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.

Question:

What’s more fun than hiding behind bushes with my sisters?

Going on a ROAD TRIP with them! For the first time ever, the four Hoosier sisters will be heading east to visit the Virginia sister and her family! Minda wants to do an Extreme Guest Room Makeover, so Kelly decided to head out to lend a helping hand and thought maybe we could all go together. It’s been about a month in the making, and I’m kind of surprised it all pulled together so quickly, without any major glitches. Of course, I’m a little anxious about how everything will go while I’m gone, but I know the girls are very capable and Mick is even able to work from home while I’m gone (Praise God for that!!).

I’m planning on taking lots of pictures and even some video, so if all goes well, the trip will be well documented and I can come back and share some great pictures and stories of our visit.

We’ve already covered the basics, like the route we’ll take, pick-up locations and times, etc. and now we’re getting down to the really important stuff: snacks for the trip!  :-9 So looking forward to it all!

It’s inevitable

 

When you have lots of these:

 

and lots of these:

 

and a compliant one of these:

eventually, you’re going to end up with something like this:

 

July …

 

… started off with a bang!

… got pretty hot, which meant swimming, sometimes in very ingenious ways.

… has ended up being unseasonably and refreshingly cool.

… brought the long-awaited visit of a long distance friend.

… found me finally getting up the courage to tackle a huge paintstripping project. More on that later.

…gave us on the opportunity for an impromptu trip to Warren Dunes, Michigan for some hiking and swimming on a glorious mid-summer day.

 

 

 

… has been filled with late, late nights.

… gotten busier with the planning of a very special 50th anniversary celebration in August!

4-H

Courtney participated in the 4-H Photography class this year. She took lots of pictures and had a hard time narrowing it down to her favorites.

Courtney is very creative, has an eye for detail and enjoys a good story. I think all three of those characteristics came together very nicely in the picture she ended up submitting. The judge agreed: blue ribbon!

She actually laid down on the gravel road to take this shot. I think she should’ve gotten bonus points for that!

Favorite Photos: Ballet Beauty

Out of dozens of pictures I took of the girls dancing during ballet class this year, who would’ve thought this would be my favorite picture?

I took this back in March. I can’t believe I even got it. I had the long lens on so I could stay as far back as possible and still get some close-ups of the dancing. Sarah and Isabella were right in front of me and for just a moment, Isabella whispered into Sarah’s ear. I snapped as fast as I could and only got this one shot.