The Hanks come "Walking in Memphis"....

...Well at least Collierville for that matter! Thursday May 30th Jennifer, Sara, Ali, Rachel and McCaleb (sadly Tim had to stay back at home but we are waiting with baited breath for the next trip and hope that he will be joining them on that one!!!!) arrived in the grand city of Collierville, Tennessee. Jennifer is the first of my sister's to come to our new home and we were all really excited to have her and all the kids here for a visit. I was really looking forward to spending some more time getting to know Sara (you know, alone, QUALITY time) as well as really have some good ole play time with the other three kiddos and just hang out with them "Dolly" style. It was the normal hot and humid day here in Tennessee when they arrived but beautiful none the less and Jennifer's kids LOVE to be outside. After getting them settled in we played outside blowing bubbles and then played on the sidewalk with chalk. Chad and the boys had to leave for hockey practice and we stayed out there for a good while tracing each other then filling in the faces. Later we had a spaghetti dinner (or B-sketti) as Jennifer's kids call it and then Pop, Nini, Kelsey, Alex and Amy stopped by for a quick visit before it was early to bed for everyone after a long, long first day.

The next morning we had breakfast together then decided to head to the YMCA to go swimming. Now anyone who knows any of our children.....each of them are waterbugs and they were in the water constantly. They LOVED it. The boys really had a blast playing with them and they all...and I do mean ALL the kids, went down the big slide (it could have been the ice cream that Jennifer was bribing them with...I don't know?!?!?). Sara really became attached to Austin at the pool, she was calling him Aslan...and from then on Aslan was his name! We had lunch at the pool and then headed back to the house midafternoon with a carful of wornout puppies. And the kids were tired too. :0) That evening we had everyone over for a cookout. We had hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill (thank you chef Chad and patty master Sara), some backed beans that Cyndi made that kicked boo-ha(hense the name but I can't repeat that name in this blog...) and some corn on the cob. Then later the kiddos had some ice cream and we roasted marsmallows and had s'mores by the chimenae. It was a great night and we really enjoyed being together.

Saturday morning was just a lazy kinda morning. We spent the morning, actually most of the afternoon too, just being pretty lazy around the house. The kids just played here. They played on the computer, played with the dogs, played with their sticker books, and just were great while Jennifer and I worked on some cards. Then later that afternoon the crew came over and we headed to Osaka's (a treat that ANYONE who comes to visit will most likely get to endure with our family) Hibachi grill and enjoyed some Japanese cuisine. It was so much fun watching the kids and their wonderment and awe while the chef was preparing the food and "putting on his show" for us while he was cooking. I think that they really enjoyed themselves...not to mention everyone enjoyed the food. We stopped after dinner at Maggie Moo's for the much promised ice cream and everyone became slightly miserable then rolled back to the cars to head back to our house. We ended the evening just enjoying one another's company and playing with the kids.

I know that Jennifer and the kids were able to spend all of Sunday with Daddy, Frances and the gang in Mississippi because I had to work all day and I know that they had a wonderful time. They left to return to Kentucky on Monday morning and Austin and Bryson went back with her because they would be traveling to Washington DC with Mamoo and Papoo the following week.

We all so enjoyed Jennifer, Sara, Ali, Rachel and McCaleb coming to visit us in Tennessee. We know that it wasn't easy to pack everything and everyone up knowing that you had just done it a few days before but it meant so much to all of us to have you here with us for a few days. For you to see where we are now and to see the area around us. To share a little in the new life that we are living now and to allow us to have you in our home and "spoil" you all for a few days. You may be my big sisterJennifer but more so you will always be my cherished friend and it meant SO much to have you here with me to share some special time with you-

Love you all and miss you already-Jodi/Dolly, Uncle Chad, Austin/Aslan, Bryson

Love to you all and til next time