We're Home

We made it home from Missouri (or "Razuri" as Ashleigh calls it) safe and sound. Did you all have a Happy Thanksgiving? I sure hope so! Our Thanksgiving was GREAT and we had a wonderful trip overall. We left by 8:00 Tuesday night so that the Girls would be asleep through the drive, and thus, making the drive a bit more bearable for us. Our decision paid off because they slept pretty much the whole way up with the exception of our 1 stop to get gas. Katie and her kids followed us the whole way, which I think helped keep Brian and Katie awake. There was a funny moment on the drive in Oklahoma City where there was several cars on the road and a Durango passed us that looked JUST like ours, Texas plates and all. Through the traffic, we had passed them, they passed us, changing lanes, back and forth, etc...I had made the comment to Brian "I wonder if Katie will get confused which car is actually ours". Sure enough, 10 seconds later, that other Durango passed us and Katie was following right behind. Brian and I were laughing so hard! We stayed behind for a little while to see if she would figure it out, but I was scared that other car would take her the wrong way, so Brian eventually pulled up right behind Katie and was flashing his lights and as it turns out, she thought we were some random driver with road rage! So then we pulled up to the left of her (with her thinking we had road rage) and she was scared to look over at us, but she did through the corner of her eye and then did a double-take and when she realized it was us, her face was just priceless! Brian and I had tears in her eyes we were laughing so hard! She was all confused! A little car humor...if you didn't think that was funny, I guess you had to be there!

The Girls behaved all weekend real well for the most part. We stayed at Kim and Jessica's house...Ash slept with Aunt Jessica in her bed (after 1 night of sleeping in the spare bedroom with Addy because she was being shy at first), Addy's portable crib was set up in the spare bedroom, and Brian and I slept in the basement. So it all worked out real well. Katie and her kids stayed with Tracy.

We spent Thanksgiving at Aunt MaryDell's and Uncle Lynn's house in Leavenworth, Kansas which is about an hour drive from Lee's Summit where we stayed. They live out in the country on a beautiful piece of property and a lovely home. We passed Fort Leavenworth and the Leavenworth prison on the way. Nearly every family member goes to their house for Thanksgiving, as there were a ton of people there. I met family members for the 1st time and it was nice to finally put faces with names I have heard. The food was incredible and it was a beautiful, laid back day. After eating, many of the boys went up the other hill and went trap shooting. That was quite a sight, about 10 men with their shotguns shooting at little, orange, clay. It seemed like they had a great time doing it! We also fed the fish in their huge pond so that the kids could see the catfish come to the surface and there was also a poker game. Some of the cousins had the Black Friday ads out planning their route for the following day. It was apparent they take this very seriously! I hope they were able to find some great deals.

Last night, before we left we went to Brian's Dad's house for a few hours to hang out and play some poker. But we headed out of town about 6:30 last night to allow the Girls to sleep once again while we drove. It worked out and we were home by 2:45 this morning. Needless to say, this was a day of recovery and laundry. Time to head back to work and school tomorrow. Fun times. It's officially the Christmas season and I guess I better get my butt in gear to get ready. We need to get all of the Christmas decorations from the shop so we can start the decorating process. Hopefully, we will have time to get the lights on the house by the end of next weekend so we can enjoy them as long as possible for the season.

Oh, one of the best parts of Thanksgiving? The Cowboys won! Woo-Hoo! Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

This is at Kim's (Brian's ex-step mom and Jessica's mom) house the day we arrived. From l-r: Ash, Tracy, Tanner, Tekoa, Bria, Andi, Kaileyanna, and Brian.



Uncle Billy and Aunt Betsy (Betsy is Brian's Dad's sister), note the beautiful scenery, this is at Aunt MaryDell's and Uncle Lynn's house on Thanksgiving.




Grandma Mary Jo (Brian's Dad's Mom) and Aunt Betsy




Uncle Shawn (Cliff's brother), Preston (Brian's cousin and Uncle Buck's son, the only one left to carry on the Linder family name), Papa Cliff (Brian's Dad), Brian, and Uncle Buck (Cliff's brother). Note: Brian is the only one without a beer, LOL!



Katie with her kids, Tekoa and Kaileyanna

Aunt MaryDell taking the kids down to the water to go fishing

The Linder sisters: Jessica, Tracy, and Katie

Tracy with her boyfriend, Jamie

Me and Brian (can you say "diet" starting tomorrow?!?! UGH!!)

Papa Cliff with all of his kids together for the first time at Thanksgiving in more years than anyone can remember

Our generous hosts, Aunt MaryDell (Cliff's sister), Jennifer, Nick (who recently got back from Iraq safe and sound, thank GOD), Michelle, Becky, and Uncle Lynn

Ash on a Princess scooter that she played with a good 75% of the time we were there....hmmm, maybe Santa needs to bring one this year?!?!

Our lovely "home base" host, Kim, feeding Addy

This is Addy with her Aunt Jessica

This is Taliah, a cousin, and daughter of Tiffany, also a cousin (Aunt Betsy's daughter)

Three generations of Linder's: Brian, Cliff Jr., and Cliff Sr. This was at Grandpa's house.

The lovely Tiffany, Aunt Betsy's daughter and Taliah's Mom

Always a ham for the camera, Addy, of course.

Sleep tight all, I hope you have a GREAT week!