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The boys have been counting the days until they get to see the cousins and Grams and Papa back home. It is time to touch base again with the familiar. We parked the RV at Bob’s old house on the farm in Williamsville. The big front windows of the coach look out over a farm field with horses grazing in the distance. It is particularly pretty in the morning when clouds rest along the grass. Fall, a season I hate to miss, is in full glory and the foliage is most impressive on this beautiful piece of land.

The ten or so days here got quite busy as there was much catching up to do with all of our friends. Jack and Ben ate up their time with Coulton, Andrea and Kaylin. They spent time at Grams and Papa’s house. We were able to fill our tanks with the company of many good friends, (Myers, the other Myers, Hudsons, Rhenda, Cheyenne & Chelsea, Grandma Mazie & Grandpa Howard, Osborns, Kim & Logan, a very pregnant Tanya, Laseters, RuthAnn Brickell) but didn’t get to see EVERYONE we would have liked in the time that we had. Halloween provided an opportunity to see lots of friends. Ben was a very believable Jack Sparrow, complete with a moustache and beard that his dad GLUED to his little face. I mean industrial style glue! Jack was a red Ninja for the afternoon parade in Williamsville but changed to a blue Ninja for the evening festivities. We trick-or-treated in the old neighborhood with Coulton, Cheyanne and Chelsea before spending the rest of the evening at First Baptist’s Fall Festival . There were LOTS of old friends to catch up with there. Ben got to see his friends from kindergarten and first grade at O’Neal; Savannah, Hunter, Kaitlyn, Elizabeth, Grace, Jantzen – to name a few!

Grace, Nathalie, Hunter, Ben, Kaitlyn, Savannah: former school mates of Ben’s

Cheyanne, Tanya, Coulton, Brianna, Jack, Ben & Chelsea

Corin, Jack, Kyle, Logan

Jack had a very special opportunity one day to spend an afternoon in Mrs. Renee’s class, where he got to hang with several kids he knew from pre-school. What a nice invitation that was! Jack thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ben had the pleasure of being in Renee Lovelace’s class and enjoyed her very much. We feel so blessed to have had our kids under the wings of such fine teachers as Renee, Betty Doherty and Christi Todd at First Baptist Pre-school and Kindergarten. They really gave me much to aspire to when I made the decision to become my boys’ teacher.

One of the last details to see to before leaving Williamsville was voting absentee. And vote – we did. Would that our two little ballots could have turned the tide at least in our home state, but it would not be so. Mid-term elections rendered the SPANK heard around the world. Brian and I extend our deepest, heartfelt congratulations to our Democrat family members and friends from coast to coast. Brian and I humbly concede. America has spoken! No gloating, Ned!

Before leaving the state we spent a long weekend in St. Louis. We attended a Mercy Me/Audio Adrenaline concert in St. Charles, thanks to our buddy, Scott Brickell. Kory, Dawn and Kyle Myers joined us from Poplar Bluff for a very uplifting evening. We went to one of our favorite churches in the city called Grace Church. Actually, because we’ve gotten lost and been late every single time we’ve ever visited there, we decided to sleep in their parking lot! No excuse now! And it sort of worked. We were not…too…late…but we weren’t early either. What’s with that? We were joined for Sunday lunch by Theresa Smith (Luecke) and her lovely daughter, Caroline. After lunch we went to the movie “Open Season.” It was so nice spending the afternoon together. When we returned to the RV to move to another sleeping spot, the security guard at Grace graciously suggested we stay the night so he could make sure we were safe. God’s hand is always upon us everywhere we go! On Monday, we got to see Aunt Dianne, who had just returned from Russia. Now if you think we’re on an adventure, talk to this fun lady. She lives one of the most adventurous lives of anyone we know.

East coast – here we come!