karaspeak

This Halloween was fairly unusual for us. While it would have been quite lovely, and even fun to be at home this year, we found ourselves on the road for the first time in a long time. Our neighborhood goes all out for holidays, and Halloween is no exception. The homes are decked out, they host a haunted trail in one of the walking trails, and on Halloween night, homes in the neighborhood are designated "cider homes" and "chili homes" (which basically just means food and drink houses; offering both the adult and child varieties). So while we were looking forward to introducing Aiden to his first Halloween adventure in Westhaven, we were off to Charlotte for what seemed like a simple weekend trip, but in reality served way too many purposes than seems humanly possible...

1) To introduce Aiden to his fan following at Charlotte Christian, my alma mater and my mom's place of connection to Charlotte;
2) To attend a family wedding - my cousin Casey was marrying his bride Heather;
3) To let Aiden meet his great-grandparents on the Down side (he's the first great-grandbaby and that's quite a special thing!);
4) To let Aiden meet his Grandpa Tabler, Nate's dad, whom he had not yet met; and
5) To take part in a little photo shoot with Dan and Candice, some friends of ours from Elevation who were taking pics of Aiden as well as some family pics for our Christmas card and home.

Needless to say, traveling with an infant at anytime poses it's fair share of challenges, but when that travel requires traveling through the mountains with a little dude who already has sensitive ears, it makes it that much more "fun". Friday was interesting, but he did get to meet his CCS family. You can see pictures here. They, of course, loved him. :)

Next, it was on to our little photo shoot, of which we'll have pictures to share later...and we can't wait. Candice and Dan are awesome people and we really miss their friendship here in Nashville, so it was great to see them. God has blessed them with an incredible gift to share together that they are now able to pursue full-time, which is really awesome.

Saturday we were off to lunch with some people at Cafe Monte followed by a visit with my grandparents at Cracker Barrel, which was fun! I hadn't seen them in several years, so it was great to have some one-on-one time with the two of them. They are so active and young for their age and I love to hear their stories and see their life come forth. Here's some pictures of our lunch. Then it was off to the wedding, which was lovely. Poor Aiden was wiped out, so we spent time with him asleep in the barn above the wedding, but dancing away regardless. :) It was quite lovely and we were so glad to be there.

Sunday we did the church thing (and oh how we miss Elevation in Nashville!)...and then we prepared to head on our way back home. Despite our plans, little Aiden didn't feel so hot, so I spent most of the morning consoling him and helping him nap so we could have a good trip back, but as we got into the day, it didn't look so good. At the last minute, we decided Aiden and I would fly home to Nashville and Nathan would drive home...I know, not fair for him, but it was what had to be done. So the little guy and I headed on a jet plane (and he did FABULOUSLY, sleeping the whole trip!) and got home a few hours before big daddy Nate. We LOVED coming home and I am 99% sure Aiden knew when he was here. It was so cute. It was a great trip, but long and tiring, so all in all a Halloween worth screaming about.