Last week we took off on Friday to head to Joplin. We were going to help my parents unload the moving trucks and unpack. After a 12.5 hour drive that included 4 stops (1 breakfast stop, 1 complete tank fill-up with lunch, 1 partial tank fill-up, and 1 time to let Timmy walk around), getting caught in a rain storm that only allowed us to go 35 mph, and then we were stuck behind a wide load truck through the hills past St. Louis. Eventually we were able to get there, get our stuff inside, and let both the boys run around the backyard. Timmy was being shy with everyone until we went to dinner at Chick-fil-A when Paul and Katie came in the car with us, then he was fine with them. Go figure. Anyway, my parents were supposed to get in to town on Friday night but ended up not having everything work out the way it was supposed to.
Saturday morning we got up, did some unpacking in the kitchen, and then headed out to breakfast. We went to the Waffle House and Tim rode with us this time...and suddenly Timmy wasn't afraid of him either. Tim even helped Timmy eat his breakfast. After that we went back to the house while Paul and Katie went to run some errands. After we got back from breakfast the president of the congregation came over with some coolers filled with water and Gatorade for when Mom and Dad got there with the other moving truck. We talked to him for a while with the boys running around, and then the DCE came over and introduced himself too. Seems like everyone was working at the church/school getting ready for the installation on Sunday. Everyone was very nice and it was great to be able to meet some of the people that my parents will be interacting with on a regular basis. Every person we met was really excited for Dad to be there and to see where the congregation would go. After the president of the congregation and the DCE left, Erik took the boys inside to nap and I continued to unpack in the kitchen. With all the boys asleep (including Erik and Tim--who was sick the entire time, coughing up stuff and being a little miserable in general but still helping) it was nice to be able to focus on one aspect and listen to the music I wanted to...until the doorbell rang. It was the president of the congregation's wife brining over some food for dinner (4 whole chickens!, plates and silverware, bread, watermelon, and some spread for the bread--ha, that rhymes!). Apparently they wanted to bring over lunch but we were too quick with getting out of the house. Oh well. After a little bit the DCE's mother-in-law brought over some fruit salad and then another member of the altar guild (I think that's who was bringing us the food...) brought over a salad and dressings. Everyone was looking for an update from Mom and Dad and we just kept telling them that they were going to get there later in the night.
Mom and Dad did eventually get to Joplin...at about 10:30 on Saturday night. They got there just after Erik returned from a walk with Bud. We didn't do any unloading of the truck then, but just hung out and watched Timmy play with his toys. Yeah, we let Timmy stay up as late as he wanted on the trip, mostly because things just weren't unpacked and organized yet. We all enjoyed watching Timmy play with the Fischer Price toys I used to play with and my brother got particular joy out of watching him place certain characters places in the car. It was amusing to say the least.
Sunday morning my dad headed off to the late service while the rest of us hung out, got ready, and did more unpacking of boxes. At 1:45 we headed across the soccer field to the church (yup, my dad can walk to work now instead of driving for 30 minutes) to the installation service. Timmy did pretty well, there were a few moments where he was fussy, but overall he did well. He wanted to go blow out the candles at the front of the church (no) and then wanted to go sit by Grandpa in the middle of the aisle (no again). It was a nice service and then we were able to get some family pictures, which I think is really nice. After that we went over to the school gym for a reception which was really nice. There was so much food! I found out that the person in charge of planning the reception used to be a caterer which explains a lot. They even had some gluten-free crackers for Dad. It was great! After the reception we headed home to unload the van and some of the congregation, and a few neighbors, came over to help which made quick work of it. Sarah and Chuck, my dad's friend's oldest daughter and her husband, stopped by with their kids and Timmy was able to play with another kid for a while, which was nice. I'm sure Mom and Dad enjoyed being able to see their grandson play with their best friends' grandson just like we used to play together as kids.
Sunday night was filled with more unpacking. Tim headed off not too long after the trucks were unloaded to visit friends in Nebraska before heading home to Las Vegas. It was great to see him and I'm glad that he made the effort to be there for Mom and Dad. I know it meant a lot to them for us all to be there (even though they wouldn't have forced the issue at all). After some more unpacking we decided to get some extra stuff for dinner (other than just the chicken) and while we were gone Timmy crashed. We came home to find Timmy in bed and he slept most of the night too. Clearly he had a long day. =)
Monday I was hoping to take off by 9 or 10 but that just didn't happen. It was nice to be able to spend some more time with my family though, even if it meant being on the road so much later. We eventually headed out around 1 and after stopping for some food, we got to St. Louis around 6--which is what I was hoping for, to hit the tail end of rush hour if we hit it at all. We stopped once more for gas and dinner and then just powered through until we got home. We were able to get home at about 1:15 and just left everything in the car to get on Tuesday. Timmy did really well and proved himself to be quite the little traveler. This gives me hope for doing other trips later down the road.
Phew! I think that's a long enough post! Here are a few pictures from the installation. Enjoy!
The sign for the church welcoming both of my parents
Mom and Dad after the installation service
The whole fam-damily
The parents with their kids
Timmy working on a future profession? "Praise the Lord!"
