When the kids were babies, JP told me about a favorite family tradition that he had growing up: an 11 year old trip. Each kid in his family took a trip with their dad when they turned 11, and I knew that I wanted to make that a tradition in our family as well. Emmy had expressed great interest in going back to Tennessee and we went! From the moment Nick and the kiddos dropped us off at SFO, it was clear that the Lord had His hand on us, we got little God winks along the way. One of them being that our gate was E11! When we arrived in Nashville, the lady at the rental car counter could not have been nicer and she upgraded our car at no cost. THEN, we arrived at the Opryland hotel and our room was upgraded as well!! Emmy was introduced to proper southern food at the Loveless Diner and thought she'd died and gone to Heaven when she first tasted sweet tea haha! We toured the Belle Meade Plantation and made sure to re-create old photos taken of her there when she was 2! We made the trip down to Clarksville the next day and shopped for lots of souvenirs for all Emmy's people at Miss Lucille's- a favorite of ours when we were locals. We drove by our old houses, got our nails done and had dinner with our Tennessee family-the Heads and Yorks. Oh my goodness, how the kids have grown! Before heading to the airport, we went to church at Grace-in the new facility that we'd prayed for while we were church members. It was such a sweet walk down memory lane. We also realized that absence really does make the heart grow fonder and our reunion back at home was wonderful!
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| Photo Proof of Gate E11 at SFO! |
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| Made it to Houston! |
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| Stayed in Houston a little longer than we planned. We had to wait 30 minutes to take-off after the last lightning strike. It was a practice in patience. |
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| Made it to Nashville! |
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| Her eyes were bigger than her belly :) |
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Recreating old photos!
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| The daytime view from our room at the Opryland Hotel. |
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| Us! |
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| Belle Meade Plantation! It was TOASTY outside! |
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| 4064 Challis! The trees had grown so much! |
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| Emmy put on a show with the light and the silverware from our room service! |
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| We spotted this little guy on our way back to the airport. We may have driven past him a few times to get this photo. |
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| Nighttime view from our room at the Opryland Hotel. |
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| The Kentucky state line-just a mile away from our first home in Tennessee. |
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| 4064 Challis |
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| 1121 Drakse Cove Road North |
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| A view of the backyard from the walking trail that I aggressively protested. |
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| Mom's Day Out at Sango Methodist! |
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| The last time I saw Lindsey Head and Jill York in 2015 |
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| Emmy, Annlee, Carter, Kinley & Dane |
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| Kinley, Emersen & Emmy |
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| Going to Church like old times! |
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| A less-than-awesome experience at the nail salon. |
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| The new Grace Community Church! |
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| Time to go home to California |
