The Gibbs Family

We were blessed to have the Gibbs family also come and visit us at the Ashlock Farm.

Katie and Laura had no problem reconnecting.

Lia and Rachel are two peas in a pod. And they both like to color!

Arthur brought some fun crafts that he helped the kids do.

The older girls, Laura and Katie, enjoying the pond.

Grandpa helped all the kids paint on t-shirts.

Now Arthur and Ashley are some of our favorite game-playing friends. And now our kids are old enough to enjoy playing their own games! Who would have thought this day would ever come?! Hard to believe!

Arthur made a game and we adults snuck in a couple of games ourselves.

We spent the 2nd day of our time together going to the Fun Factory
And did we ever have fun!
There was this huge inflatable slide. The only disappointing thing was there is a new rule now that adults can't go on it! Last time we were there I went down the thing over and over again. I was bummed!

High Ballocity was unchanged, and if you look closely, you can see Ryan on the ground level, preparing to throw a ball at some poor, unsuspecting kid up higher. Men! I think Arthur and Ryan had as much fun in there as the kids did! =)

There were many fun games for kids to play.

And don't forget the carousel!
Rachel is wearing the shirt she painted the day before.

Our precious kiddos.

I think Seth felt the need to put a little space between himself and all the estrogen.

Ashley and me with our kids.

And the men and their offspring.

Thanks, Gibbs family, for taking some days out of your busy lives to bless us with your friendship!

We had a lovely Sabbath with the Franklin SDA Church. This is Madeline in her car seat as we drive to church.

All too soon, our time with Bob and Lynn was over. We're so glad we got to spend two days with you!

Grandpa's greenhouse was producing all sorts of yummy things - red onions, beets, potatoes, greens, etc.

We had a good time helping pick some food for our lunch.

The girls couldn't get enough of their cousins BJ and Caleb, who were both extremely patient and kind with them. Caleb is pictured here, swinging with our girls.

But swinging was not the only type of fun Caleb had in mind . . . and he talked his uncle Ryan into joining him.

Then Katie and Lia decided to join in.

But no one followed suite when he decided to paint himself with mud.

The Ashlock Farm

From Nashville we drove over to Ryan's folks' place in Franklin, NC. This is the site that greeted us as we drove in.

And this is the excitement on our girls' faces!

Good times on the porch.

Ms Lynn, "eating" the sand and leaf cake the girls had made for her.

Grandpa, helping the girls hunt for critters.

Bob and Lynn, our former neighbors and dear friends, drove across the state to spend some time with us. We have been so blessed by their continued friendship.

Nashville Zoo

We visited the Nashville Zoo with my mom, and enjoyed seeing many beautiful animals.

Lia feeding nectar to some real beauties.

After feeding the birds, the girls were thrilled with this hand washing station.

Madeline dries her hands with the air coming out of the bird's backside . . . . ?!
We seriously spent like 10 minutes waiting while the girls got their fill of washing and drying their hands. Who knew it could be so fun?

Katie got friendly with the goats.

The girls all pretending they are pandas eating the bamboo.

Isn't he awesome-looking?

The white tiger cubs were amazing, but I never got a good picture of them, they were in constant motion.

The zoo also has an incredible playground for the kids, which they enjoyed immensely.

Fun in Nashville

My dad had all sorts of crafts and activities planned to do with the girls, and they loved them all. They painted their own picture frames, little wooden toys, helped my dad pick the colors for the clock in the foreground, and many other things.

My parents took us to the Cheesecake Factory and that was sure a treat. We were overwhelmed, though, by the serving sizes. We remembered that from our visit last year, and so thought we were doing good as Ryan and I split a salad and an entree, but still couldn't finish it all! Still, we couldn't resist the cheesecakes, as that's the whole point of going to the Cheesecake Factory, according to Ryan! So we ordered a cheesecake each and shared them with our girls, and then brought the leftovers home to enjoy again the next day.

The girls had quite a few requests for my parents, when they would talk about what they were looking forward to when they got to their house . . . . Madeline wanted animal crackers and goldfish (crackers), Lia wanted goldfish and a kite, and Katie wanted fresh fruit - all the varieties she missed, like berries, cherries, plums, peaches, pears. My parents were so sweet and had all sorts of yummy foods for us all, and a kite for each girl in their favorite color. My dad and Ryan took the girls out kite flying one afternoon.

Simple pleasures are often the best.

Forget syrup, Katie wanted fruit on her pancakes, and she made decorated this one all by herself.

Grandpa reading to the girls before bedtime. You'll notice that Lia has already fallen asleep. Jet lag!

My grandmother is 94 years old and living in a nursing home near my parents. We went to visit her and took the girls to see her.

And the jet lag continues . . .
Lia, asleep in the middle of the day, on the floor of the playroom. She laid down, placed a doll blanket over herself, and took a little nap!

Little Blackberry-Lime Tarlets
that I made and we all enjoyed one meal. A great summer treat!

It's All About the Food and the People

It was wonderful arriving in Nashville and being greeted by my parents! We drove home and were treated to this yummy meal . . .

I love sandwiches!

A plate of beautiful fruit . .. the kinds we've been missing while in Thailand!

I couldn't get enough of this salad!

Sabbath after church, we went to a park and had a picnic lunch. The girls enjoyed playing at the playground.

But as the afternoon progressed, we all had a hard time staying awake. Here Lia is eating while reclining.

This dessert that my mom made was just too tempting! We were all drooling from the moment we saw it til we got to eat it.

We took a walk along a shady trail, searching for hungry squirrels. The girls wanted to share sunflower seeds with them. But they got distracted by eating the seeds themselves at several points along the walk.

Quality Grandpa time!

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane . . . . .

It seemed like the day would never arrive, but then it did! We were full of excitement and anticipation . . . the girls had been asking for days if it was time yet to travel to see their sets of grandparents. At last we could tell them that yes, THIS was the day! The girls have grown into great little travelers.

The hardest part of the journey is still the waiting between flights. The kids know that just 3 airplanes stand between them and the people they want to see so badly, and it's a hard thing for them to understand why we just can't get on that next plane right now and take off! They're getting better, though, and are happy to play amongst themselves, or play card games with us, or "I spy" or some such thing.

Our flights were from Bangkok to Taipei, and then Taipei to LAX. In LA, we stayed in a hotel overnight before catching our next flight to Nashville. Our hotel had a Denny's restaurant right next door. After we checked into our hotel at midnight, we headed straight to Denny's. We were so excited to get a good American breakfast - omelets, pancakes, hashbrowns, grits, etc. So excited, in fact, that after about 3 hours we went back and did it again. Okay, not really, but sort of! Madeline and I fell asleep, but Lia and Katie couldn't (it was the middle of the day in Thailand) , so Ryan took them back to Denny's for a 2nd meal. They all ordered pancakes in the form of little balls - deep fried pancake batter with syrup to dip them in, according to Ryan's description. Sounds sinfully delicious!
The girls and Ryan fell asleep about 2 hours before we had to get up and go back to the airport, so it was really rough getting them all to wake up. But eventually, after they woke up enough to realize that this was the last leg of the journey, the girls got pretty excited and cooperative!