Kris and Jamie's Excellent Adventure

For the last few days, we have been in Memphis (Tennessee, not Egypt.) We flew out last Thursday to attend a wedding in which Kris was the best man and also to spend some time with my family that lives there.

The flight there was great. Our neighbor works for Continental and offered us Buddy Passes, which means the $900 per person round trip tickets were only $100 each. The catch of course is that you are flying stand-by. We got on the Thursday flight with no problem. Asher did really well! We were on the very last row of the plane right by the bathroom so everyone that walked by to use the facilities was greeted by Mr. Friendly Guy himself. He started getting a little antsy towards the end at which point I busted out the iced animal crackers--the pink and white kind with sprinkles! Oh yeah, baby. That boy is a cracker eating machine and could not have been more pleased with his treat.

Here are a few of us on Asher's first flight.

I look all busted (to borrow a Pez phrase) but Asher compensates for my lack of cuteness in this picture.




We were on one of those little Express Jets that only have one row with 2 seats and then another row with one seat. There was enough room that we had all three seats to ourselves so Asher got passed back and forth across the aisle.

We arrived in Memphis where my Aunt Ginny picked us up and we met my cousins for a fabulous BBQ dinner at Corky's. It was delish! The next day we got to visit my cousin Julie and her kids and then we had lunch with Wes (the groom) and some of his family.

That night we went to the rehearsal and dinner, which was more delicious BBQ (what do you expect--it's Memphis! What Tex-Mex is to us, BBQ is to them.)

Here is one of Kris, Wes, and Asher.


Here is Asher and Elvis, who was gracious enough to stop by the rehearsal dinner.



Asher was not impressed.


Since about 3:00 that afternoon, it had been snowing, which for us Texans was quite a sight. I have only ever seen little snow flurries, never actual snow that covers the ground! So even though it was way colder than I care for, it was a treat getting to see everything covered in white. We woke up the next day to about 4 inches of it on the ground. Of course none of us have proper snow attire, so Aunt Ginny (we stayed at their house and borrowed their car seat and van, making this trip so wonderful!) helped us put together a make-shift snow suit for Asher so we could go outside for a few minutes and get some pictures. We left his fleece sleeper on and then put his feet in ziploc bags which we fasted with rubber bands.





Then we put socks over the bags, then put his jeans on, followed by one more pair of socks. Then we put on a fleece jacket and then his coat and a hat (which we had to borrow from Julie's little boy. We were not prepared for this weather!) We topped it off with socks for mittens and he was good to go!



He had a lot of fun playing in that cold white stuff...



until he decided to act out that scene from "A Christmas Story."



Then Asher decided that he needed to taste the snow.





I had to borrow gloves and that head thing from Aunt Ginny. She even had to show me how to put it on!



The socks-for-mittens were not holding up too well so we went back in. But we sure did have fun!

That afternoon was Wes and Libby's wedding. Here is my little man looking so cute I almost cried.



Kris looked very handsome in his tux, but unfortunately this is the only picture we got. We waited way too late in the day to try to take a family picture. Asher was wiped out!





The happy couple...



We flew back home on Sunday. We got there about 11:30 and we were supposed to leave at 1:15, but with the winter weather, everything was off schedule so we didn't get seats on that flight. Or the 2:00 flight. Or the 4:20. But they assured us the 6:00 would have plenty of room. Asher had a blast pushing his stroller around the waiting area and interacting with all the people.



He loves, nay, needs, an audience, so he was fine as long as there was someone there to "ooh and aw" over his stellar snake impersonation or ask him how old he is. He fell asleep in his stroller for about an hour and a half, which was wonderful!

But then, around 5:00, we got the news that the 6:00 flight was now the 9:00 flight due to bad weather in Newark, where our plane was currently awaiting take-off. Lovely. We decided to call Aunt Ginny, who graciously came to our rescue, took us to buy more diapers (we had one left at this point,) and get some dinner. The change of scenery was much appreciated! We got back to the airport around 8:15 and took off a little after 9:00.

By this point, I was about to fall over. Being 5 months pregnant and spending all day at an airport is not something I would recommend. We loaded the plane with a VERY tired little boy who was still smiling and talking to everyone, bless his heart. He fell asleep for a little while on the plane, but never had a meltdown. We are so blessed to have such an easy-going baby! Please join me in praying that Jude* follows suit!

We landed around 10:45 where Susanna's husband, Kenny picked us up (THANK YOU, KENNY!!!) and brought us home. Asher was awake by this point and very happy to see his toys. He got a bath because, quite frankly, it had been a while, and went to bed. I did the same and slept hard!

And that was the end of our excellent adventure. I'm so glad we got to see everyone in Memphis, but it's good to be home!