Roadtrip Recap

It’s been a couple of days since we all got back from the great Five Sisters Room Redo of 2013 and we’re all still basking in the afterglow of a great few days together. I seriously think my stomach muscles are just starting to recover from all the laughing, which is usual for us, but was enhanced this time by shared family jokes and memories, loads of good chocolate, extremely late nights, missed exits and wrong turns, and interesting West Virginia locals giving vague directions. There’s just no way it can all be properly told here (nor should it be,  for that matter). To quote my brother-in-law:  “What happens in DC stays in DC.”

It was great seeing Minda’s home for the first time and my niece and nephews seemed to be genuinely tickled that we were all there. They started referring to us collectively as “the aunts.”  In fact, we all agreed that was one of the unexpected blessings of the whole trip: special time with these 3 that we’ve never had before. Since the Ramseys live out of state, we typically only see them a few times a year, and then, we’re all together and the cousins spend time playing with each other, of course.

Jordan (8) and Caleb (6) were especially excited to show us all of their baseball trophies and we were glad for the opportunity to go to one of their baseball practices.

“The aunts” would like you all to know that Jordan and Caleb are both very talented baseball players; in fact, we can say with great confidence and complete objectivity that they are by far the two strongest players on their team.

   

Some day, I think these pictures will be collectors’ items worth millions, because they were taken when their talent was only known by their family and baseball coaches.

They looked so cute in their baseball gear that I have to confess it did make me consider signing Grant up for tee ball. In fact, Jordan gave one of his gloves to me to give to Grant, so I think we might be on to something here.

In addition to baseball, another of Caleb’s talents that I learned about was his wide range of facial expressions. I can’t predict how this particular talent will serve him in life, but it did make for some fun pictures.  :-)

 

While the boys often found other things to do while we were there, Cameron just seemed to enjoy being wherever we were.

 

I’m not sure how scintillating our conversation was to her, but there was a lot of that laughing I mentioned early on. ;-)

I’m sure we all enjoyed the dinners we had crowded around their dining room table, sharing stories and, well, laughing.

OK, so we look pretty serious here. We were probably all catching our breath. I know the pictures are small, but do you really want to see close-ups of people eating? Kelly was just to my left. The one picture I snapped with her in it caught her just as she was putting a piece of stromboli in her mouth, so I did her a favor and left it out.  :-D

And the decorating – yes, the whole reason why the trip was planned in the first place! Minda’s guest room needed a new look, which translates to lots and lots of painting -- no surprise to us, since we are sisters to the Midwest Martha Stewart. Different shades of white were purchased in gallons and spray cans. We all knew the results would be dramatic. And they were.

Here is just one example of a cheap Goodwill lamp before and after

Another example is the bed:

 

Even the matting of this print got a makeover with white paint:

 

One fun project was this little seat that went with a vanity. The only before shot I got of it was this:

After a trip to Goodwill, where we purchased a dress with fabric we loved, the seat was transformed!

First a little cutting …

… then a little stapling (how many women do you know who smile like that with a staple gun in hand?) …

 

… and voila!

By Wednesday late afternoon, the decorating was finished and after dinner, we were gearing up to leave. We finished with a couple of quick songs on the piano and posed for some pictures. We girls and Jordan went to a frozen yogurt place for one last hurrah and then we headed out. The epilogue to this story was an after-midnight, hair-raising ride through the hills of a small West Virginia town. I’m sorry to say that I will not be recounting that trip; it will mostly live on safely in our memories. Except for perhaps a badly-executed karate move, that I might be persuaded to perform by special request only.

We did spend several hours in the car working on the plans for Mom and Dad’s upcoming anniversary party, boy was that helpful. We got a lot figured out, and documented, thanks to our secretary.

(Yes, she’s writing on the page of an atlas. We sometimes get desperate in this nearly paperless age of electronics)

 

and yes, we had more Peanut M&Ms.

I got home around 5:00 and was greeted with great fanfare.

(One of my favorite stories about what happened here at home while I left was when Trent said to Rachel: “Are you my mommy now, Rachel?”)

I think I can safely say that for each of us, we were eager to be back with our families, but a little sad the trip was over. It all just couldn’t have gone better from start to finish and we are just overwhelmed with thankfulness for God’s many blessings.