And Home Again

It's been a loaded weekend, to say the least. We're home now, but not without a day full of activity under the belt.

We started off with breakfast at Rob's dad's house; yesterday's visit there brought us back together for the morning there with them, this time complete with a visit from Rob's younger niece Ella, who is Sydni's age. We were greeted first by the little furry reminder of joy in the face of an otherwise tense situation: Ginger!

good morning, beautiful girl! 

hi, ella! ♥

We ate breakfast and spent the morning in the company of family, which was exactly what everyone in the house needed.

kate with the pups & ginger 

We soon said our goodbyes [for now; we'll be back asap!] and headed back to Dillon's to scoop up our dogs and be on our way.

Oh, I can't forget to mention the other pitstop before we hit the highway:

ohhhhhh brother.. 

Remember this girl? Yes, she's still in operable condition and has spent the last couple of weeks shacked up in Matt's shed. We made a detour through Collinsville on our way out to say our thanks to him and load her up. The guys took to that task, while I hung back and marveled over Apollo, Matt's dane:

apollo! 

The process went a lot smoother than I'd expected, and within a matter of minutes, the bike was hauled up, strapped in and ready to go!

ready to go!

Despite the roller-coaster of emotions, we seemed to stay in decent spirits for the ride home. We know the next couple of months are going to be a bit strenuous, regardless of how the course of events fall, but we know we're stronger together and when you add God to the mix, joy in the midst of it all is an undeniable fact.

road trippin' it! ♥

We're home now, exhausted and ready to call it a night.
Happy week, loves.

xo | cmd 

Christmas & Supercross

Christmas 2014 has crossed over into 2015, continuing on with each of the family stops we're making on this trip back to Illinois. It's not going to be completely done until Syd's back and has torn into all of the gifts she'll have waiting after this trip, but we had our time today with Rob's dad and stepmom. We took the gift that Santa brought us for Ella, and had fun watching her tear into that... I wish Sydni had been here to share in the fun of it all, but we'll be coming back and those two can have their time together ;)

ella! 

We also had the chance to celebrate Kate's birthday, which was the first time up to now that I've been able to share in that with them as a family [many more years of this to come!]. I'm so grateful for her as part of his family, and from here [soon!] on out, part of my extended family as well. Happy birthday, Kate!! ♥

happy birthday, mama kate! 

After the Christmas and birthday celebrations were had, we parted ways until tomorrow morning; our next and final stop for the night was Gilliganz for the Supercross race. Dillon, Matt & Courtney were already there, so we joined in for some dinner & the 450's. Jay and Cindy even made an appearance to say hello!

snapchatting it to ali!

And that's a wrap, folks! Tomorrow, we'll head back to Ohio and wake up on Monday to the grind of work and all the other stuff that marks our lives. And really, I'm kind of looking forward to it!

For now, good night from Illinois!

xo | cmd