Whirlwind Tour of the South

Well, after Sarah Claire had sufficiently amused our section of the plane (see yesterday's post), we finally made it to America. It had been over two years since Jason or I had been back, and it was good to be "home." The kids were also thrilled to be back in the land of grandparents, and Sawyer was excited to be back in the land of many iPads. Now we have an iPad, mind you, and Sawyer spends plenty of time with it, but there's just something about exploring someone else's iPad and playing the games that you don't have on yours that makes this five-year-old boy very, very happy. So he did.

The kids were also really excited to see this guy again:

This is Jesse, my parents' dog. He is a fairly recent addition to the family, so Jason and I hadn't met him in person before (though we've had some meaningful Skype chats). Sawyer and Lee Anna met him when they came back for a visit last summer, though, and they have been wanting to see him again ever since. I think Jesse was happy to see them again, too, if  repeatedly jumping high up into the air is his way of saying he's happy.

Our main reason for coming back to the states in November was to attend a meeting in Mississippi, so after we had drained our bank accounts visiting all those stores we hadn't been able to go to in two years, we headed north. It would have been worth the long trip back just for the chance to make that drive. The fall foliage was absolutely beautiful. Apparently everything came together weather-wise just perfectly this fall in Mississippi, and it made for a stunning display of God's beauty. We soaked it all in (sorry for the terrible picture--you'll have to just imagine how beautiful it was!).

Visiting Mississippi meant we got a chance to visit both of the kids' living great-grandmothers. They were excited to see their Great Gran and climb the trees in the yard across from her house.

And they were even more excited when they discovered that she had real live pine cones! You may remember that there was a time not so long ago when my kids had no idea what a pine cone was. Mimi knew this, and she was so excited to the pretty basket of pine cones that Gran had collected and set out as a decoration, that she took the basket and scattered the pine cones all over the backyard so that the kids could gather them up. 

We got to stay with some sweet, longtime friends of ours while we were in Mississippi, and it was neat to be able to introduce all these kiddos to each other. Sawyer and Grayson really hit it off and had fun playing (and getting into trouble!) together. The girls were precious, too. Here they are eagerly waiting for Mae Mae's pancakes one morning.

Our November trip was quick, and jam-packed full of activity and travel, but we loved getting to see so many special people. And when it was time to head back, the goodbyes were unusually easy knowing we'd be right back just a month later.