ABC...Trips 1, 2, and 3

A is for "Airplane"...the one that Jack slept on all the way to Minnesota, and all the way back to Dallas...what a great kid!

B is for "Blake and Katie's Wedding"...so sweet to watch our amazing friend, who went all the way to an orphanage in Haiti to meet this amazing woman, get married and prepare to go back to that work with his new bride. (I guess in this section, I should also mention "Baja Burrito"! Wouldn't be a trip to Nashville without it)

C is for "Car Trip"...the one we took to Nashville through the night, with Baby Jack sleeping again! Thank goodness for our cooler of snacks and the portable DVD player that cousin Melissa Jo loaned us!

D is for "Donna Hester"...one of my favorite professors and people in the world, who performed her amazing piece, "Iron Apron Strings", at the Zoe Conference. It was so incredibly moving and made me even more thankful to know that precious woman. What an encouragement to be reminded of the powerful ministry that theatre is, aside from those cheesy little "don't put God in a box" skits...I only hope that I can use my gifts and training in theatre to minister the way that Donna does.

E is for "Elmo"...the adorable little red puppet, whose singing we got to enjoy for many hours on the road to and from Nashville!

F is for "Farmland"...which we saw alot of in Minnesota...it was very beautiful, the wedding was at a quaint country church, and we even saw an actual pumpkin patch...not the kind we have in Texas where pumpkins are lined up in a grassy area at the fruit stand, but an actual patch where pumpkins grow!

G is for "Girls Lunch"...the one we got to have in Abilene over Homecoming weekend that was so good, and way too short! I love getting to see my girls and it was so fun to watch Baby Jack and Baby Kadin play together...and to hear about the sibling that Kadin has on the way!

H is for "Homecoming"...a fun weekend in Abilene with friends and family.

I is for "Ira"...the sweet baby boy who went with us on all of these trips...and who is HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL! We have read this sweet family's blog for many months now and feel as though we know them. We were proud to wear our green Ira Lester Hays Bracelets and to tell people about this amazing little boy and his amazing family. We continue to pray daily for this tiny soldier.

J is for "Jack Franklin Pinson"...traveler extraordinnaire...he was so wonderful and so much fun...we had many offers from the grandparents to watch him while we traveled, but I am so glad that we ended up taking him with us...because he made everything more fun, especially when he started officially walking the night before we left for Nashville! He is all over the place!

K is for "Ko Jo Kai"...a lovely little club of women that I was a part of while at ACU, with a lovely Homecoming breakfast whose only fault is how horridly early in the morning you must wake up in order to attend!

L is for "Laundry"...I just thought it never ended before! I am just so relieved that I don't have to repack this time!

M is for "McCloud Inn"...our lovely accomodations during our stay in Nashville. It was so nice to see our friends TJ and Holly, and their ADORABLE house...We were sad that they had to leave town while we were there, but so thankful for their hospitality.

N is for "Nashville"...a beautiful place where Matt and I feel strangely at home and have a hard time leaving.

O is for "Otter's"...a great little place on Music Row that Matt and I ate in Nashville...it's all chicken tenders, so all three of us enjoyed it!

P is for "Parade"...the one in Abilene that Jack loved so much...where we got to see his Uncle Kyle march with the other Brats, where Daddy and Uncle Brad were sad for how sad the Galaxy float was, and where Mommy was proud of the Kojies finally winning again!

Q is for "Quiet Time"...and I definitely had some on my stretch of the drive between 3 and 6 am. It really was nice, when my eyes weren't crossing!

R is for "Recouperation"...we're still working on that!

S is for "Super 8"...our lovely accomodations in Minnesota, which included one room for myself and 4 boys...I am just glad that there were two beds and I only had to share with Matt and Jack!

T is for "Tennessee Family"...so thankful for the time we got to spend together with the Daniels in Franklin...their new house is beautiful and Jack had fun with everyone...especially his sweet great aunt Donna.

U is for "Unpacking"...two words...NO FUN!

V is for "Video Camera"...something that we did not use enough on any of these trips...we are rookie parents...and of course, we taped him constantly back when he was a newborn and all he did was lie there, now we are so busy chasing him, we forget we have the camera!

W is for "Walk-In Clinic"...the one we spent 3 hours of our day at before leaving Tennessee, because poor Baby Jack had croup. But, once again, he was still such a good boy, despite the fact he felt just awful.

X is for "Xmas"!...no relation to any of our trips really, and I actually don't like that abbreviation, but I needed an X, and just wanted to remind everyone that there are only ten more Saturdays to shop!

Y is for "Yummy Homeade Soup and Cornbread"...made by my Aunt Donna on a perfect Fall evening in Nashville. It was a wonderful treat to enjoy as we cozied up and watched some football.

Z is for "Zoe Conference"...an amazing time of renewal, awesome worship, and challenge to be Jesus in this world. I was also privileged to witness the first public viewing of the "Mike Cope Sings the Classics" video, which in itself is a classic!
(Z can also be for "Zoo", where we just took Jack for the first time this past weekend...perfect weather and lots of fun!)

Well, we had lots of fun and survived all of our trips over the past few weeks. We were reminded over and over again how blessed we are to have such an even-tempered baby. He adjusted to every change so well, and was so wonderful through hours on planes, in rental cars, in the stroller, and in all kinds of climates. We had lots of fun, but are very happy to be home for awhile! I can't really take credit for this post, as it was my sweet sister's idea...but I thought it was a good way to cover all of our travels without writing way too much as I have been known to do! Although, this is one is probably still too long by many's standards...definitely by my husband's! Oh well...thanks Em for the idea, and I hope all of my little teacher friends out there are proud!