Alabama, Georgia, Alabama

This trip came at the perfect time - I got my fall fix! Fall is the only season I miss while living in Hawaii. I crave the cool, crisp air and colorful, crunchy leaves. I miss wearing jeans and a light jacket. This trip totally came through for me!

We flew in to Alabama and stayed with my parents for about a week before driving to Georgia for the wedding. I helped my parents babysit all of my nephews while Brooke was picking Justin up from his deployment and Pete and Lisa were on vacation in California. My mother happily changed every dirty diaper she could. Isn't she great? She wanted to make sure she spoiled me and Eleanor as much as possible while we were there.

We headed to Georgia and stayed with Thayne and Rachel. We loved spending time with Spencer's family. Especially for their Thanksgiving dinner. Eleanor loved all her aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. She also loved going to church with Gran and Grandad.

The wedding was beautiful. I was busy taking pictures, and at one point lost my purse for a couple hours while outside the temple. When I realized it was nowhere to be found, Brooke and I drove around the parking lot and spotted a man holding it. He said he had been asking every woman he saw if it was hers, and was so relieved to find the owner. I must say, if you're going to lose a purse, the best place to do it is at the temple.

After the wedding, we headed back to Alabama. We had Thanksgiving with my family. Eleanor loved the constant cousin time she got, and I enjoyed my ability to leave the house whenever I wanted to go shopping or run errands. All by myself. It was a nice break.

While we were gone, Eleanor developed a love for men. It all started with Justin. She would follow him around, ask him to pick her up, then just lay on his shoulder for as long as he would let her. Then she fell in love with Pete, and next my dad. I think it's actually a love of tall men. She threw a fit when Pete had to leave. Now this is when it gets good. On the plane ride home, we were sitting next to a man who was probably 60 years old. She kept jumping over to him, and throwing a fit if I didn't let her go to him. He told me he had grandkids, and offered to hold her, which made her day. She literally preferred being held by him instead of me, and I just kept apologizing to him. She just layed on him and loved every second of it. I'd say she sat with him for well over and hour and a half on the flight. He really didn't mind, and I didn't know what else to do!

Spencer was happy to see that Eleanor didn't forget him while we were away. She loved on her dad for the longest time. Might've been the sweetest thing I've ever seen.