So yes, the summer flew by without many posts from the Linkous family. Kev talked about Ryn's stitches a few days before we left and I'll pick up there. That was the scariest thing I've dealt with as a mom--trying to get the bleeding to stop while I waited for Kev to come home and take us to the emergency room, trying to keep Ryn calm and still but near the point of hyperventilating with worry on the inside, then having to hold her down while she cried and struggled with all her strength and called for my help while they stitched her up. Afterwards we went and got ice cream and she was fine. I was still shaking all the way home. She fell asleep in the car and as soon as I got her to her bed I collapsed into Kevin's arms sobbing. Honestly, I don't know how my mom didn't have a nervous breakdown with all the accidents and catastrophes the 9 of us combined put her through. They could fill a very large book.
Our drive down to TX was long, tiring, and fun. I love road trips with Kevin--hours on end to sing and talk. And with the wonderful invention of portable DVD players, we could still do that even with 2 little kids! Then we had a couple of fun days in Austin before Kev had to leave on his own to come set up shop for us here in France. So the girls and I spent a month hopping from Joy's to John's to Matt's house, being totally taken in and spoiled by them and their families, and missing Kevin terribly. The biggest thing I learned that month is that I am not cut out for single parenthood. Ryn and Elle had a great time with all the Ellis cousins. I can't thank Warren, Jared, Cameron, Nolan, Brian, Caitlyn, Anne-Lorenne, Sam and Ethan enough for how sweet and patient they were with my girls--sharing all their toys, movies and moms to help us feel welcome and happy. And I really can't thank Joy, Darrell, John, Laura, Matt and Natalie enough for their generosity and love, without which I would not have survived. Period.
We had so much fun going to South Padre Island with Joy and Matt's families. Ryn absolutely loved "swimming in the ocean like Ariel", and she and Elle both loved digging in the sand with all the boys, chasing the seagulls, learning to skim board with Darrell, jumping the waves with Matt, all the snacks Joy had the cooler constantly stocked with, and the little shower spicket outside the beach house where we washed off every time we came back for a meal or for bed. 
After the beach, we had a blast with Joy and Darrell and the boys, making their last weeks before school started even crazier than normal (these were the 2 weeks it took to get Jungle Puma Elle back to sleeping through the night on her own after our wild summer, so EVERYONE got to share the joy--quite possibly even the neighbors down the street). Darrell was such a good sport and kept Ryn and Elle plus all their boys while Joy and I had a girls night out; Joy wouldn't let me cook and I had to fight to be able to do some dishes; she gave me the best going away gift of a much-needed haircut, Elle terrorized Bandit and Nolan; and Ryn kept Cameron tackled with hugs and loved being part of every daily routine--"It's time to read scriptures!!!" she would shout excitedly, jumping up and down.
The next stop for the Linkous girls was John and Laura's in Houston. The first few days were very exciting with the open house for Rae and Spence on Saturday and Rae's farewell on Sunday. Both went extremely well and it was so great to be there at such an important time. We tried to grab the photo op of all the Ellis cousins together--hopefully someone else got a better shot than I did! 
Rachel left on Tuesday to head down to the Sao Paulo MTC, but not before getting a fabulous short haircut :) to save time and headaches on the mission. 
The girls and I stayed for a few more days, enjoying tons of new and exciting meals from Laura's master cooking :) (I still need that spaghetti squash recipe, by the way, Laura :) , getting some chatting time in with the ever-busy Johnny, oohing and ahhing over what a sweet baby Anne-Lorenne is, watching Brian grow up all at once as he started Kindergarten!, and having girl cousin bonding with Catie (some of it even included friendly horse racing competition)...
I apologize to my good friends in Houston that I didn't get to see this time. Misty, Ashlee, Amy and the rest of the dinner group--I promise to stay longer and do better next time! I miss you guys and hope all is well for you and your families.
From Houston, we drove to Plano for a last week with Matt, Nat, Sam and Ethan. We had a fun Sunday dinner with the Jones' (which didn't include any Oodle-offs, but was still a great time). Unfortunately, I'd come down with a serious sinus infection that hit me like a Mack truck that night. So Monday (Labor Day) and Tuesday, sweet Matt and Nat took care of my girls and let me get 2 NAPS A DAY!!! for both days. If it had not been for that extra sleep, I don't know how I would have survived the trip to France. In spite of the sickness, we loved being with their family every minute. We laughed, talked, played, relaxed, watched funny old home movies and political speeches. By the time we left for France that Friday, I was able to face the 20 hour/2-leg trip thanks to the R&R chez Matt and Nat.
The trip with 2 kids on my own was interesting, but we made it. We were blessed to get the bulkhead aisle, complete with the bassinet that attaches to the wall for Elle, and kind and helpful people everywhere we went. The hardest parts were trying to take Ryn to the bathroom on the airplane (just try to imagine being pregnant and trying to fit into those airplane bathrooms with a dancing 2 year old, getting her pants down in time, all while holding a squirming 15 month old--not pretty), carrying the huge double backpack everywhere in the airports and trying to balance it when I had to bend down for Elle (I only fell over once), and trying to get Elle to eat/sleep with another busy 16 month old in the seat next to us. The best parts were getting excited with the girls about seeing Daddy, seeing the joy 2 adorable angels can bring to total strangers in any country, laughing our heads off while playing tag with the girls up by the inter terminal train at DFW, and watching them run to Kevin when we finally saw his adorable face in Toulouse.
So, here we are, back in France and back together. Life is good and I think I'll sign off here and make another post later to catch us up from our arrival to the present. Stay tuned....
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