Vacation

We just returned from a two week plus vacation and are slowly returning to reality (I keep forgetting that I have to make dinner each night). The trip was fabulous, though it involved planes, trains and automobiles--well, at least two of those! Here are some pictures and memorable moments from the weeks (notice I didn't say "highlights" because some of the memories weren't so high):

--18-hour car ride in one day (6am MST to midnight CST)--the kids held up remarkably well
--Relaxing at grandma and grandpa's
--Asher's first plane ride

--meeting 12 babies that have been born in the year we've been away from Philly, 13 babies if you count Asher. The oldest was 11 months and the youngest just four weeks old. (Asher, Jack, Anna, Sam, Mary, Adelaide, Alexander, Elijah, Kaelin, Sophie, another Anna, Evan and Matthew). As a sidebar, it's kind of interesting looking at these names--most are very traditional and five start with the letter A.

--Enjoying the fellowship and hospitality of so many old friends and feeling like we never left.
--Asher cutting his first tooth
--Sprinklers and mud with my friends (Bridger's favorite)
--Basketball with the boys (Ryan's favorite)
--Learning to crawl at the shore (Asher's favorite)
--Rita's!
--New Life Sunday service
--First dip in the ocean for Asher and great boldness in the waves for Bridger
--Bridger's first side-of-the-road #2 stop (there's not many rest stops in the plains of SD, WY and MT.All in all it was an encouraging and refreshing trip. If you want to get Ryan's take on the trip check out his post here and you can also see more adorable beach pictures at Amy's blog. And can I just say that the picture with Bridger, Eden and Isabel should be in a Pottery Barn catalog or Gap kids or something. We could never have coordinated those outfits if we had tried--Perfect!