We just rolled back into our driveway after driving over 2,000 miles, visiting with 100’s of people, sitting in the van for millions of hours, and eating a few too many French fries. I am so hungry for raspberries, I could tear up a little. Bring on the fruits and veggies to settle my traveling tummy.
I have lots of pictures to share with you from our adventures from last week. Are you ready? Here goes…
Our first stop was St. Louis for a Meet and Greet. I can’t tell you how awesome it was to meet these ladies, visit, and pray together. (Karen, I’m so bummed we didn’t get a picture with you before you left!)
We left St. Louis around noon Wednesday, and headed south toward Nashville. Along the way, we stopped to have dinner with dear friends from college. Three hours was not even close to a long enough time slot to catch up and visit.
I did manage to get some baby snuggles in while I was there. As you can see from the picture below, God has decided that none of us will be raising girl children. :)
We tore ourselves away from our friends and finished the drive to Nashville. There, we stayed with a lovely elderly couple – distant relatives I’d never met. I regret that we didn’t get any pictures with them. They were so sweet to let all six of our long-legged family crash at their place during our stay.
Thursday morning we got up and headed to our Nashville Meet and Greet. It was a wonderful visit, making me wish again I could drive to every city and country to visit with allllll of you! These Meet and Greets are awesome.
From there, we headed to our family reunion. Our boys had so much fun getting acquainted with cousins they rarely see.
It was especially fun to see the teenage boys hanging out. It reminded us so much of our generation when we were their age. How in the world did we all become moms and dads of teenagers ourselves, when it seems that it was just a few weeks ago that we were the teenagers???
Here is my generation of first cousins, standing with our Nana. Wish they could have all been there. We talked fast and furious in order to catch up with everyone. :)
Somehow, we were able to get our entire group rounded up for a photo. Priceless.
Actually…here’s part of the crazy that led up to the group picture. I can’t stop laughing when I see it, but that might be because I’ve been in the van way too long the past few days.
You should be impressed to know that I took my first “selfie” while on this vacation. I’ve never felt the need to take one before now. While sitting with Nana, I grabbed my phone and took a shot. Not too bad, eh?
Love this beautiful lady. She is my mom’s mom. I have loved connecting with her, especially since my mom died almost 10 years ago.
After tearful good-byes, we got back on the road Saturday evening, making it back to St. Louis where we stayed the night with cousins. We loved worshiping with them on Sunday morning before heading home.
The biggest issue with our final stretch of the trip? Figuring out how we could watch the U.S. vs. Portugal World Cup soccer game. Missing it was not an option. :) We finally made it to Lincoln, an hour from home, just in time for the second half of the game. We hit a Culvers, which had a TV. We ate ice cream and screamed at the TV. Of course, by that I mean that we sat quietly with our hands in our laps each time anything exciting happened. I would have worried that we were disturbing other patrons, but they were enjoying the excitement right along with us.
I kid you not – I bought a large order of green beans from Culvers before heading out. Who buys green beans at Culvers? This girl, apparently. I was desperate for something green, and I hadn’t eaten ice cream so I was hungry. By the way, Culver’s green beans are delicious.
As we rolled back into town, I ran into the store and loaded my cart with fruits and vegetables for this week. I was so super hungry for raspberries and planned to buy loads of them. Unfortunately, all the raspberries I found were moldy. So, you better believe that I’ll be running to other stores in our area tomorrow on a mission to find raspberries. In the meantime, we have lots of other yummy food to eat on.
When we walked in the door, I cracked up to see our living room floor covered with boxes. We have a young man living with us this summer, so as boxes came in, he pulled them into our house for us. My Amazon Subscribe and Save order came in, among a few other boxes of food I’d ordered. The boys have been opening them, and later this week I’ll show you pictures of what’s inside. You know you want to see my case of toilet paper.
Since I just arrived home and don’t have a menu plan created to share with you this week, I thought I would instead share a few pictures throughout the next few days of the food we decide to eat. Sound good? Here’s hoping I find raspberries!!!
Here’s to a great new week!
Come back to St. Louis and you can have some of my raspberries! My bushes are full of ripening ones – every time I go outside I grab some. Yum! And I have blueberries and strawberries in the fridge, because those are what I love to have for breakfast. Now if only I could find some blackberries….
Oh man…fresh raspberries right out of your backyard would be amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m not jealous, I’m not jealous… :)
Looks like a great time, for all. I did wonder about why you haven’t had more children(a daughter). I have heard many women comment about only being blessed with a certain amount of child or only boys. The reason that they only have this is because they altered themselves(hysterectomy or their husbands had a vasectomy). Ladies, remember this is your choice, not Gods. Most of us can have children until we go into menopause(which usually around 50)…
Hmmm, well…God is in control, and He wanted us to have four boy children. We are so blessed, and wouldn’t have it any other way!
your family looks like mine. I have 5 boys myself, sister in law has two and the other has 3. We do have two girls in the family, but they are 20 years apart.
I do believe God is in control too. Very much so. I have 5 boys. My first three are 21,17 and 16. When my youngest was 13 I had my tubal reversed and had two more boys. We were hoping for a girl but this was what God had planned for our family.
Homestly, it’s really not your place to judge ANYONE about their size of their family. You don’t know, why they up only have x amount of children. Have you ever heard of secondary infertility? So PLEASE stop judging people. The decision on the amount a children a couple has is between husband, wife and God, period. Not busy bodies.
So glad you made it home safely! What an awesome trip!
Thank you for all you do for us for helping getting on the road for healthy eating!
Hopefully you’ll come out to So.Cal for a visit one day! Would love to meet you,!
Xo Lisa
We’ll actually be coming to CA at Christmas time. We plan to hold some Meet and Greets on our trip – hopefully I’ll be able to meet you!
Be glad you left the moldy raspberries at the store. I bought 2 packages of beautiful raspberries on Friday, but since we were gone Saturday I didn’t get a chance to finish the last package until Sunday. Wouldn’t you know they were moldy and since I bought them at the grocery store at the west side of town, it wasn’t worth the gas to go and exchange them. Sigh.
Aw, man! It doesn’t take long for them to go bad. :( Here’s hoping I can find some at a different store this morning. I did eat some strawberries this morning though, so I’m feeling a little less desperate for raspberries compared to how crazy I felt yesterday. :)
Your extended family reminds me of my family! My husband and I both have lots of cousins and get-togethers often resemble the “crazy” picture you posted. And I LOVE how the cute dog plopped down perfectly in the front of the group photo. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us. Oh, and U-S-A! U-S-A!
U-S-A…was that a crazy game or what?? Our defense forgot that the last 30 seconds of a game matters very much. We sat there in shock for several minutes after the game. That might be about the only way to get the Coppingers to stay quiet for an extended amount of time. Phew!
Hi Laura –
Can I ask you where you bought/what brand of white tank top you have on in the St. Louis “meet and greet” photo? (It may be the same top in other photos, too.) It is great because it comes up pretty high in the front, and it doesn’t appear to cut in in the back exposing bra straps. Thanks!
Amy G.
I wish I could remember, because I love how it fits and I want one in every color. :) I *think* it was Kohls??? But it was a few years ago.
Laura –
OK, thanks. Guess it’s too late for me if you’ve had it for a few years. It looks so new in the photos!
Amy G.
Hi Laura!
Looks like a fun trip! It is encouragement for me for our 12 hour drive to Texas in a few weeks in our minivan, with lots of french fries as well, I am sure! HA!
I am wondering where you got your great, modest, white tank tops??
Thank you and enjoy your fresh produce!
~Michelle
Have a fun time on your trip! I think I got my tank top at Kohls, but I can’t remember! :)
I can totally relate. I enjoy a great road trip and visiting family, but one of the things I look forward to the most after traveling is getting back to eating healthy fruits and veggies and detoxing from the fast food. Glad you had fun. Looking forward to seeing pics of what is in those boxes (besides the TP, that is!)
Strawberries never tasted so good than after our road trip. :)
Hi Laura,
It was great to meet you! My husband also really enjoyed talking with your husband:) Great pictures…. Thanks for sharing and so glad you had a wonderful time. Your grandma is so cute! So beautiful that you got to see her!
So great to meet you too, Pam! Hope your husband’s injury heals quickly. Yes, isn’t Nana just adorable?! :)
your family looks like mine. I have 5 boys myself, sister in law has two and the other has 3. We do have two girls in the family, but they are 20 years apart.
sorry, didn’t mean to post this twice.
Hi Laura!
I’m still hoping you make a trip to PA!! You can see York, PA! lol