Fifth Anniversary Trip

Robert's and my fifth wedding anniversary was on May 20, and we'd been planning for months to go on a trip.  I honestly think we started thinking about our fifth anniversary about a year and a half ago. haha We knew it would take a lot of planning as Robert would need to save up vacation time, we'd have to pick a week before his summer craziness with work, and we'd have to find a week where we'd have family to watch Sarah, so we booked my parents and Robert's mom to watch Sarah months ago.  We picked the week even before we knew where we'd go.  Robert really wanted to fly somewhere, but I really wanted to be within driving distance just on the off chance that something weird happened to Sarah.  Do my mommy friends understand?  This was my first time to be gone from Sarah for more than a night or two.  We just couldn't pick a place, and then one day Robert mentioned Louisville.  It's about a seven hour drive for us, and our friends Forrest and Anna had just moved there from Wake Forest.  We hadn't seen them in two and a half years, but we had loved our time with them in North Carolina.  They just bought a house so they had space for us, and they were up for hosting.  We were so happy!

We left our house Sunday afternoon once my parents got there to start watching Sarah.  I was a little nervous.  It wasn't because I didn't think Sarah would have a good time.  I knew she'd have a blast!  It's just hard to leave your baby.  We drove to St. Louis and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.  We enjoyed Mexican and some dessert and then just watched Netflix in our hotel room.  I know that isn't luxurious, but when you have a little one this is a big deal!  The next morning we went to the St. Louis Zoo.  Robert had never been, and I hadn't been in over a decade.  It was a lot of fun, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. 

St. Louis is pretty much exactly halfway between our house and Forrest and Anna's, so after lunch we got back on the road so we could get to their house by dinner (time change from central to eastern).  We enjoyed getting pictures from my parents.  On Monday Sarah watered my flowers and took a little trip to Bolivar to see Memaw and Pepaw and go to the park.

It was so wonderful to see Anna and Forrest, get to see their new house, and meet their dog, Bruce.  Anna had a delicious dinner ready for us, and we enjoyed catching up and playing games.

On Tuesday the four of us went to the Louisville Slugger Museum.  Robert is the biggest baseball fan of the group, but it really was interesting for all of us.  We got to take a little tour of the manufacturing plant and walked around a small museum.

We went to the oldest candy shop in Indiana which was very adorable.  And then we went home for a bit.

Sarah got to do lots of coloring and painting with my parents.

Colonel Sanders and Muhammad Ali are buried in the same cemetary, and apparently this is a popular thing to visit in Louisville, so we had to do it!

We got some delicious ice cream at Comfy Cow!

We went to Churchill Downs and got a tour and looked around the museum.  I basically don't know anything about horses or racing, but it was still very impressive and interesting.

Robert and I sneaked off for a little anniversary date and went out for BBQ and walked across a huge pedestrian bridge that goes over the Ohio River.  It was beautiful!

There was some rain throughout the week, but we also had some very pleasant days which allowed for a little hike one morning.

Halfway through the trip Serina took over watching Sarah, and they had a ton of fun together!  My parents had taken Sarah to Discovery Center, and Serina took Sarah to the Zoo.  She also did finger painting, baked cookies, and tie dyed t-shirts.  So fun!

We got to play so many games with Anna and Forrest which was a lot of fun!  We watched a movie, Robert helped Forrest with a couple of little house projects, I got to nap and rest, and we just enjoyed each other's company.  We couldn't have asked for a better time!  The drive home was made in a day, and the time change back to central time helped us out.  We rain into a couple of pretty heavy rain storms with hail which slowed us down a bit.  Shortly after we got home we actually lost power for an hour.  Sarah had a great time with our parents, but she was definitely ready for us to be home.  She and Serina were out in the driveway when we pulled in and Sarah started bawling.  She just couldn't compose herself.  It was very sweet and very sad.  We had a great break, but it was also very nice to be back together.  It was the perfect way to get energized for our busy summer with student activities.  Thank you for hosting us, Anna and Forrest, and thank you to my parents and Serina for watching Sarah!

Pennsylvania Road Trip

Last Monday we started out on Sarah's biggest road trip to date.  Dad, Robert, Sarah, and I started our journey to Pennsylvania to visit my dad's side of the family.  We left MO Monday morning and stopped for the evening in Springfield, OH.  Sarah traveled very well and really didn't need to stop any more often than we would have stopped anyway.  We got a nice suite and all slept pretty well.  We got back on the road again on Tuesday morning and arrived to my grandparents' house in time for some delicious pizza.  We made a pit stop on the way there and squeezed in a quick trip at Penn State.  We had to get some ice cream at The Creamery and get a picture with the Nittany Lion statue!

After the world's largest poopy diaper

Everybody instantly fell in love with Sarah.  She has a way with people!  Robert, Sarah, and I stayed nearby at The White Birch Inn, and we would highly recommend it.  It was nice to have our own space, the room was clean, the bed was comfortable, the manager was friendly, and the breakfast was delicious!

Our time in PA was great!
Wednesday - Recovered from the trip and enjoyed games, chatting, and watching Sarah be adorable
Thursday - The guys went golfing while the girls hung around the house.
Friday - Dad, Robert, Sarah, and I went to Benton to enjoy feeding the ducks and fish, hiking around Ricketts Glen, driving around town, and eating lunch and ice cream.

Saturday - Aunt Cathy, Robert, Sarah, and I went to a fall festival and enjoyed looking at the craft booths, eating some tasty food, and being out in the fresh fall air.  The trees were gorgeous during our time in PA!

We started the journey back home on Sunday and made it to Lexington, KY.  Sarah traveled well again.  The final day of the trip (Monday) was the roughest, but it definitely could have been worse.  Sarah was just over the car seat, so we had to stop every hour and a half to two hours.  Sarah even slept through her first snow on the way home!

We're so glad we got to make this trip!  We're thankful for our family, and I know we made lots of good memories!

Baby Showers and a Road Trip

Out first baby shower was in Alabama on Thursday, May 28 and was hosted by Robert's dad and his wife.  We made the 12 hour drive to Alabama on Monday and came back to Missouri Friday evening.  It had been about a year and a half since we had last gone to Alabama.  This trip included swimming at cousin Marla's pool, a trip to the beach and estuarium at Dauphin Island, Bellingrath Gardens & Home, and catching up with lots of family.

The shower was super fun, and I'd say we had about 25 people there.  We enjoyed a dinner of chicken salad, fruit, veggies, chips, and cake.  It was a fun party, and lots of Robert's aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents were there.

The Bobby Varner clan

The day after we got back from Alabama we had a shower in Bolivar (May 30).  This one was hosted by a couple of my dear friends and sweet moms of friends.  The shower was at the CMH community rooms where we had our wedding reception which was fun.  We had cupcakes and fruit, and played a couple of fun games.  Leigha had a board of about a dozen pictures of Robert and a dozen pictures of me, and the guests had to match our ages to the pictures.  We also played a game where Leigha and Tarah would name a TV show and we had to list the names of the children on the show.  I was on the winning team. :)  It was fun to share this time with such great friends, my mom, and Robert's mom and sister.  Robert didn't come to this shower, but afterward we went to lunch with Mom, Serina, and Bethany so Robert wasn't completely left out.  Haha!

The lovely hostesses

Class of '08 - Friends for 20+ years

Weekend in Texas

Robert and I had the opportunity to attend Youth Ministry Lab at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary this weekend.  It was great!  We left on Thursday and were able to spend the night with my aunt, uncle, and cousin outside of Dallas.  I had visited them there once at Thanksgiving a few years ago, but Robert had never been.  They welcomed us with a delicious dinner of smoked ribs which is always okay in Robert's book.  After that, we spent some time chatting, demoing my cousin's virtual reality simulator, and watching a movie called Bernie.  On Friday morning we explored downtown and finished up our time with Aunt Dana with some delicious burgers and pie.

Chocolate silk

We drove about an hour and a half to get to the seminary and got checked in.  We had some time before the conference actually started so we did some exploring.  It was definitely bigger than Southeastern, and it made us miss our time at seminary.

The chapel

Part of President Patterson's collection

We walked around campus and drove around a bit.  We found the duplexes where my parents lived when Dad went to Southwestern.

We ventured off campus and found Robert's first house.  He lived there until he was about four years old.

We got checked into our hotel and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.  La Quinta served us well!

The first two sessions were with JD Greear of The Summit.  We thought it was funny that we had to travel to Texas to hear a popular pastor from North Carolina.  We never did meet him when we lived there, but we made sure to introduce ourselves at the conference.  He spoke about the assurance of salvation, and we enjoyed listening to him.

Next up was Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage.  We've been fans of Thomas for a few years.  We went through his book during our premarital counseling and again in our Sunday School class in NC.  He's such a mesmerizing speaker, and he brings great insights.  We heard him speak twice - Friday night and Saturday morning.  The funniest thing he said was, "You can't possibly expect to keep your spouse infatuated for six decades.  Nobody is that interested!"  Ha!  He said this in regard to the need to focus on God's Kingdom in order to have a long-lasting marriage.  If we are both more focused on God's Kingdom and loving each other well more than being loved, then we will have a God-honoring marriage and be loved well in the process.  It made me want to read more of his books!  That and the fact that we found out he's a Duke fan.

We got back to the hotel on Friday night and enjoyed having cable TV for a bit.  The next morning we had a tasty breakfast at the hotel.

Like I said, we heard Gary speak again on Saturday morning.  We also heard Johnny Derouen speak on having open doors for youth ministry and how to attract students.  He spoke about the extreme importance of prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to bring in students.  

We enjoyed lunch at Joe T. Garcia's, and Robert especially loved his fajitas.  After lunch, we hung out at the pool.  The pool wasn't heated, but Robert still hopped in.  I stuck with dipping my fit in the hot tub.

Robert had the idea to see a Rangers game, and we enjoyed watching them play the Astros.  We had seats on the absolute back row, but on the plus side, nobody can kick your chair when nobody is sitting behind you.  The weather was perfect for a game!

The Gingerbread Man made an appearance.

On Sunday, we went to The Village Church in hopes to hear Matt Chandler preach.  Unfortunately, he didn't preach, but the guest speaker did a very good job, and we still got to meet Matt after the service.  After church, we started the journey back home.  Thankfully, the hour drive from the hotel to church put us an hour closer to home, so the trip was broken up a bit.  We had lunch at Whataburger (my first time), and made it home safely.  Robert was awesome and drove the whole time.  I was able to crochet and read magazines.  I was also the DJ in charge of the iPod.  It's weird to think that this is one of the last road trips with just the two of us (Alabama in May).  When we got home, I made sure to crack out my souvenir: some peach salsa.