We packed up and hit the road for Little Rock, AR.  Reegan had been sick for a few days and just wasn't getting better.  That morning she complained of ear pain and had splotchy red spots all over her body.  I knew it was time she get to a doctor.

We had already planned to stop in Memphis to meet up with some friends that were also home for a short time and will be some of our neighbors in England.  We'd been texting about lunch arrangements and then I started texting about medical clinics!

We had about a 6 hour unplanned stay in Memphis (I was SO not happy with the wait at that clinic, but we got what we needed) getting us into Little Rock about 9.  Much later than we hoped, but we about fell into bed.  Jerry had a meeting all day and I had made plans to meet up with a friend I'd made through blogging.  I walked out to our van.  My phone rang, it was my mom. and I'd hardly said "hello" when I discovered our driver-side window was shattered in a bazillion pieces!!  Karis lost it and started screaming.

I hung up with my mom and called Jerry, interrupting his meeting.  I wasn't even sure he would pick up, but he did.  My brain doesn't function well under stressful situations.  He was and is usually my calm.  I headed for the lobby to report the break-in learning the police had already come and taken a report.  It's crazy to me that they didn't try to find a way to let us know!!


Hotels don't claim responsibility for theft on their property, so we were given no compensation.  I was a bit miffed about that, but what can ya do?!  They did send a guy out to help me clean it up.  The workers were so kind!

We had a ton of stuff in our car.  Snacks, souvenirs we'd picked up, travel pillows, jackets, trash!  Do you know, not one thing was taken!  We took all our valuables in with us, luckily!!!

You know what I did find other than little shards of glass spewed all over?  BLOOD!  Disgusting!!!  This crazy guy must have busted the window with his hand!!  Blood drops and smears all over.  Brennan didn't even want to get in the car, my little germaphob!  And so much for those security cameras they have mounted outside the hotel.  It was a lesson learned!! NEVER park on the backside of a hotel.  Always park by the front!!

I still wanted to meet up with my friend.  I knew it would be good to get our minds off of the event.  So we headed to Chick-fil-A.

If you ask my littlest ones where they are from, they will most likely tell you Prague, Czech Republic.  They crack me up!  It's a difficult concept for them to grasp that they are American, born in Prague and lived only in America for 16 months.

We had the idea to take a quick trip to Prague before our 6 month return to the US.  We thought the kids would enjoy seeing the place where they hold so many memories.


Our kids had such a great time together!  It doesn't matter if kids can't speak each other's language.  They still know how to play.  It's a universal activity!!  Hee hee!



We were surprised by the braveness of the peacocks at the Valdštejnská zahrada (Wallenstein Gardens).  

I'm going to miss these guys as Mollie and her family move back to Mississippi, Kristi to Tennessee and us to England.  I'm so thankful for the precious times we had together!!

I'm not a big fan of ME being involved in jumping pictures, but these weren't too bad.  The kids loved it!












Kristi brought me to tears when she posted the above picture on facebook with this quote from C.S. Lewis:

“In friendship…we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another…the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting–any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends, “Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.”  ~C.S. Lewis

This is going to be picture heavy!  So hard to chose a few!

I found a great vacation rental online called The Red House.  It was a great place for us!  I'd never seen a rental place have so much for kids!!  A wicker chest FULL of toys, baby items for those with small children, a Wii, lots of movies and much more.