no place like home

I have a confession. I asked Brent last night on the phone if we had plans for dinner tonight. I obviously haven't done the grocery shopping for the past week and I was dreading coming home this afternoon and immediately facing the "what's for dinner?" dilemma. It was just too much reality for me to handle after a week away. So when Brent responded last night with "I have it covered" I was a little concerned that he would be scrambling for takeout on his way home, further delaying the reunion of our little family. I even asked Amy on the way home from the airport if she knew what I was having for dinner, thinking maybe "I have it covered" really meant "I got us invited over to the Shertzer's".

So imagine my surprise when I walked into my cozy, spotless home that smelled deliciously of something warm and perfect. The slow-cooker! Oh my goodness! Now, for real, the only thing better than walking into your house after the slow-cooker has been on all day is walking into your house after the slow-cooker has been on all day when you didn't even know it! Heaven.
That made my day pretty much perfect. Dinner was cooking, lunch was in the fridge for Sarah and me and Brent checked off several items on his daddy-do list while we were gone. It's good to be home!

With that, let me share a few pics from our trip east. We spent most of our time at Mom's new house but we did venture over to Chattanooga for an afternoon to see that clan and have a little early birthday celebration for the Pigbear. We also had a special visit from Sarah's MamaJo, Papa, and GG. So here's some of that random goodness...

first, Mom and Tom in their new home...






Hangin' with Nana at the BBQ joint...




Just practicing for the real thing...



Sarah lovin' her some GG squeezes...



Grama took us to THE BEST park...can't wait for "the cousins" to get bigger! (wait, yes I can.)



And, finally, bathtime at Grama's house...





Thanks for checking in on us after a long week!!