Facing Florida

It was with joy mixed with anxiety - the first trip back to Florida after the death of Aaron's dad.  "Poppy", as we lovingly called him, spent the last sweet days of his life there, not knowing God would call him home sooner than any of us would imagine.

Aaron's mom was able to join us, too, and it was great to cry and laugh and remember together.  Being in a place he loved so much made it all very real again.   We are so thankful for the memories we have of being in Florida with him.

One of my favorite things about vacationing and extremely long road trips (can we do 1400 miles with 4 kids?  AWWWYEAHHH!!) is reading a big pile of books.  Here's what I tackled (notice I didn't say "finished") over the trip.

- Undressing the Moon by T. Greenwood (fiction - man, that girl can write - I think I read this in 24 hrs, it was so compelling)

- Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (true-life novel, they call it - same gal that wrote the bestselling memoir The Glass Castle)   Best quote from this book:  "Teachers in their way are holy -- angels leading their flocks out of the darkness..."

- The Walk by Richard Paul Evans (fiction, don't bother)

- Two Rivers by T. Greenwood (fiction, I know, there's a pattern here...)

And on the topic of food, if you'll indulge me one more moment.  I was disappointed to see there were ZERO Chipotle restaurants once we drove out of the state of Minnesota.  Maybe I just didn't drive by the right places, but there were none to be seen.  I did enjoy my share of Chickfila, but I don't know if I could live without dear Chipotle, either.