Texas portion of our trip- Oct 13-17- VERY WORDY but this is my journal!

Wed. pm: We learned our lesson about 1/2 hour layovers! We both knew that it was too close for comfort, but it was the ONLY decent sounding flight for the money. The plane in Orlando was large; 9 seats across with two isles. The flight attendant was nice enough to move us up so we could be one of the first ones off.
The plane landed, and we buzzed up to the door with all of our luggage...and proceeded to wait and wait and wait until the door FINALLY opened. Then we proceeded to wait and wait for our gate checked carseat to show up. When it finally came, Nate strapped it to his back, and hefted up the massive duffel bag (it was mine- ha). I was left with Rhya, the backpack, and the bursting diaper bag.

THEN.WE.RAN...LIKE THE WIND...or like clumsy workhorses wearing an awkward load. We hoofed it to the blinking light that didn't look so far at first but got farther and farther away the more we ran! Then we rode up an elevator that took an eternity. Next we hopped on the shuttle/tram thing and didn't even look to see where it was going, but were relieved after the fact that it was the correct one. FINALLY we were on the last leg of our journey- we RAN past gate after gate of gawking people. I had given Rhya to Nate, and I looked back to see her laughing her head off because she was being jiggled and jarred all over the place. Nate finally told me to run ahead cause he was pooped (he had the biggest load by far) I only got a few feet in front of him, and got to the gate JUST as the lady was flicking the door shut with her foot. I asked if we missed it and she said that they hadn't started loading yet. WHEW!!!! We made it!!!! Nate was sweating through his shirt and Rhya was still laughing by the time we loaded. Insanity. Pure insanity.

Rhya fell asleep on the 2nd plane (we had a connecting flight from Houston to Dallas). She stayed sleeping through the whole unloading process. We stood for at least a 1/2 hour waiting for our shuttle. The guy that finally picked us up couldn't speak English well at all, but we figured out that Nate was supposed to go back to the airport to do paperwork for the car rental. The dude ushered me and my sleeping child back unto the shuttle and we proceeded to jerk/bump/jiggle our way around the airport grounds for another 20 minutes. We were the only ones on the shuttle and I had no clue what his plan was. It made me a little nervous, like he was going to drive off into the deep Texan wilderness with us, never to be found again. Of course that didn't happen, and Nate eventually flagged the guy down again, and we were on our merry way to the car rental place. We successfully placed Rhya in the carseat and drove 1/2 hour north to our hotel (thank you Gpa Mark for the wonderful use of your GPS!!!). 

We got all settled into bed around midnight and slept wonderfully until Rhya decided to wail at 2am. Nothing would calm her, so we finally called the front desk and persuaded them to let us have some of the continental breakfast's milk to calm our screaming child. The milk worked and we zonked again until morning.

Thurs: We took our time in the morning; stopped at Wal-Mart and got some baby food veggies, rice crackers, and fruit for Rhya. Then we stopped at Subway. Rhya got her very first personal sandwich which consisted of tuna, cheese, and avocado on gluten free bread (side note: her nasty face and diaper rash got WAY better since starting her on this temporary diet).
We got to the the Texarcana grounds in plenty of time to walk around and meet a few folks before the 2nd meeting. Kennan and Becky found us and graciously said that their camper was waiting for us!! What a wonderful surprise! We felt very spoiled and pampered but were SO thankful for it because Rhya got excellent sleep which resulted in a happy, well rested toddler which resulted in an awesome convention!!

Fri through Sun were a blur of meetings, meals, naps, and chilling with Jen. We had lots of time with her, as it wasn't her convention to prepare at, so she didn't have as much responsibility. She spoke Thurs am, so we missed it (bummer) but at least she was free for the rest of convention!

Rhya had no problem loving her auntie (who would?!?), and she'd always ask or talk about 'yen' or 'nen' (JEN). Thanks for sending up your phone pictures, Jen!

We had a nice relaxing Sunday evening. Cleanup went super fast, and then they had a Pizza Hut and homemade ice cream supper (sidenote: the food at convention was the BEST I have ever had. Not that it matters. It just hit the spot with this pregnant mama)
We hung out in the house for a couple of hours in the evening. My only problem that night was my EAR. OWIE. It hurt so bad I couldn't even touch the side of my face. Nate and Jen were looking at me like I was maybe half dead but it was not enjoyable (nor was the plane ride home, but I got drops for it right away).
ANYWAY- most of the prep workers were in the house, strumming on guitars and chatting away. We also got a little more time with the Adams family.

Monday am: Rhya didn't wake up in time for the big 'in house' breakfast with everyone, but we got leftovers! Nate ended up driving a ways with Kennan to get feed for his cattle, so Jen, Rhya and I packed up and cleaned out the camper. It took a while to get everything organized, but didn't matter since we were chatting away the whole time.
Becky took us out to their on site furniture store and we had a quick tour before it was time to depart. She took more pictures, so I hope to glean them somehow!
We headed back to Dallas at 11am- sad again to leave, but satisfied to the brim with our wonderful convention and dear sister visit!!

We were pretty uptight about our 1/2 hour scheduled layover in Memphis (why do we DO this to ourselves?) but it turned out to be an hour. WHEW! Rhya once again conked out on the 2nd flight and stayed sleeping. She was a sleep pro by the end of the trip! My mom picked us up at the airport shortly after nine (thanks!!), and our trip ends there!!