Getting you up to date....

Well...its been a long time since I have kept you all updated, so where to begin~
After Labor Day Weekend at the Dave Matthews Concert with the VanDorstons Christopher and I headed on our road trip across the country to North Carolina. We started out of Tacoma headed down 5 to the 101 highway towards Cali. We did the Oregon Coast right into the Redwood National Forest (beautiful)~we took Kaya hiking, saw the gigantic Redwood trees and kept going.
We continued 101 down towards Napa; however, being pregnant we were unable to enjoy the Napa Valley as planned and headed inland towards Tahoe. On the way we did come across a winery called Ceago (delicious wines) and yes I did sample my husbands glasses. We ended up buying 3 bottles and I am looking forward to delivery day when I can put down a delicious glass of red wine :) After Ceago we continued towards Lake Tahoe, where we had a very eventful evening. We got in late, decided to pitch a tent and had way too much food to store in the "keep away bear container", so at 4 AM we were visited by a rather large 7 ft 600 lb Brown Bear! I thought I was going to die and I prayed like crazy that we would be ok--after he walked in front of our tent, jumped on Chris' truck and tried numerous times to get into the bed, he wasn't lucky and got bored and meandered on towards another campsite. The next day we headed down to a overlook and checked out the sites~I had Chris book a hotel for the next evening, so I didn't have to fret over the bear incident. We took Kaya to the beach, went swimming and then drove around to check out the scene. Tahoe is beautiful, no doubt about it! After Tahoe we packed up the car and moved towards the Grand Canyon--this trip is one I would love to do again.
The Grand Canyon was magnificent! We probably would've both liked to have seen more, but due to time and having Kaya we were somewhat limited on what we could do. We were able to get some great pics though--On our way out of town we hit up Route 66 and ate at the Roadkill Cafe; they had excellent Bison burgers! Onward bound to Albuquerque--we went into old town here and got a few keepsakes and then made our way East, continuing 40 thru Amarillo and Oklahoma City.
We made our way to Memphis where we stopped to eat ribs at the famous Rendezvous Cafe~ can we say finger licking good!! They were delicious, there is a reason they are on the top of restaurant must sees. We bought BBQ sauce and dry rub from here (you can get it online as well) and I know we will be stocking up on more to come. If ever in Memphis...
From Memphis we headed down to the Coleman's home in Mississippi and visited the family for a few days. It was great to see family and be somewhere we could just relax. Kaya enjoyed swimming in the pond, we had some great thunderstorms and got good meals :) After a few days in MS, we headed over to ATL to visit Jessi and James. I was glad Kaya got along with their dog, Barley and we really enjoyed our stay. We went out to eat with good friends of theirs and had a blast, had game night one evening and then as we were about to head to beloved Fayettenaum, we were informed we didn't need to report until a later date, so we made the trip to Ohio and visited more family!
In Ohio Kaya met a new boyfriend, Carson and hung out with O'dell to play, we had a great time and then once we were due to report we made our way down south to check into our lovely Lodge. We were in the lodge for maximum days (30) and were trying to figure out what to do as far as living arrangements. Our house was not closing as easy as anticipated, we were tired of living out of suitcases and we had no where to go. So, thanks to our good friends Nate and Tiff and Heather and Brent we bounced during the week at the Hoags and made weekend trips to the Lee's. Chris had to head off to San Antonio for a class for 5 weeks, so I was fortunate to make it home and spend quality time with the family.