminder of what they go through every time they travel to Texas for Thanksgiving or Christmas! THAT'S dedication to family! We love you, Williams family!