Baby and trip

Sorry for the long post, but this is what has happened these last 5 days!
So, Emmee was about a week late! We needed to get Dallon to Illinois. He thought he wanted to go by himself, but I convinced him I needed to go with him and like a good son he agreed. The whole long story is in the next post. Stanley was literally my prince charming on a white horse/truck when he came to rescue us! I waited until Emmee was in a room before going to see this big bundle of joy about 8:00! That was the longest wait! But worth it!

I know this isn't a very flattering picture, but I wanted you to see his hands! He's the spitting image of his father! But he's got Glasgow hands! He's so soft and cuddly and you melt when you hold him in your arms! I'm sorry, but that's how a baby should feel - all 9+ pounds of him!

The happy family! He was getting hungry at this point. Emmee did great and is so glad to have her little Bensen to hold!

This is BEFORE he got hungry! Again - the hands! I didn't get a picture of his feet but he's going to have big thick feet too! He's SOOOOOOOO cute!

So, we left Friday morning. This is the last picture of Dallon in our home for a while!

And this is why I needed to go with him and help drive! The kid doesn't stay awake long enough to drive! He DID take his turn and drive a couple of hours and did better than I thought (in his defense), but I knew he wouldn't last long on his own and I didn't want him pulling into a truck stop to sleep!

The St. Louis arch!

This is along the road somewhere in Illinois - I think it's part of the Mark Twain National Forest! So beautiful and green!

My hotel "suite"! Do you love the "two rooms" divided by a wet bar? It was very nice - on the third floor - a scary place to be during a thunder storm!

In some of the older sections of town they have those old tudor and colonial style homes we love! I tried taking some pictures, but sometimes we were moving too fast. We did stop at this house - I love the rounded front! So cool. Reminds me alot of where Ellee lives too! Beautiful!

Another house - look at all the trees and shrubs!

This is the coolest cupboard I've ever seen! Dallon is living in a really old duplex (I didn't get a picture of the outside!) It has the coolest old latches too! So cool!

This is the staircase up to the bedrooms. I love the wood floors and trim and stairs and banister!

At the top of the stairs is Dallon's room. I love the casing around the door! The door handles are old too and falling apart! We went to church Sunday morning (we were a little late) and sat in the fower until the congregational hymn. Everyone who came out would wave and say "Hi". Very friendly ward. After church several people came up to us and introduced themselves and asked who we were. When we told them we came to go to school from Arizona they wanted to know "Why here?" There was an immediate feeling of the spirit in the building and we felt at home! And after a while, the people started looking so familiar! Like we'd met before! They invited us to stay for the "Linger Longer" potluck. They have it every two months - lucky us! It was really good food and we got to meet more members. That was the icing on the cake for me. I know he's in good hands with this ward. They've already accepted him and taken him in. They do have a singles branch he's going to check out next week, but we both agreed that we love this ward and he wants to keep going there. He might go to two meetings - the family ward and singles branch!

This is a view of the awesome sunset from my plane window. You can't really see it - Phone camera - but the sun was red peeking under the clouds as it slipped down! So pretty!

Several lady's in the ward told me about a bus that would take me to O'Hare in Chicago so we wouldn't have to try and navigate our way in the car. So I hopped on a bus in Rockford and made it to the airport. Got checked in and through security and to my gate, called Stanley to let him know my flight info so he could pick me up about 10:30 pm in Phoenix. I had a lay-over in Atlanta. And 5 minutes after hanging up, the sign changed and the flight was delayed for 2 hours (weather in Cincinnati) which means I'd miss my connecting flight in Atlanta! I didn't know what I was suppose to do - I'm not a frequent flyer! Then my phone rings and it's the airline calling to tell me that my flight was delayed and they booked me on an American flight and gave me the flight number. I went up to the desk to check it out, got a new ticket for a non-stop flight to Phoenix! What a tender mercy! Instead of getting home at 10:30 I'd be home by 8:30! And when I got to my seat I was in the middle, the mother of two children was next to me, her little girls in the row in front, and a mother/daughter were on the two isle seats. So we did some shuffling, the mother got to sit by her two little girls, the mother/daughter got to sit by each other and I got the window! Miracles do happen when people pay attention and are kind and thoughtful! What a trip! Two 15 hour days of driving, Sunday to relax and rest, Monday to get Dallon situated at the college, find a flight home (I didn't have one before I left, cuz I didn't know when - I know! Taking a big chance there would be a seat on a plane!) and get to the airport in a big city like Chicago! I'm glad to be home! Miss my Dallon! It's weird being in a house with no children! Last night was our first night without one of the kids waking us up at midnight to say they were home! Dallon's going to be alright! I'm going to be alright and will do alot of praying that Dallon makes good choices on his own!