trip to Tennessee to visit Jan's family

I just got back last night from a trip with my dad, brother (Doug) and his children, Maggie (9) and James (13) to visit my aunt Nancy and uncle Ted's house in Tennessee. We left Birmingham Saturday morning. James and I had a great time on the ride up talking.

Also visiting, from Illinois, were my mom's brother Bob and his wife Georgie. They were on their way to Arkansas and stopped over at Nancy and Ted's. We also saw my cousin Cindy and her husband Bret and their kids Ally(9) and Zach (15), as well as my cousin Matt and his new bride of a little over a year, Kimberly. It was a short trip for us, only staying one night, but it was good to see everyone. The last time we were all together was in March for my Mom's funeral.

We spent most of the afternoon talking and catching up. My aunt Nancy made a delicious chicken and rice dish for supper, and I made sure I got the recipe for it before I left (coming soon to a fellowship meal near you, Grace members!) In fact, it was so good I made it tonight for my immediate family since they didn't get to join us in Tennessee.

While I was gone William and the kids had fun going and doing some fun things together. First of all, they went to several yard sales (big surprise!!) For those who don't know, yard sales are one of our favorite Saturday morning activities. For lunch they hit McDonald's and even managed to squeeze in a visit to Krispy Kreme for a donut before heading back toward home and stopping by Tannehill State Park.

Meanwhile back in Tennessee, we were catching up and laughing about our childhood memories. We also listened to James play the keyboard. He is so talented, and is really doing well not only playing alot of songs, but making up his own really cool arrangements that usually sound better than the originals! I am really proud of him! Some of us sat around and talked, while Doug and some of the others watched the British Open (yawn) .

Sunday morning seemed to fly by. Ted made cinnamon bread and two pots of coffee (the first pot was more like motor oil, according to Ted and my dad!) for breakfast.We packed and got ready to leave. After we had lunch, we said our goodbyes and got on the road.

I still had about 40 minutes to drive after we got back to Dad's. When I finally pulled in the driveway, Bailey and Noah ran out to meet me with hugs and kisses . It was a good trip, but I was glad to be home.