Well, that’s how it’s felt to us this past month. January has been super busy for us! During the month of January, we only slept in our own beds in our own house 14 nights. For more than half the month, we were gone!
We took a much needed vacation down to SC for the first part of January. We have been up in Michigan for 5 months so we decided it was time to head down to the sunny south to see some family and friends. We flew out of Detroit, and landed in Greenville/Spartanburg with a layover in Chicago. This was going to be Ashleigh’s third trip on an airplane, but this was the first time she had flown since she became mobile. We weren’t sure how that was going to work- making her stay in our laps on the plane. We packed a bag full of toys and books and stuffed animals to try to keep her entertained. However, at the airport, we discovered her favorite toy:
Moving Sidewalks
The girl is crazy about them! We would help her get on, and then she would walk as fast as she could, and then we would help off, and we’d do it all over again. The people around us must have thought we were crazy, but it entertained Ashleigh and definitely helped her get rid of some energy before we got on the plane. She loved flying and was definitely interested in what was going on outside. She really enjoyed looking out the window. She is such a great traveler!
We arrived in SC and immediately noticed how WARM it was. Holy moly!
We spent a lot of time with our family and friends. We kept a crazy schedule because we wanted to see so many people, but it was fun and relaxing. My parents had kept all their Christmas decorations up for Ashleigh to see. She loved looking at the ornaments on the tree and the big animals surrounding the tree.
Even though it was January, we enjoyed spending time outside! Ashleigh loved running around with Harley.
Ashleigh was “reminiscing” by looking through old pictures.
Uncle B!
Gosh, he’s silly!
Reunited with ladybug!
Just sitting on the hearth, checking out all my toys
While we were in town, Becca, MK, and two of my Winthrop buddies came to Lexington to visit!
Ashleigh helping Stephanie open her baby shower gifts.
So much fun playing with Sarah
Ashleigh kissing Baby P!
Kris and Ginger came over to visit, and we had a great time catching up with them!
(Kris looks like a giant in this picture!)
On Sunday, we went to Matt’s home church (Good Shepherd) for first service and my home church (Pilgrim) for second service. We enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces!
We visited with “Auntie”, one of my grandparents’ best friends.
We also saw Aunt Elaine.
We visited with Granddaddy Corley several times. He passed away two weeks later, and we were so thankful for the opportunity to see him before he went to Heaven to be with Grandmother.
We opened all of our presents from Uncle Bruce! He is such a great gift-giver!
Hanging out in my pjs
We visited with our “old” neighbors, the Sims! They just moved into their brand new house! (Jessica, I know we took more pictures at your house, but they must be on my mom’s camera. I’ll get them!)
We also took a trip to the zoo. Ashleigh loved looking at all the animals.
We saw many others but just forgot to take pictures! Shame on us!
-Aunt Gail and Uncle Wayne, Ms. Jane and Mr. David, Ms. Mae Ruth, the people at Dad’s office, Jen and Micah, Jenny and Austin, Jan and Harvey, and many others… we were so privileged to see you while we were in town!!
We spent the last part of the week at the Titus household. We had a huge family get together with all the kids and grandkids. Ashleigh loved playing with her cousins. She tried to do everything they did! We enjoyed playing in the backyard, eating a delicious dinner, and just spending some time together. Of course, not a single picture was taken. Ugh.
We enjoyed relaxing at their house, watching tv, and reading magazines. It was nice to relax! We did go to Chickfila to eat their free breakfast, and that was fun! Ashleigh was able to play on the playground for a few minutes, and she liked that!
We flew back through the Nashville airport, which we enjoyed because there were playgrounds inside the airport!
When we left SC, it was 70 degrees. When we landed in Detroit, it was snowing. Brrrr….
A week after we got back to Michigan, we headed two hours north to Midland, MI for a leadership retreat for rostered leaders in the two Michigan synods. Ashleigh and I tagged along to meet new people and make connections. The conference was held at a large Lutheran church, and we spent most of our time playing in the nursery while Matt went to sessions. I was able to attend a couple of sessions because Ashleigh did this:
She slept for about an hour, lying on a church pew wrapped in daddy’s coat.
Our last day at the conference was also Matt’s birthday. Ashleigh decided she wanted to decorate the hotel room in honor of this occasion…
Unfortunately, a little while later, we received the phone call that we had been dreading…. my mom called to tell me my Granddaddy Corley had passed away that morning at 5am. We knew it was coming, but even when you prepare, it breaks your heart. We were so thankful that we had spent time with him just the week before, and that he had known who we were and seemed excited to see us. He was able to see Ashleigh open some of her Christmas gifts and play with them. Those are memories that we will cherish forever!
So… back to SC we went! The visitation was held on Friday night. We wanted Ashleigh to be there because we knew people would want to see her, so we asked Ginger and Kris to come over and watch her at the funeral home. I think they were tired when they left! She ran all over the place! We visited with so many family members and friends, and it was great to hear people reminiscing about Granddaddy! There was an open casket, and at one point when I was holding Ashleigh, we were about feet away from the casket and were chatting with some friends. Ashleigh was looking over my shoulder and kept emphatically waving and saying “bye bye”. I looked over to see who she was talking to… no one was behind us except Granddaddy in the casket. Ashleigh says “bye bye’”a lot, but she has only ever said it when prompted to say it. She was saying ‘bye bye” to granddaddy. It brought tears to my eyes. What a smart girl!
While in town, we were able to spend some time with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Don.
We were also able to attend the ordination of Ricky, one of Matt’s seminary classmates. Matt and Ricky “grew up” together at Good Shepherd, so it was very meaningful that we were able to surprise him at his ordination.
After a whirlwind January, we are ready to have a relaxing and calm February!
