Abby Lee

We went to Michigan in the middle of July. Jason and I were excited because the weather in Michigan was definitely going to be better than the weather in North Carolina. We were a little concerned about the trip when the week before flying out, we got a phone call from Northwest Airline that our flight was cancelled and they were putting us on another flight the following day. This didn't really work for us seeing as we were flying out Thursday night and coming back on Sunday afternoon. It was already a short trip and the airline wanted to make it shorter. After complaining about it for a couple of days, Jason finally got on the phone and got us on a flight out to Michigan early, EARLY Thursday morning. We were leaving Raleigh at 6 AM. This meant missing a second day of work and also we would have to stay at my best friend, Sheridan's house. We changed the flight Tuesday morning, while I was at the dentist, and called all the involved parties as soon as we could. Sheridan was cool with us staying there and work didn't really have a choice, we had tickets, we were going. Luckily they were understanding about it.

Wednesday night we packed everything up, I finished all the things that I had to do for work and dropped them off at Kelly's, another aspect that typically happens when we travel and headed to Sheridan's. We got to her place in Raleigh at about 10:30 and Abby was still awake. An amazing and kind of scary feat. It was kind of nice that Sheridan got to see her awake though. We sat around talking for a little while until Jason and I realized that we had to get up at 4AM and we should probably go to bed. So we did. After a short period of sleep, I got up at 3:45 to shower and get ready. Jason was ready to go by 4:30 and Abby was up and ready to start a new day. Unfortunately for all, she stayed awake all the way to Michigan but she was also really good. Getting to the Airport was easy and uneventful. Going through the Northwest line was a little more crowded and hectic. The one good thing, we though was that we got to go up in the stroller elevator as opposed to standing in the super long line waiting for the escalator. Unfortunately when we got up to the 2nd floor, the place was packed. I couldn't believe how many people were at the airport at 5 in the morning. And then the power went out. Yeah...the power went out at the airport. But some how the scanners were still working. We slowly made our way through X-ray machines. I do have to say, when you are carrying a fussy baby and standing among a mass of bustling, irritated people, having to remove you belt is a big pain in the butt. When we finally made it through we had to speed walk down to our gate. They were at the point that they were calling our names and looking kind of annoyed. We hustled to get on the plane and not be too annoying. Luckily we weren't the last people. A lot of people got hung up in the security issue. We held our breath that the empty seat that was next to us wouldn't get filled so that way we could spread out a little more with Abby. Our wish was granted. She was able to sit in her own seat, except during take off and landing. We held her then. We had brought a couple of distractions--the computer to play DVDs on and her peg board game (it is one of those games from Cracker Barrell, a triange with holes to put golf tees into. Abby loves this thing and can and does play with it long enough for us to eat our entire dinner. It is a life saver!!). She did really well the entire flight. Although she didn't sleep. Our flight from Detroit to the Grand Rapids airport was uneventful. We arrived in Grand Rapids at around 11 in the morning. It is a small airport and we were quickly out of the gate area and meeting up with Grandpa Lee. I think he was suprised at how quick Abby is. We greeted him and got our bags and were on our way. After Jason installed the car seat in the car, we clipped Abby in and were driving to Portage. Abby was soon asleep. She slept the entire way to Portage and through lunch at Steak-n-shake.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Grandma & Grandpa's house discovering cool features of their house. They have these spice racks that are hidden between their cupboards. I don't really know how to explain it but image your cupboards and where they meet and have dividers, the builders left enough space about 3 inches that allows a sliding open drawer that has shelfs that hold spices. It is pretty cool. The kitchen is one of my favorite parts of their new house. Although Abby's favorite part was her bed that they got her. It is a car. I thought that I had a picture but I don't know where it went. Perhaps Grandma & Grandpa can send us a new copy of it so we can share. Anyway. Grandma was out and about with her sisters who were in town for the wedding. She doesn't get to spend a lot of time with them. She was really excited when she came home and saw Abby and got a kiss and hug and heard her say Grandma. It was really cute. That evening was pretty calm. We went out to dinner--Mexican and came home to hang around the house. The most eventful thing was that Abby fell and landed on her head off of the ledge by the fire place. She is fine, not even a bruise. We fell asleep pretty early because we had been up for a very long time.

Friday came and we went shopping for Wedding clothes. Jason bought a new suit and I was able to walk around and not worry about Abby because Grandma had her. Shopping is so much more enjoyable without having to worry about a baby. after shopping we went home and Abby played outside with her new sand and water toy. She loved it.



After her first outfit got soaked, we decided to just go with the diaper. Brian and Kendra arrived on Friday night and we ate a dinner of hamburgers and chips and beans and an awesome fruit salad, and I am sure there was other food. We watched the movie "Devil wears Prada" and went to bed. Admist all of these major activities we talked and laughed and Jason read his grandfather's diary. One of Grandma Lee's sisters had found her father's diary and made copies of it for all the siblings. Jason was able to read it over the weekend. It was very interesting because he mentioned some of the major world events that happened at that time. He also let us know what the weekly church attendence was as well. It is was very neat for Jason.

Saturday we awoke and started showering. We had 6 adults in the house to shower and had to the get in the car and drive for 2 or 3 hours to Detroit. The drive was fine after we stopped to get some diapers. We had a quick bite to eat at Burger King and were off to the wedding. After dressing Abby in the car in the parking lot, we went into the church and sat down. Then Abby started crying and fussing and so Abby and I left. We decided to go outside and play on the playground equipement. I figure she had just sat in a car for 3 hours...no way was she going to be able to sit quietly through a wedding. So we went outside and played. It was a really cool playground. 45 minutes later we went inside to say hello to everyone. Oddly enough there was no receiving line. I hadn't ever heard of that. It was fine though. The wedding started at 1 and was over by 2 and the reception didn't start until 5. So we had some time. We decided to go to the mall and hang out there. We arrived at the mall with Abby totally asleep. And she remained that way the entire time we were at the mall--2.5 hours. We found the food court and were lucky enough to find comfy chairs and a couch that Abby could spread out in. Jason spent the entire time sitting with her and talking to his Aunt Jerry. The rest of us would come and go as we liked. Finally we went to the reception. It was at a country club, type thing with a golf course and a large pond in the back. We lucked out and got a table by the door that led to the balcony, so we could sneak Abby out there when she wasn't doing what she was supposed to or was getting loud. The food was great. The music was good, not too loud, and it was an open bar. Can't complain. Abby went out at one time to hang out with the little girls who were in the wedding. It was cute.




Jason said that at one point Abby climbed up the wall that you can see behind her in this picture. She is definitely fearless. It kind of makes me concerned about her in the upcoming years. Jason frequented a lot of different ERs. Not I, I was the cautious one.

Anyway the wedding was great. We had a lot of fun. We stayed at Bob and Marion's house that night. They are an enjoyable couple that Grandma & Grandpa Lee have been friends with for a while. Unfortunately I have no pictures with them. I believe some were taken and if someone has some to send over this way I'll post them. We left early Sunday morning from their house and went up to Indian Lake. It is a camping area for the church that Jason grew up in and that Grandpa Lee was a pastor in ( I don't know if that is the right term but it conveys the message), The Nazerene Church. It was a pretty neat area. It was getting kind of war and people definitely hadn't drank enough water, so we didn't stay all that long. We drove home and were just getting in the drive way when Abby had a messy diaper that came leaking out the side. It was quite an event. We cleaned up and did laundry and spent the last remaining 2 hours relaxing and packing.

Jason's dad drove us to the airport where we took the pictures in the earlier post. Abby did Ok on the first flight but screamed bloody murder on the second flight for a good 30 minutes. It was horrible. When we finaly got to RDU our baggage took forever to arrive. In fact Jason had enough time to take the bus to the long term parking lot and drive back to the airport just as I was coming out the front door with two hiking backpacks and a sleeping baby in my arms. As we drove home we were exhausted but we had had a great time.

Thanks to everyone!