11 Days, 10k Miles

As we landed in LAX we just felt uneasy. The airport was packed. There were music festivals all over the country, many people were on spring break, the weather on the east coast was horrible causing all sorts of delays, and the chance of us getting on our standby flight to Dallas was looking very unlikely. After a few hours of waiting and getting bumped from gate to gate watching flight after flight leave without us, we were just done. We hadn't slept in a week and honestly we still wanted to be in Kauai. We actually considered hoping back on a plane to our little island home.... I mean the seats were open! But we knew we couldn't (at least not yet....), we had things to finish up. As "gypsy" as we might be, we still can't bail on our commitments.

We spent the whole night in the LAX airport and then the last plane left for the evening and we were just stranded there until 5am the next morning. So we wandered around empty terminals... tried to sleep for a little bit and hope to get on the first flight out. As we made it up to the gate we saw on our names on the standby list at #90 and #91. We hit our wall at this point.... I called my friend to ask if she could change our standby flights to Monday, we called off work for another three days and then we rented a car and drove home to Fallbrook. We were ready for a shower, for real food and sleep. And after all of the emotions we had experienced over the past week and losing our friend Sam, all we really wanted to do was see our  families and squeeze them tight. 

It happened to be an incredible weekend to come home because my baby sis was getting induced on Saturday and Jordan's dad was having his birthday BBQ at the beach on Sunday. We booked it home that Friday afternoon in hopes of beating the LA traffic. We got to surprise Jordan's mom (she had no clue we were coming) and we finally got some real (non-airport) food and took a big long nap!

We woke up feeling refreshed and went to dinner with Ian and Richelle and the babies at the Hooki. We got to meet Jude for the first time and really enjoyed seeing them. Zoe girl has gotten so big. After dinner Richelle and the kids went home and the boys went to do their own thing and I passed out. In the morning on Saturday I got to hang out with Marley and Brudder while the boys went golfing. Marley had just got a new play set with a fake blow dryer, brush, mirror, and butterfly clips. She "did" my hair about 30 different ways and got the brush stuck in my hair at least three times. We played this for at least an hour and then came back to it a few more times through out the day. I can't believe how much she has grown up in the past three months. Her attention span and focus these days is crazy! I was so impressed. We had a lot of fun together. And Brudder-goo is just about walking now... it's sad how fast they are growing!!! After spending most of the day crawling around on my hands knees chasing the kids and playing I jumped in the car and headed to the hospital in Rialto to surprise my little sis. She didn't think I was going to be home for the birth. 

I actually got to be in the room with her pretty much the entire labor and delivery. It was a little intense and a little hairy at times but I am so glad that I got to be there with my mom and my sis and of course to see that little miracle, Jace arrive! He was 10lbs and 21 inches long! Everyone was healthy and he was such a cute lil chunker!

After it was all said and done I got to spend a few minutes with them and then I "debriefed" with my mama for a bit. We were in the delivery room for the entire night long with no sleep. After a big coffee I headed back to Fallbrook to take a little nap before going to Scott's birthday BBQ. 

Zoe loves her Uncle Jordy

Ian teaching her to gold before dinner

Meeting baby Jude for the first time!

Zoe wanted some baby kisses too

I told Jord he looked like a cute lil dad carrying that...
You could see his reaction haha!

All cuddled up in the back seat

so excited to see this little bundle of sunshine

Love this little brudder goo

Marley making my hair beautiful

he has been ALL boy since the day he was born

little climber

all smiles and cuddles for this one!

These two have some kind of connection, ever since she was a baby. It is absolutely
priceless and it was so cute watching her RUN and yell Joydan.......Joydan!!! She was so happy

non stop kisses for him!

Poor baby nobody loves her!

Surprising sissy at the hospital

there is a baby in there!

Almost time for Jace to come!

an intense delivery and 10 pounds later here he is!!!

Daddy love...

so proud of her!

Holding this little love

a dad and his boys

two best friends came to play too!

the fam- minus Ally :-(

Chloe and Andy even showed up for a visit

some of the most important people in our lives...

We had so much fun at the beach!!! The weather was perfect, all of our closest friends showed up, and we just had a really good time. We stayed pretty late and then headed to Justin's for an hour or so before we had to drive back to LAX to try to get on a flight. At this point we just really, really didn't want to leave. Our hearts have been so happy and full with our friends and families over the past couple of days.

We got on a plane to Dallas and then got stuck there for a while again.... Our patience was running out in these airport waiting rooms. We eventually flew from Dallas to St. Louis and were going to rent a car and drive back to Little Rock. But luckily after we fell asleep on the St Louis airport floor for a while we woke up to our names being called for a flight back to Arkansas. It took us a full day of travel but with the help of our amazing friend, Jana, we finally made it back to Little Rock where we picked up White Lightning and drove back to the Ranch in Hot Springs.

sad.....

over it!

sleeping in St Louis on the ground....

So it was eleven days and we traveled over 10,000 miles. We flew across the country and over the pacific and back. We were able to support our close friends in a horrible situation. We made new friends. We spent time with every one of our closest friends across three different states. I watched my nephew come in to the world. And we were able to celebrate Scott and the amazing father he is. 

We feel humbled and blessed that we were able to do this. We are extremely grateful for our mobile and flexible lifestyle that allowed us to drop everything and go. And we are just so so thankful for the amazing people that we have in our lives.

Community of Love

It was all the things that happened next that really began to blow my mind.

After a quick flight from Little Rock to Dallas, we ended up getting stuck for 8 hours. We were incredibly grateful for our stand-by tickets but were so anxious to be in Kauai. We traveled across the Dallas airport, moving from gate to gate trying to get on plane. At the eighth hour our friend re-routed us to Tucson because the planes to LAX were completely full for the entire night. We arrived around 11:30pm and our amazing friend Mikey came and picked us up, brought us to his house, made us dinner, gave us a shower and a bed, then brought us back to the airport at 5:45am. We luckily got on a quick flight out to LAX then jumped right on a plane to Kauai. When we landed we were surprised and blown away to find our friends had left us a car at the airport with money in it to pay for the parking. And that right there was definitely a good indication of how this whole trip would be...

Long days in airports

equals big bags under your eyes!!  

Finally our ticket to Kauai! 

feels a lot like home.....

We couldn't see Kirsten til the evening so we made a stop to visit our beloved Tim at his work (he moved out there with us the second time). He gave us a whole bag of groceries. Our budget was tight so between him letting us use his car for the week and this little gift of food we were so entirely grateful. We headed from there to our old house. Our old roommate, Eric, still lives in the same house and offered us a room for the week. As we walked in we found welcome notes, an air mattress all made up in the back room with a gift and a note. We are just blown away by every one's kindness and open arms towards us and we have only been here an hour.

One of our first stops- it may be a weird one but we have a lot
of memories here with some of our closest friends.

Eric, our amazing host for the week

Tim

For the next five days we spent all day with our friend Kirsten and her family. We didn't "do" much except hold babies, babysit, try to lighten conversations, cry, and give as much love as possible. At nights we spent our time with different groups of people who know Kirsten and Sam. We listened as they processed death, we laughed together as we shared our favorite memories with Sam, and cried together as we mourned the loss of an incredible man, father and husband.

It was the most beautiful representation of a community. As tragedy struck everyone came together to support each other and Kirsten and Cozy. There were a lot of tears and hugs...... but there was also a lot of laughter and joy as we remembered Sam. He was goofy and fun, loving and giving, had a personality that could light up a room and had an incredible passion for Christ. Sam was a good man and he lived his life with purpose. We are all better because we knew him. 

Saylor, the sweetest lil angel baby

Cozy keeping us smiling with her infectious laughter

Ms. Sassy Pants

Loving her Uncle Jordan

I am in Aunty heaven

In these times of hanging out and celebrating his life we were reassured with some of our friends from years before and we also made some new friends. I especially found a new incredible friend, Shannyl, which has been a huge blessing. She was there with us every day helping with the babies and loving on the family. It was during this time that we started talking a lot and really hit it off. I am so incredibly grateful for her beautiful face and amazing heart.

RED crew!!!

Bon fire with Shannyl and Evan

She has the most beautiful soul.... so happy to have met her

We snuck away from the babies for a day to get some Vitamin D

Shannyl

Instant best friends

Everyday and every minute of our trip was full of love and community. It was a true blessing that we were able to go and give all that we had to offer. As we make our way back to the airport we remember Sam and all the good he brought to the people in his life and this island. We are thankful that we knew him. We are grateful for the way he loved Kirsten and for the beautiful baby girl he gave her.

One day we watched the babies so Jordan could take Sam's brother in law on
a hike and have some time to process.

Scotty- the amazing father to the twins, Bonnie's husband and Sams
brother in law.

Beautiful Kauai

the dogs loved to get outside for a bit

On another day Jordan and Jim (Kirsten's dad) recorded one of
Jordan's song using Carmen's Uke. It was beautiful.

We pray that Kirsten and Cozy never feel alone because we know this whole island and beyond will rally along with them and give them all the support they want. We pray for strength and wisdom as each day comes and that she would feel the love and peace from our Maker. And as we fly across the Pacific back to LAX we pray she knows just how much we love her and Cozy girl.

Sam and I on our very first trip to Kauai! He always had us laughing with his infectious personality. 

Kirsten and I at Polihale  

The most beautiful, strong and amazing woman I know. love you 

Boys will be boys.

Saying goodbye to this island on our way to the airport

Thank you Tim for all that you did for us. We love you

Until next time.