Amanda, Devin and West's Sealing 010110-010310

So many of you know that I watch my friend's little boy while she goes to work a couple of times a month. Well the adoption was finalized the middle of December (I think lol, how time flies and I have already forgotten when it was finalized) so on January 2nd Amanda and Devin were going to have West sealed to them. The only problem was it was going to be in Raleigh, NC. But I REALLY wanted to be there, so I figured it out and Amanda was able to find a place for me to stay at Devin's sister's house (thanks Shannon!).

At 7:10 Saturday morning on Jan 1st Tye and I pulled out of our drive way off to NC! I was very concerned when it started raining shortly after we left. I worried it would rain the whole time and that would make it a little stressful for me. Thankfully it only rained intermittantly and by the time we got to SC it was totally clear and sunny.

Tye is such a GOOD traveller! I put in a movie for him and he watched Up twice and then put it down and played his trains and chatted with me and watched the GPS (Kevin got it for Christmas and it was our friend on the trip, so much easier than trying to shuffle papers and read while driving to make sure you take the correct road! lol) He thought it was cool everytime he could see we were coming up to water, he would let me know! lol

I think we surprised everyone when we made it there at 5pm. Yep only took us 10 hours to get there. I promise I was not going more than 6-8 mph over the speed limit. I stayed with the faster group of cars, but wasn't always the fastest. We only stopped one time on the way up just south of Savannah, GA. Got gas, went potty and ate our lunch.

It was nice to meet most of Devin's family and to see his mom again. We had a good time hanging out and I learned a new game called Hand and Foot. Let's just say I stink at it. You play in teams. Lori and I got our hineys kicked by Amanda and Shannon! lol I MIGHT try it again, but I better hope to do better or I don't think I would want to play it again! lol

On Saturday we joined them at the temple. What a sweet experience! I think that is my favorite part of the temple is watching children that have been adopted sealed to their parents or converts and their families sealed together. The kids make it so special and it reminds me of when we had Tye sealed to us. What wonderful memories both of the days were! I am so happy for Devin, Amanda and West! Tye was well taken care of and had a blast playing with the other kids while I was gone! And true to form, he was upset when I came home. Luckily we shuffled him and a few of the other kids over to Shannon's house and let the party begin! lol

Here they are...isn't it such a beautiful picture? The sun was shining but it was chilly. A great day!

Here is West and I hanging out!

After most of the festivities were over I laid down to take a nap. My concern was how busy the road was going to be on the way home, so I was determined to beat the traffic. I slept for awhile but kept waking up. Finally I could not sleep any longer even though I was pretty tired and just decided to hit the road. Everyone was concerned and I must admit I was a little bit too, but I knew if I got super tired I would pull over and get a hotel and sleep. So at 11pm I hit the road. On the way out of town I stopped and got a root beer and a hamburger, filled up with gas and officially hit the road. It was windy and cold, but I was glad the car was warmish (tried not to get it too warm or I would probably fall sleep! lol) I did really well I think. I took little sips of root beer and would have a hand full of snacks if I got a little weary. I was rocking out to my Christmas music and Tye was fast asleep in the backseat. It wasn't until I was almost to Savannah, GA that I started getting really tired. I thought if I could just make it to the gas station I stopped at on the way up then I could get out and stretch and wake up a little bit.

I made it there, got gas, went potty, got another root beer. Tye saw a truck he really liked and told me he was putting it on his Christmas list for next year! lol Had I been able to I probably would have gotten it for him and put away for next year, but you know, kindof hard to do when I am carrying him, my drink and my purse, not to mention he is with me! lol So I got all situated again and hit the road. It wasn't until I got to Jacksonville that I started getting really tired. I was a little worried and wished I had made plans to stay at Amanda's parents if I needed to. lol But I hung in there, me and my root beer, snacks and Christmas music. I ended up calling Kevin around 7:30 to make sure he was up for church and have someone to talk to for the last little bit. I also asked him to wait to go to church until I got home so that he could take Tye with him. I figured Tye would be wide awake at that point and I would be dead to the world, so I didn't want to be responsible for watching him. Shortly after that Tye woke up which was great because he is SUCH a chatter. Sometimes a bit too much! lol So he kept me awake the rest of the drive home. We pulled into the driveway around 9:10am! Again 10 hours. Whew, long drive in one trip, but we did good.

I went in, Kevin brought all the stuff in from the car for me while I got Tye dressed for church and off they went and I hit the sheets. Completely and utterly exhausted. But so worth it! When I spoke to Amanda later that day she said, "and so the moral of the story is you would be an 800 pound trucker." YEP! lol Pretty much sums it up! lol