The Missouri trip... written while stuck at the airport.

Ok, so here are the highlights of our Missouri trip...  please beware that this post maybe slightly skewed and a bit angry due to the fact that I am sitting at the Kansas City airport after having been delayed for 4hrs and not knowing whether or not we'll actually make it home once we get to Denver as we are on standby..... so we ask for you forgivness and understanding :)

How could have 9 days gone by so fast?!?!?!  well I guess once  you count in trip time and all, it only adds up to 7 1/2 but still.... I swear we just left Seattle 2 days ago!! So, let's start at the beginning....
After an uneventful airplane trip of about 6hrs give or take (that includes wait time) we landed in the very weird Kansas City airport. Upon exiting the gate area we almost walked past Toby and Jill, don't ask me why but we did.... we were grateful to them for coming to pick us up and for being there when we landed, you guys rock!!  Then we had to wait for about 1 1/2 hrs for the Utah crowd to land, we had a good visit and ate some spectacular ribs generously provided by Toby and Jill.  Some Angry Birds was played..... gotta love that game, easy to play and it provides hrs of entertainment for all age groups!  Once the Utah crowd landed.....about 10min early (which was not reflected on the arrivals screen.... silly airport!!) we all loaded up in the great van and headed home......3hrs later we were there!  Our arrival woke everybody up... sorry guys, I know it was early.... I think it was around 3am?!?! somebody correct me if I am wrong...  We had a good if short visit and then people headed to bed.

What followed that first day was and array of delicious food, hilarious children comments and conversations, more food, trips to town in multiple vehicles, crying/screaming children, more food and general pleasantries.  The time flew by way too fast, we got way too little sleep and ate way too much food, pretty much what you would expect from a vacation :)

Food Highlights:

• breakfast sausage balls (Provided by Michelle)
• breakfast cookies (Provided by Vea)
• bread, yum!!! (provided by Vea and Natalie)
• Turkey noodle soup (provided by Vea)
• Chinese buffet (provided by nameless chinese people)
• Lasagna (provided by yours truly)
• Delicious barbeque pulled pork sandwiches on homemade buns (provided by Vea) FAVORITE MEAL :)
• Sweet and savory crepes!!! (provided by Vea with an able assist from Michelle)  still digesting those as we just ate them 5hrs ago... oh how we love food
• Scrumptous chocolate mousse (provided by yours truly)
• Chocolate scones... yum!! (provided by yours truly and Michelle, supervised by Vea)
• Awesome cheese night!! 6 or 7 cheeses were present, plus an array of crackers, pears and grapes. Thank you to all the ladies that sliced, diced amd arranged everything in a beautiful and inviting composition; is there ever such a thing as too much cheese!??!? I think not!!

On the not so positive and exciting column one must mention the horribe sickness that went around..... a few of us were deathly ill for most of the time, I am glad and sad to report that I, for once, was not the most sick, except for the day I spent throwing up which made us miss the Silver Dollar City expedition.... however we did get some awesome Christmas decorations from Vea, thank you so much!!!

A shout out goes to all the fun stuff we did:

• shooting guns, always a favorite
• Hollis' baptism, thanks for arranging to get that done while we were out there and could be a part of it :)
• watching rift tracks.... yes Eclipse was THAT bad!!
• opening presents with the children, even though we had to wait till 1pm to start, what torture!!!
• driving around town with the ladies
• driving to the smallest post office ever known to man
• checking out Toby and Jill's awesome new place
• Checking out Lynn and Dallas' new place, Lynn's workplace and his new swanky car... go Focus!!  :P just kidding, I know it's a Taurus! :P

So, as I sit here at the airport waiting for our flight I am very grateful to be able to remember all the good memories we made and the great time we had, it was worth a little airport drama to see everybody.  All of the children have grown so much I am starting to feel even older than I alread did.

We desperately wish we lived closer and that moving closer would be an option, but it doesn't look like we'll be able to do that anytime soon; so for the next little while we'll just have to make trips back and forth as often as we can. 

A shout out to Emma and Barrett who due to inclement weather related issues didn't make it out there, you were sorely missed and we wished with all our hearts you could be there. We miss you guys and hope to see you soon, maybe in Montana somewhere??!! Hugs and kisses to you both and to your adorable dogs! :)

I am sure I am forgetting a whole lot of things, but seeing how I haven't really slept yet you can't really blame me... I may have to edit this later but for now I am happy as it is......

Till next time.....
Corinne