Anna's 2nd Airplane Adventure

Anna's second airplane adventure was again to Illinois and was a trip filled with sad times, happy times, stressful times and fun times. We went up to bury Rich's dad next to his mother in central Illinois. That was certainly a sad time, although, we enjoyed spending time with family we hadn't seen in awhile. I like how a sorrowful event tends to bring families closer together. Rich's 90 year old grandmother (Dick's mom) got to meet and hold Anna for the first time.

Rich's brother, Matt, and his Uncle Kurt all chipped in and mowed Matt's yard on a gorgeous midwest day - sunny, light breeze, mid-70s. If the weather was like that more than a handful of days a year we never would have left. But it's not - so we're here.

Matt, Rich and Uncle Kurt in Matt's backyard

We then turned our rental car in a northward direction and drove to Lake Geneva in southern Wisconsin - site of our first (blind) date and where we had our wedding reception and spent our wedding night. It was definitely a happy time as we celebrated 15 years of marriage together. I never dreamed the last 15 years with Rich would be as wonderful as they have been. I truly love him and our love grows stronger and deeper each year.

It was another gorgeous midwest day as we walked along the lake admiring the scenery and reminiscing. This was the lake where I learned to waterski and where I taught Rich to waterski. It's a beautiful, clear spring fed lake, but when you hear the words 'spring fed' think 'cold'! I much prefer the river here in South Carolina where we're teaching our kids to waterski - 88 warm degrees at the moment.

The Riviera - site of our wedding reception. Porch of Geneva Inn - site of our wedding night.

The fun time came when we caught up with my dear friend, Nicole, and her family. Nicole and I have been friends since 3rd grade. I just love her! We hung out with her sweet husband, Adam, and adorable son, Rhett, for an afternoon. Rhett and Anna swapped spit-up stories.

Even more fun times continued as we went to my 20 year high school class reunion - good old Woodstock High School. Not sure why they scheduled our reunion this year. There's no way it's been 20 years already. Maybe they were just practicing for when we actually do get old enough to have been out of high school for 20 years. I loved reconnecting with old friends and seeing what everyone was doing with their lives. I even won the 'Family' award for having the most kids in my class!

Then the stressful time came the next morning when we had to leave Nicole's house at 3:30am to catch our 6:00am flight (which ended up getting cancelled!) out of Milwaukee. There was absolutely torrential rain the entire 90 minute drive. Rich's hands were sore from gripping the steering wheel so tightly!

We arrived home to a very tired Grandma and Grandpa who had once again graciously cared for the other 4 children. Maybe I'll get Ellen to post on their time there again. My parents sure earned their keep - strep throat and runny bottoms were the theme of their time together.

It's been a whirwind couple of weeks since Rich's dad passed away. We celebrated his life last night in a beautiful Memorial Celebration at Seacoast. We were incredibly touched by all who came and shared their memories of Dick and loved on us. God gave us a great big hug last night and it felt good.