Finding Joy in the Journey: Easter, etc

What a month. Here are the bullet points:

- Dan got.... PROMOTED TO MAJOR (USAF)!! We are really excited and *interested* to see where God is pointing us towards next... More to come soon.
- Ellyotte hit 9 months. What a precious baby girl. Gah, she melts me. 4 teeth, crawling, sleeping 13 hours straight each night. What a sweet child.
- The kids and I (NO DAN) drove home to Alabama on, noneother, than the prelude to the most intense tornado storm in US history.

On 15 April, we set off for Alabama - despite protests from both of my folks. To sum it up: a normal 7.5 - 8 hour trip took almost 12 hours. We entered Clinton, MS 10 minutes after most of it had been wiped off the face of the earth by a tornado. I20 was shut down and we were detoured through that ravaged town for 2 hours. We then head on towards home (to see my folks). I witnessed firsthand the desparation and devestation in the peoples' faces as they realized they had lost EVERYTHING. Homes, businesses, power, lives.... were gone.

On the way between Jackson, MS and Meridian, MS, I hydroplaned 5 times and we stopped under 5 overpasses as tornados blew behind us and in front of us. The hail was so big that it woke Noah up from his brief nap and threw him into a fit of frightened tears.

We finally make it to Meridian. As we enter the town, I see a funnel cloud in the distance - so I tear into the Chic-Fil-A parking lot, whip Elly's seat out of the car, run towards the LOCKED doors and I hear "Oh my gosh, she's got babies. Let her in." I leave E with them and go back to get Noah. They escorted us into the KITCHEN to wait for the tornado to pass. At this point, I am a wreck and my mom (on the phone) is having a nervous breakdown in Costco back in Bama. My dad tells us to head on out while my mom is begging me to get a room in Meridian (NO CHANCE - a second front was on the way) - I check the doppler on my new iPhone 4 and it looked like we would come right behind the front that was leaving West Alabama and leave before the new front entered Meridian. I put the pedal to the metal and my poor kids were exhausted from driving.

We drove the next 150 miles in heavy rains and got to Demopolis and then Selma and then Montgomery just after tornados touched down in all places. My knuckles were so sore from gripping the steering wheel the next day... And I inhaled several huge glasses of wine that night after kids were put to bed. We had a lot to be thankful for.

- While in Bama, we got to see a lot of friends and took a lot of golf cart rides at my parent's gorgeous home. It was so much fun - there are few places more beautiful than the South in early Spring. The cranes were flying over the water, azaleas were blossoming, just gorgeous. Noah definitely loves getting to go "home" to the Waters - he gets to fish, play with Graddy, feed the horses, drive the golf cart. It is a little boy's paradise.

- We met up with Dan in Nashville, TN for Easter weekend. It was the first time any of us had been back to our second home since my sweet Aunt Mamie went to be with the Lord the night before Thanksgiving. It was bittersweet. We stayed with one of my dearest friends, Amy, and her family and had a blast. We celebrated the Resurrection at Grace Chapel in Franklin, TN - what an incredible service. We adore that church. And what an awesome thing to have JEREMY CAMP sing during the offering!!! Loved it.

After church, we met up at Leigh Ann and Mike's farm in Franklin and had so much fun eating, hunting eggs and enjoying God's gorgeous creation; TN farmland is so beautiful. And the 150 year old barn that is owned by Amy/Vince Gill and my cousins Mike and Leigh Ann is just incredible. It sits on the Natchez Trace and this family has made so many irreplaceable memories there. Weddings, Easters, barbeques, bonfires. Each time we gather there, the memories made only add to the rich history of that old barn.

*Note: the other cute little redhead guy that Noah's hunting eggs with is Olympic ice skater Scott Hamilton's son. I did a double take when I saw Max because he and Noah were so similar; I also did a double take when I realized "Oh, Mike and Leigh Ann's friend is Scott Hamilton... and he's at our Easter Sunday get together!"*

- Dan went onto Knoxville, TN to provide training for a Guard unit and the kids and I drove back to Alabama for a few days before driving the long haul back to Louisiana. We were supposed to leave for Louisiana on Wednesday, 27 April, but we all know what happened to my sweet home State of Alabama that night... This time around, my dad forbid me from driving. I am so glad he did.

We hunkered down in Montgomery, AL for the night and literally had no idea of what was heading our way. No clue. As of this afternoon (Friday), 230 people in Alabama alone have been confirmed killed by the tornados that ripped through Wednesday night. The damage is unimaginable. We have so many friends and friends of friends who lost everything - one girl in particular lost her entire home and every neighbor to her right and her left and across the street. There aren't enough body bags in many of the small towns to keep the victims until emergency relief can take the bodies. They are having to stack the dead in refrigerated trucks. One town lost their grocery store, fire and police stations and only gas station. They also lost over 30 people. Where do you even start to rebuild when you have literally lost everything? My heart is heavy for the loss of life and way of life that Alabama is experiencing right now.

- The kids and I drove back home yesterday - Thursday and are glad to be home. It is always nice to get back into your own bed and your own routine. I am wrapping up Term 4 with Troy University and have lots of papers to grade. Finals week is next week so the deadline lies before me. Feeling the pressure.

Here are some beautiful shots from the past month. I promise to be better about posting now that we are home!