Ahhhh….Farragut…. My little oasis, home away from home, comfortable, cozy, lovely little Farragut. The sleepy little town in southwest Iowa has been the perfect place for us to attempt to recover from the forever-long trip and the jet lag. The days are kind of a blur, but I will give you a recap to the best of my foggy memory. What day did we fly in again? Saturday night, right? Yes, we left Australia on Saturday, travelled for more than 24 hours, but arrived on Saturday. Reminds me of that classic riddle about the old cowboy that rode into town on Friday, stayed for 3 days, and left on Friday. Let me know if you can’t figure out the answer. No tricks on the Australia trip, just the good old International Date Line..

Surprise!
So Sunday. What did we do on Sunday? Nothing really. Didn’t go anywhere. Relaxed. For the first time in I don’t know how long, we didn’t have plans, didn’t have anywhere to go, we could just relax. Sherry mentioned that some people wanted to stop by and see us after they got done with church and would be here for a late lunch. Sounded great. As lunch time was nearing, the jet lag took over and I dozed off for a bit on the couch. I was woken by someone touching my arm and a familiar voice saying my name. I thought I was in a dream, but I opened my eyes and saw a teary-eyed baby sister Brooke standing next to me. WHAT?!?! And then I saw my mom coming down the steps, followed by Steven. Sounds of Ty shouting for Nana and Papa! Laughter! Hug a bunches! Puppy dog kisses! Oh my. What an AWESOME surprise. I was not planning on being able to see my family for a week, which was nothing short of torture but logistically the best plan. Leave it to Sherry and mom to work behind our backs and secretly devise a master plan without us having even the faintest idea. Steven, being the trooper that he is, got home from working the night shift and jumped right in the car for the 3 hour trek to Farragut. They only stayed for a few hours, but I cannot say how awesome those hours were. Surrounded by people that I love, and who love our little family so much… I didn’t get too emotional when they were here (likely due to the shock of the situation) but am literally soaking my pillow with silent tears as I am writing this snuggled next to a sleeping Lily. Love them.

Ty has had the best time playing with Jay’s old toys. They were pulled out of the attic and given a proper bath before each being inspected, transformed, and flown around the house. Yes, Jay remembers how to transform all of them. Duh.

After we got the kids to bed, jay and I needed to go to Walmart. Oh Wally World, with your endless supply of cheap and awesome USA products. I stocked up on heaps of toiletries, undies for the boys, shoes for Lily (only $3 each!!), and a small fortunate later, our first shopping outing was a success.

Birthday.
Monday was my 35th birthday. Wowza. That sounds so old. We went to Nebraska City so I could hit up The Fort – a fantastic western store (it’s no Western Edge but I couldn’t wait that long). I tried on half the store and found a few cute things. The boys got tired of waiting for me and went to the shoe store down the road and got Ty a new pair of tennis shoes. Jay was finally able to get my phone working properly with a temporary Verizon number (yay!). We ate lunch at Runza (yummy), picked up some food at Fareway, and the boys grilled out for dinner. I was able to get some work done. Apple bars and ice cream for dessert. Overall, a great day. So thankful to spend it with Jay’s family.

Tuesday.
OMAHA!! Let the shopping begin. Ok, so maybe I can’t really call it shopping when I only go to one store, for like 3 hours (I tend to lose all track of time in that place), but I can no longer say that I am sick of my clothes. Well, at least for 6 months or so. If there are any ladies out there that have not yet shopped at White House Black Market, treat yourself to a Pretty Woman day and go get some retail therapy. I have never been a fashionista – but this place takes the thinking out of getting dressed. And everything looks adorable. I got a ton of stuff, a mixture of work clothes and fun clothes. I might have bought a jumpsuit. A.dor.a.ble. Jay might have had a minor heart attack when the credit card fraud alert came through his email, but after him making a comment about a semester of college, I reminded him about the souvenir sitting in our garage in Australia. No more comments. :). He has to admit, the clothes do look pretty darn cute.

The boys were sent off to a different mall while Sherry, Lily and I bought half of WHBM. They went to Dave and Busters after they got their shopping done to play video games. Pretty sure Ty’s mind was blown. We had a yummy lunch at a little cafe, then had the boys pick us up to go back to Farragut. Got a bit more work done in the evening.

Tavern.
Staci and I wanted to sneak away for a bit, so she and I went up to the Farragut tavern for a bit to catch up. While the topic of conversation was not necessarily a fun one, I am glad that she and I had a chance to spend some uninterrupted time together. Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am to have been allowed to join the Shearer family? Despite ups and downs, they somehow manage to stay strong and positive.

KC.
On Wednesday, Jay and I did something we haven’t done for over a year. We went away, by ourselves, for an overnight trip. Kirk and Sherry (and Staci and Riley) – thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love my children dearly, don’t get me wrong, but I was so excited to sneak away. I have not been away from Lily, other than to go to work, and the 2 or 3 times Jay and I have gone on a date. So while a part of me was nervous and anxious and not sure how she would get along, I knew we were leaving the kids with people who love them as much as we do. I tried not to worry about them and just enjoy the time with my husband. We went to Kansas City, shopped at the Plaza, had a delicious dinner with some great friends who I have missed dearly, and stayed at a beautiful hotel. For the first time in a year, I slept with both ears closed. No worries about a crying baby, a scared boy, or anything. Aside from the 4:00 am feeling like I might puke from eating entirely too much delicious food at Houston’s (appetizer, ribs, potato, dessert), I slept great.

Work.
Thursday morning we headed into the office to meet some people that do similar work to what we do in Australia. It was a great day – met some nice people, learned quite a bit, and have some great resources to take back down under. Worth the trip, for sure.

As if I needed anymore calories in my belly, I couldn’t resist the Taco Bell sign, so I had Jay drive through and pick me up a supreme double decker taco. So bad for me, but oh so good. We conveniently also happened to be right next to a Quik Trip, so I picked up a gigantic cup of the worlds best ice to eat on the car ride home. Not flattering photos, but can you tell how excited I was?

When we got home, the kids were good. Ty was sleepy but happy, Lily was, well, no worries. I think Memaw and Papa were a little tired, but everyone seemed to have not been phased by our little mini vacation. Phew!!

I read my book while the boys watched football, Ty crashed early, Lily wasn’t far behind him. I think Lily is pretty comfortable at Memaw’s house. What do you think?

NE City.
On Friday, Jay and Kirk helped get Riley all packed for college. Staci stole Ty away for the day, and Lily fell asleep on my lap (she didn’t sleep worth a darn Thursday night). After Lily woke up, Sherry and I headed into Nebraska City to pick up my ring that was getting repaired and to go to the VF outlet. Another successful outing – the extra suitcases are getting filled at a steady pace. 🙂

Whips.
It was around dinner time when we finished up, so we met the boys in Sidney at Whips Steakhouse. Always delicious. Jay, Kirk and Riley showed up….no Ty or Staci. She apparently wasn’t sick of him yet, so she wanted to take him to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course he said he wasn’t hungry – he knew he could fill up on popcorn. :). They ran into some friends at the theater and I think Ty thought it was pretty cool to sit with the big boys. Ty came home all sorts of excited, HU-HA-HUTting his way around the house (he may have ninja-chopped his ice cream cone across Memaw’s dining room). I didn’t know ahead of time that a day with aunt Staci was in the plan, so glad it worked out! What a special memory Ty will have.

It is Saturday morning, and my family will kill me when they find out I am laying in bed blogging instead of getting ready to hit the road to see them…everyone else is asleep – I guess I am too excited to do that. Everyone will be there – I. Can’t. Wait!!! We are going to have a little party this afternoon/evening (all are invited to stop by!!). Sunday is the first Iowa State Fair day. More fun ahead! Hooray! Hoping to see many of you this week. 🙂