I know that we've been back from our trip to Kansas for over a month now. But it has taken some time to get back into the swing of things for this new year. Mark and the kids are back in school. Work has been busy with the big after holiday rush. Maybe sitting back and letting everything settle has its place in life too. I'd like to think I'm balanced out like that. Ha.
I'm going to go ahead and let the pictures do the rest of the talking for this blog post. No worries, life will get back to its regular scheduled programming. Until then, let me share our trip to Kansas...in pictures :-)
Our first stop was the Karg Art Glass studio in Kechi. We were able to make our own Christmas ornaments with glass blowing techniques we learned from the patient creators in their outdoor spaces.
We all had fun blowing air into the glass domes that would hang on our tree.
Highly recommend this if you are in the area.
The next day we took a trip down memory lane and visited Newton. The town where I spent most of my childhood. The town that has appeared in my dreams much more lately. I thought maybe it was calling me to come and take a walk...
This is Newton. A little different than I remember, but still that leaping off point that we all have. Perhaps we need to go back every now and then. Just for the little reminders of what was and to appreciate this road that we have been on.
I can't help but think I've sat in at least one of these chairs.
The soccer field I used to sweat, bleed, and curse on.
Looking down the halls of my high school was a surreal moment. For all those awkward years and stumbling through the days of all that teenage angst. I wouldn't be me without that girl who was trying to figure herself out. That girl may have been unsure of a lot of things...but she learned how to be curious, how to fold thoughts into ideas and dreams. I like that girl.
The creek behind our house where many hours of tadpole and crawdad fishing took place.
Our old house:
to many, a house is just a house. a place to kick off shoes. to cook a meal. to pull covers over worn muscle. but to some of us, a house is a living, breathing thing. a presence that shows up in our dreams, long after moving day took us miles away. it whispers of memories, of a way that things were. of happy moments spent under its roof. it pulls you back into it, when you have been out of it for so long. i've long learned to stay with the pull. let it place you back within those walls. we met today in real life. a parting and greeting all too familiar. i breathed her in, and we longed for each other again. pulling my hand back, i noticed it trembling. with the realization that it was i that had never left.
We went down to Winfield on Wednesday and had fun making crafts, scooping bowls from a homemade soup bar and catching up with a lot of family we hadn't seen in a long time. John and Linda opened up their farm house and we loved seeing their family. It had been so long since we were at their farm. A lot of great memories there...
We enjoyed spending time with Mom and Gary, not to mention the delicious enchiladas that they made...
Of course had to squeeze in some quality sister time...
We felt so lucky that we got to see some of our Colorado family. Uncle Keith, Aunt Shirley, Joel and Jenna...
And of course these wonderful two...we miss everyone so much already.
On Christmas Eve Day we celebrated with the Hain family. We loved sipping on egg nog, watching our beloved Christmas Vacation movie and eating lovely meals prepared by this fine lady...
At some point or another, these glasses appeared and they were so fashionable we each had a turn... should I ask who wore them best?? ;-)
Personally, these kiddos got my vote!
Lisa-you were greatly missed!
I'm going to go ahead and let the pictures do the rest of the talking for this blog post. No worries, life will get back to its regular scheduled programming. Until then, let me share our trip to Kansas...in pictures :-)
Our first stop was the Karg Art Glass studio in Kechi. We were able to make our own Christmas ornaments with glass blowing techniques we learned from the patient creators in their outdoor spaces.
We all had fun blowing air into the glass domes that would hang on our tree.
Highly recommend this if you are in the area.
The next day we took a trip down memory lane and visited Newton. The town where I spent most of my childhood. The town that has appeared in my dreams much more lately. I thought maybe it was calling me to come and take a walk...
This is Newton. A little different than I remember, but still that leaping off point that we all have. Perhaps we need to go back every now and then. Just for the little reminders of what was and to appreciate this road that we have been on.
I can't help but think I've sat in at least one of these chairs.
The soccer field I used to sweat, bleed, and curse on.
Looking down the halls of my high school was a surreal moment. For all those awkward years and stumbling through the days of all that teenage angst. I wouldn't be me without that girl who was trying to figure herself out. That girl may have been unsure of a lot of things...but she learned how to be curious, how to fold thoughts into ideas and dreams. I like that girl.
The creek behind our house where many hours of tadpole and crawdad fishing took place.
Our old house:
to many, a house is just a house. a place to kick off shoes. to cook a meal. to pull covers over worn muscle. but to some of us, a house is a living, breathing thing. a presence that shows up in our dreams, long after moving day took us miles away. it whispers of memories, of a way that things were. of happy moments spent under its roof. it pulls you back into it, when you have been out of it for so long. i've long learned to stay with the pull. let it place you back within those walls. we met today in real life. a parting and greeting all too familiar. i breathed her in, and we longed for each other again. pulling my hand back, i noticed it trembling. with the realization that it was i that had never left.
Tuesday evening we spent time at Grandma Rowe's house. The kids enjoyed getting to spend some extra time with her while Mark and I were in Newton during the day.
We went down to Winfield on Wednesday and had fun making crafts, scooping bowls from a homemade soup bar and catching up with a lot of family we hadn't seen in a long time. John and Linda opened up their farm house and we loved seeing their family. It had been so long since we were at their farm. A lot of great memories there...
We enjoyed spending time with Mom and Gary, not to mention the delicious enchiladas that they made...
Of course had to squeeze in some quality sister time...
We felt so lucky that we got to see some of our Colorado family. Uncle Keith, Aunt Shirley, Joel and Jenna...
And of course these wonderful two...we miss everyone so much already.
On Christmas Eve Day we celebrated with the Hain family. We loved sipping on egg nog, watching our beloved Christmas Vacation movie and eating lovely meals prepared by this fine lady...
At some point or another, these glasses appeared and they were so fashionable we each had a turn... should I ask who wore them best?? ;-)
Personally, these kiddos got my vote!
Lisa-you were greatly missed!
We had such a wonderful trip back and are so very grateful for the opportunity to see the family and friends that always live in our hearts...
Hope everyone has a cheerful week. Our forecast has us reaching up into the 60's so I'm pretty happy about that.
