Off To Missouri

In mid October we had a bitter-sweet opportunity to travel to Missouri to see family.  It was bitter because the reason we were going to Missouri was to honor Chris's grandpa Swisher who had passed away.  He was a great man, always smiling, playing games, and truly a sweet man.  It was a very sad occasion, but we are glad to know he is not suffering from his cancer anymore and we know he is smiling down on us from Heaven.  The trip was sweet, because despite the reason for going, we did get to enjoy spending some time with family.

Chris was going to fly to Missouri by himself to attend the funeral, but it is CRAZY expensive to buy a last minute airline ticket (especially when flying from one small airport to another).  After weighing the costs, we decided to be super brave and drive the distant ourselves (it is pretty darn brave to travel 22 hours with a two year old who is not fond of his car seat AND when I'm seven months pregnant and have to stop often to use the bathroom, lol).  Plus, this way we could all go to Missouri instead of just Chris.  Haha, so the first thing we did before we headed out of town was buy a portable DVD player, in hopes that it would entertain Mitchell for most of the trip.  And guess what... it did!!  He traveled far better than we thought he would; he was a champ!!  Although, that doesn't mean we'll be driving that distant again anytime soon, even if we have the DVD player... That is one long car ride!!  Thank you family for a great visit, thank you Papaw for letting us stay with you, and thank you Grandpa Swisher for living the life you did and being a great man.  We miss you:)

Here is a four generation picture: Papaw, Chris, Mitchell, and Grandpa Swisher.  Very glad we have this memory:)

On our way to Missouri!!  You can't really tell in this picture, but Mitchell is sitting on a trash bag.  The only hiccups on the trip were a couple leaky diapers we had to deal with.  But, trash bag or not, at least Mitchell stayed happy:)

I really didn't take too many pictures on this trip (I mean, we stayed at Papaw's house all week and I didn't snap one picture there... crazy), but I did happen to capture this sweet moment of Mitchell and his "girlfriend."  They look like they are standing at a marriage alter, awe, how cute:)

This is Taylor, our dear friends' little girl.  She's a year older than Mitchell and wasn't shy to show him some affection.  Haha, of course, although Mitchell was a little more shy, I don't see him hating this hug:)  Awe!!

We did get a chance to go to Opa and Oma's house and visit with them.  Mitchell loved their porch, and especially loved sitting on their swing and chatting with Oma.

Chris and Papaw did a little shooting while we were there.  And every time we heard a gun fire, Mitchell would gasp and make this face.  Haha, and then we would look at Oma to make sure she was just as shocked as he was:)

Mitchell loved running around on Opa and Oma's porch.  The wind kept blowing leaves onto the porch and he had a great time "cleaning" off their porch by removing every leaf that fell.  He also loved going up and down the stairs:)

We did have a chance to visit Bass Pro.  Meemaw was gracious enough to show Mitchell the turtles.

This picture is a bit fuzzy because the lighting was so low, but it is cute to see how enthralled Mitchell was with this HUGE Alligator Gar.  Keep me out of any water this fish swims in!!

Haha, I love this picture!!  Mitchell wasn't too sure about this bear; he didn't dare take his eyes off of it.

It was hard to drive home and leave family, but it must always be done.  Haha, and I think these two might have missed each other just a little bit:)  They have become pretty good friends.