i was raised on kentucky sunshine

way back in july...emily, grace, parker, wyatt, owen and I flew to KY to visit our family and friends. what a trip it was! with the passing of time, few things stay the same, however, the relationships I have with people just gets better and better. it was fun to see all the familiar things i had grown up with, and the changes that had taken place since I left back in 1997, but what i loved the most was seeing my boys connect and "fall in love" with my family and friends in KY. they finally were able to realize that these names we've been telling them about were actually real people! just 2 days ago, parker told his teacher at church that he was moving to KY, which is something he has said ever since we got home.

we had a wonderful stay with bridget and greg. bridget went above and beyond the call of duty as hostess. she was so much fun! we even experienced a good ol' KY rain storm while we were playing at the park, complete with rolling thunder. the boys loved being with bridget, greg and brandon, and wrigley too.

isn't she beautiful?!


our sweet grandma went with us everywhere. it was wonderful to be with her. grace is a lot easier to hold than a bunch of wild boys, so naturally grace was in her arms most of the time. she enjoyed the boys from a peaceful distance though :) with many additional hugs and kisses. what a smile.




now this, my friends, is Kentucky...and how grateful i am that i was lucky enough to be "raised on KY sunshine." we played in brian and val's creek most of the time we were there. brian made the comment, "I think those boys have caught every craw-dad and minnow in that creek at least twice." we had a ball!






we made lots of omelets from the fresh eggs provided by the lovely brood of chickens in the backyard. the boys loved chasing and catching them.




val and I also got to play a little mozart 4-hand piano like the good ole days. And of course, we had a music night. val played the piano, abby played her flute, brian and val whistled, emily played the guitar, and all of us sang until the late hours of night. I think hallie even got out her fiddle? was that right? i can't remember. And our beautiful cousin Lauren drove down from Chicago and surprised us all! So fun!






we also went to our old house on bowen circle. it was an incredible feeling to be there again. if you've ever heard the song by miranda lambert, "The House That Built Me" then you'll begin to understand what this house means to me.








we also got to spent some time with the beloved Cotton family! no other family (other than my own of course) has had more of an impact on my life than the Cottons. Thank you to Sarah, my best friend in the whole world, for the "sit long, talk more" talks and to Emily and everyone else for spending time with us! We loved every minute! I guess I was too busy talking to take more pics...how odd.




we visited grandpa keller's grave and great-grandma and grandpa wynn's grave (who Grace is named after).



and a few more...just in case you hadn't seen enough! i really think this is the longest post in history. so sorry.







a special thank you to uncle brian and aunt val for giving me a very nice camera before i left. thank you so much.


and thanks to each of you for making our trip back home a priceless memory. see ya next year!