US Trip was Great - Thank You!

Gpa Paul gets a hand from the girls on a special project - Can you guess what this is? And what it is for?
Clear day on Lake Saylorville, IA - Principal Bldg & Ruan Center in the distance
Bart with newest addition to the our friends in Fresno. Don't be fooled by this picture - Susan did all the baby holding, she just insisted on a pic with Bart holding the cute little man.
Family Get Together/Baby Shower in West Sacramento - Mike was able to get the new pool set up (lots of help from Sarah, Chris & others) for the party. Thanks Mike & Julie for hosting.

We are finally back in our own beds! It takes a little while to get over the 9hr time change but things are gradually returning to normal.

We had a great time on our "home" leave in IA and CA. I confess, I have never been on a trip quite that long (away from 'home'). I was happy to get home and wear clothes that I haven't been wearing for the past month and pull all the toiletries out of the case! But it is amazing how far a limited wardrobe can go if you have washers/dryers at your disposal - thank you Lisa, Sis and Ruthie!

The girls and I (Susan) were able to spend 6 great days in Des Moines before heading to CA. It was almost as though we had only been away for a few weeks - except for the addition of several new babies and the change in all the 6 -9 year olds. It was great to see everyone and we are reminded again why we miss all of you!

Our only hitch in arriving was the 24 hr delay of our luggage (thank you O'Hare). But, with a little help from Target and the Jordan Creek Mall - we were able to look sufficiently presentable for church our first morning in and then able to take the girls swimming as promised. The only casualty were some chocolates we had planned to give - obviously the bags sat out for a while! Grrrrr.

Once in CA, we split time between West Sac, Orangevale & Fresno. Bart arrived and we got our family shopping done - only had to ship 2 boxes back (figured the box of Bisquik cost about $25 with shipping so we are going to learn to make pancakes from scratch - we know it's not hard, we just like what we like!). There was a lot of swimming, movies, several Round Table pizza feasts, mexican food and visiting with family and friends.

It would be impossible to recount all we did and enjoyed. A big THANK YOU to those in West Sacto., Orangevale, Fresno and Des Moines for letting us stay at your homes - and THANK YOU to all who we enjoyed meals and visiting with. We are blessed to have good friends and family and thoroughly enjoyed your company. Thank you for making our trip special.

I'm sure I'll post more pic's along the way. I already have new ones from this weekend as my mom & John arrived Sat. I need to get a handle on the pic's!!!!!!!!!!!