Wisconsin travels

We have had some ups and downs over the past two weeks. We traveled to WI for my brother's wedding (an up!), but we found out mid-flight that we were in an emergency landing-type situation. The airplane had trouble with the hydraulics- the pilot would be unable to slow down the plane in the routine fashion.  He had come on the speaker saying, "OK, everyone, I need you to stop what you are doing and listen to me."  I looked at Peter and knew what followed would not be good.  He told us that an emergency crew (fire trucks and rescue equipment) would greet us upon arrival, and we would land at a much faster speed due to his inability to use the hydraulics to slow down the plane.  For the next forty-five minutes, all I did was pray and fake calmness.  Paige had heard the pilot and was almost in tears...she kept saying, "I'm scared, Mommy.  Are we going to be OK?"  Peter and I just tried to keep our cool and reassure her that we would be on the ground soon and would go to Grandma B's house.

For some reason, I was able to talk down my anxiety due to the simple fact that my whole little family was sitting in a row on that plane.  We were all together.  But at the same time, I couldn't get my mind off of the worst situation.

The flight attendants came to the exit row immediately in front of us and had to get another verbal confirmation that they were willing and able to open the emergency doors if needed.  The pilot had told everyone to leave all possessions on the plane in the case of an emergency exit.  You could sense the nerves and anxiety in the flight attendants...and then we heard, "Flight attendants- prepare for landing."

I could hear the excitement in my other two children.  "Mommy this is fun!"   Or "I felt that in my belly!" with laughter and smiles.  Completely ignorant to the fate that was before us.  Peter, Paige, and I, on the other hand, sat tight and I just bowed my head and squeezed my hands.  Lord, let us make it safely.  Bring us to a stop.

The pilot swerved the plane twice, in two directions, in an attempt to slow down the speed as we approached the emergency runway.  We hit the ground extremely fast, and it was exceptionally loud...and then we just prayed our pilot knew what he was doing.  He reversed the engines and by the grace of God, we stopped after what seemed to be the longest minute of my life.  The plane burst into applause just as we looked out of the window to see the emergency crews driving along side of us.

We made it.

So many thoughts had gone through my head- the complete nonsense ones ("our house is not organized") to the complete desperation ones ("I would give up everything to have us safe.") I couldn't imagine not seeing the sunrise tomorrow-

but I just needed to trust.  I've had some practice with that in the past.

We finally taxied to the gate after the crews manually engaged the flaps on the wings and we were on our way to see our family.

The rest of the weekend was a blur of fun, family, friends, and wedding festivities.  Too many good times to comment, and so many "wins" and bouts of thankfulness that our cup overflowed.

 Rehearsal dinner- Peter and Paige                                                       Aunt Gretchen and Paige, Logan

 Six kiddos under 7...craziness!

4

Uncle Rich is SO fun!

little pizza party at the pool pre-wedding

logan and kamryn

these little cuties are so fun...here's baby tyson

logan and paiger

getting her hair done by stylist mommy

cousin mischief

I told Hunter his job was to shine McQueen's light as a spotlight for all the ladies walking down the aisle.  He took this job very seriously.

Paige and Logan's debut

the beautiful bride waiting to walk down the aisle

this was our stash to keep the kids quiet- I was so nervous they would talk.
 I hardly breathed for the next thirty minutes!

MARRIED!

daddy looked so handsome

oops...she totally forgot to drop the flowers

my mom and dad

our cousin, Erin

Aunt Gretchen just knew what to do when everyone clapped- so helpful!

happy couple!

who didn't love a kiddie cocktail at weddings??

grandma B and Paiger

cousin Liz, sister Gretchen, SIL Mel

our new sister, Tiffany

Paige is a closet member of "I LOVE PHOTO BOOTHS" anonymous.  We couldn't keep her out of there!

and here's what the boys did during the reception

On Sunday, we took the kids to our old college campus and took a tour downtown to the museum.  

Our Alma Mater!

had to stop in the spirit store- love this kid

Milwaukee Art Museum

 Paige saw this beautiful glass art and said, I think that is Chihuli.  I was like, Cha who??  She went and asked the attendant, and sure enough, it was the artist she learned about in art class at school.  She knew the whole story of how he was injured and still designed the glass art, but his apprentices actually did the work.  We were so impressed!!

Hunter loved the dogs- he was inseparable from Violet..but so were Paige and Logan.

What a fabulous, fun, fast trip.  More to come about our week back...