Weekend Story in Pictures

What. A. Trip. Home. Wow. We had quite the time this weekend. It all began on Friday afternoon. We packed our stuff and our kids into the Jeep and headed off for Grandpa's house near Russellville. And things were going great.... Until just before Knoxville when the Jeep began making some strange noises. It was almost dark out, and I asked Matt if I should panic. He assured me that I shouldn't, so I resumed singing along with the radio. And then... more noises. Much more serious, loud noises. And Matt said, "Ok, panic." The only thing he could do was pull/coast into a rest area, but I was yelling the whole time, "Not a rest area! Not a rest area!" All I could think of is the horror stories associated with crime, including MURDER, in rest areas. But there we were. In a rest area parking lot. In the dark. With a dead Jeep. And criminals lurking behind bushes and buildings.

Matt called Grandpa, whose neighbor happens to have a wrecker service. So, help set out after us quickly, but for over an hour and a half, we waited... and took iPhone pictures to pass the time.




After our rescue, we got to Grandpa's just in time to get to bed. The next morning, Matt got up and rode with a great friend who volunteered to take him to Ozark to meet our brother-in-law, Pat. Pat took Matt back home where another friend loaned us a great SUV until the Jeep gets fixed (and who knows when that will be). While Matt was gone, the kids and I took advantage of the gorgeous day. While they played in Grandpa's backyard, I went through several tubs of Grandma's clothes that have been sitting in the shed behind Grandpa's house. As I re-folded them all, I found this half piece of gum (a Grandma staple) in one of her shirt pockets, and I cried 'happy' tears for the next five minutes.


And then I unhooked the trailer all by myself and took the kids riding all by myself on G-Pops' rhino. I took this picture as we were riding through Grandpa's field. Poor Jeb got cut out, but I promise he's there. I almost got stuck in a creek all by myself, but that's another story....

Jeb and Pawpaw were so funny. Jeb kept crawling up in his chair with him and either telling him to "rock" or "move." On this occasion, Jeb had told him to move, and of course, Grandpa did. I love this shot. They look like two friends just chillin'.

At one point during the day, the girls came running in and said they had made a "picture of me out of nature." When I went to see, this is what I found. The face and eyes are rocks. The hair is old shingles off Grandpa's house. And the mouth is a squished jelly bean. I think I am just beautiful.


Later that day, we baked my little brother, David, a cake. His birthday is TODAY, by the way. Anyway, I'm not a skull and crossbones kind of girl, but I knew my bother would like it. The layers inside were black and white.


Matt got home around 5pm, and we were all happy to see him. The next morning, we decided to go to church with Grandpa, and, as a last minute surprise, our pastor asked Matt to preach. And whereas I would have totally panicked and said, "Are you crazy?" Matt hopped up and rocked it out. I mean, isn't that what you would do, unprepared and facing 200+ people? I love that man. He's got crazy, big things waiting on him.

And while I thought I was a fun mom the day before, the kids were relieved to have their daddy home so he could take them fishing. They didn't catch a thing, but Matt got some cute pictures. I love the Slaughter kids.





After fishing, we baked a cake for good friends who helped us out during our time of crisis. I call it the Angela Cake. I think I made it up, but I've been making it so long, I can't be sure. It's strawberry cake with white icing, drizzled with melted chocolate, and filled with chocolate covered strawberries. Estella just wanted to lick the spoon.



We had a great, great weekend. I miss my Jeep and am hoping it doesn't cost a kazillion dollars to fix, but I could not have asked for a better visit. Sometimes when things happens to set you back, it reveals how many people you have to lean on. And that's a great thing to know.