Visit to Knoxville

The last weekend of March I flew down to surprise my best friend Karen with an unexpected visit. Her husband, Matt and I planned it all out and arranged to have Karen's parents pick me up from the airport.

Here we are on the tarmac, delayed for an hour. Luckily, we have an empty seat next to us and Lucas is familiar with the plane since this is his 3rd round-trip flight!
When we arrived in Knoxville, Karen's parents (Bill and Pat) picked me up. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of them but they enjoyed meeting Lucas! They dropped me off around the side of Hortons' house and I snuck around to the front door and hid from the peep hole while I rang the bell. Karen was really happy and surprised to see me standing there. It was so great to see her again and have these next 2 days to spend time together!
Here Lucas is experiencing his first live recording on a local radio station! This was a great folk/bluegrass band and we all loved hearing them play.
We also went to a nature center that had extensive trails and a beautiful lake. The weather was perfect for hiking and enjoying the springtime. Lucas slept the entire time while Karen and I walked and chatted.

My sister-in-law Laila, brother-in-law Doug, and niece Gabby all live in Knoxville as well so one morning we met at Panera to catch up. Gabby was so cute and well-behaved the whole time. We must have sat there for almost 2 hours and she was happy just playing with my cell phone and Lucas' car seat. :)


Here's Lucas playing with a new stuffed toy from Karen and Matt. A Horton Elephant! He loves the nose-- perfect for teething on!
We had a great visit and hope to come back again soon!
We miss you Karen, Matt and the Yoders!

Virginia Visit

I recently read an article in the paper about "mom-nesia" and I definitely have it. You'd think the one thing I wouldn't forget on a trip out of town would be my camera. It's practically glued to my body. Somehow, I managed to leave for the airport without it on our trip to Virginia. So, photos here are courtesy of family who did NOT forget THEIR cameras. :)
We had a great visit- all 5 of the Vincent siblings were there, Laith's mom came to town from West Virginia to see us all, and a couple of the aunts and uncles also came by for a visit to oooh and ahh over our beautiful baby boy! We also finally were able to complete our family tree wall hanging for Lucas' room. We wish we had the space to include the hands of the entire extended family, but then it would be too big for his walls! :) We'll include the great aunts/uncles and 2nd cousins in a written family tree in his baby book and with all the photos we'll be taking in subsequent visits when I DO remember my camera!