A little R -n- R (Road Trip & Reunion)

This past weekend we packed up the family and made a road trip to Westminster to visit all of Rob's family. Rob has a large family, for which I am very grateful, because I have a very small extended family and I love to experience all the fun, joy and little bit of craziness!! The trip got off to a somewhat rocky start when we realized the battery was dead in our van. Luckily we discovered this the night before, so we were able to tackle this roadblock before the early morning departure. Long story short we ended up taking Papa's (my dad) big suburban bus, because we weren't able to get the battery situation worked out in time. Nonetheless, we were able to leave on Saturday morning as scheduled around 9am! We were glad to have Papa's big bus because it has a DVD player and Barney is always handy when Sam gets the wiggles. We arrived in Westminster in time to stop and visit Grandmother and Papa DeFoor before the reunion. They were so happy to see the kids and Sam was happy to ransack their house. After our first stop we decided to stop in at Bebe's (Rob's mom) and grab a quick snack and change diapers. Once we all had a chance to regroup we were off to the reunion. By the way, the weather could not have been more perfect. It was 75 degrees and gloriously sunny. When we arrived they were getting ready to bless the food and have some lunch so we jumped right in! There were about 80+ people there and it was so fun to get to meet a lot of Rob's family that I had not ever met before. Most of the family lives in the SC, NC, GA, AL area but some came from much further away. I think I forgot to mention, but the reunion was held at "The Farm", which is not a farm at all, but is this beautiful tucked away property in the hills of SC, that is truly a haven. It has a house and a 1 acre pond with lots of trees and most important serenity. Everyone had so much fun and they had some family members who brought their guitars and they played and we sang along. Sam especially loved the music and they even played "Jesus loves me" just for him. What a special memory for all of us. By about 3:00, we decided to pack it up and head back to Bebe's to see if the kids would rest at all, but unfortunately they were way past the napping idea, so we just hung out and visited with Bebe. Around 5:30 we gathered everyone back up and went to Los Amigos Mexican restaurant in Seneca and grabbed a bite to eat. I think we really pushed it expecting Sam to be ready to behave after a long day and no nap, but in the end I think we all ate and then it was bedtime (thank goodness)!!

The next day we went to Bebe's church and then came home to a great lunch with grandmother and papa (rob's grandparents). Then nap time was a must!! We were all tired and definitely needed some downtime. After naps we started our trek back home with a special stop! We stopped in Greenville to visit some our best friends, Matt & Amanda. They have twins (Sadie & Jack) that are 7 months old and absolutely precious!! Sam was completely taken with Sadie and was making her laugh. We can't wait to get moved and be closer to them. I know watching our kids grow up together is going to be wonderful. We ordered pizza and caught up with everyone and then made our way back home.

The weekend was so much fun. We will look forward to next year's reunion with much anticipation!!