More Friends

That isn't a catchy blog title, but we have had lots of friends come visit in the short time we have lived here.  Actually, we are very blessed that we often have out-of-town guests visit us wherever we live.  I guess knowing people from all over the country some of them are bound to pass by.

Tracie, Montana and Charlie came to visit from Georgia.  Tracie said she would come visit before we even left and I knew she would.  They arrived on Friday and Aaron and Hannah ran out to the driveway to greet them.  I didn't snap pictures, just enjoyed the moment.  When Holly realized someone was outside she ran out barking, but immediately became excited when she realized who it was.

We exchanged Christmas gifts that evening. 

Aaron had carved Charlie a spear out of a tree branch.  He worked on that for hours and was so excited about it.



 
He carved "From Aaron To Charlie 2013."  It was the first time he had carved letters so he practiced on other wood first.  That was probably one of the sweetest gifts exchanged in our home this year because I know how much love and tender care went into making it.

PK started a fire after dinner and the kids roasted marshmallows.

Saturday was a beautiful day for December.  The temps were in the 60s and the sun was shining.  We decided to get out of the house and went to explore Yorktown.  We visited the Victory Memorial, walked around the historic homes and walked along the water front to the pier.  The kids were excited to see jellyfish swimming below.

Aaron, Hannah and Charlie took some time to roll down this hill.  That was probably one of their highlights.



Sunday was rainy almost all day, so I was glad we were able to get them out of the house on Saturday.  Tracie and I ran a couple errands and she treated me to lunch.  One of the perks of having built-in babysitters.

Tracie, Rachel, Montana and I played a board game called "Truth Be Told" and laughed and laughed.  PK played Doctor Who Monopoly with Aaron, Hannah and Charlie.  It was a gift from Cynthia and Brian.  After dinner we all played more "Truth Be Told" and played "Just Dance."

They are all sleeping right now and the house is peaceful.  Soon the boys and Hannah will be up and it will be loud, but a happy loud.  Then Tracie and the kids are going to leave and there will be a sad silence as their leaving reminds us of not only how much we miss them, but all of our other friends we have left somewhere along our journey.

It's Good To Have A Wife

Shannon and the girls arrived this past Monday for their long awaited visit. It seems like we were waiting forever for the day to arrive and the visit is already over.

The kids spent the week attending VBS at our church. Hannah was the only actual attendee as the other kids got to help. Rachel and Lori knew they were going as volunteers, but Aaron and Noelle were tapped at the last minute. Aaron took his job very seriously and was excited to show Noelle the ropes.

Each morning after we dropped the kids, I took Shannon to Caribou Coffee. It is her favorite and they don't have one nearby. I still can't believe she left knowing Caribou is here.

We spent the majority of our time talking nonstop and laughing our heads off. We think we are very entertaining. Our big girls...not so much. It is especially fun watching those two grow up together. When they are going through the same preteen phases and Shannon and I see it, we know it isn't poor parenting on our parts.

Our friend Bobbie and her daughter were here the first part of the week. Olivia, Bobbie's daughter, had a competition here so they stayed with us. It was nice to see them. The week would have been perfect if Cynthia could have made it.

Bobbie and Olivia....they are holding the drinks Shannon brought them from Caribou.


We say Holly is Bad "with" a bone. Bobbie and Olivia found this at Build A Bear at the mall and couldn't resist getting it for Holly.

I spent days before all the company arrived figuring out sleeping arrangements in my head. I thought I would put Bobbie and Olivia in Rachel's room, but wasn't sure if Olivia would feel left out if she wasn't with Rachel and Lori. I finally decided it would be fine and it was. Lori and Rachel slept on an air mattress in the office until Bobbie and Olivia left and then they reclaimed Rachel's room. Noelle slept on an air mattress in Hannah's room. Since PK wasn't here Shannon slept with me.

That last part may have afforded us the best laugh of the week. Apparently women just think they are little girls and don't mind having a sleepover in the same bed, but guys are extremely creeped out by it. It just made sense to me. We were able to relax and talk until we fell asleep and no one had to sleep in the living room on the futon. The futon is comfortable, but the person who sleeps in the living room has to get up when anyone else does just because people can be heard walking around as they come downstairs. I was expecting the kids to walk in and tell us it was time to stop talking and go to sleep.

Of course, we played Nertz. We had some workman in the house one day switching our internet service. Finally one of the guys asked if we were going to play all night. That was the plan. We would of course have to stop to fix dinner for the kids. He thought we were playing cards because the cable was out. We told him that we always do this and he commented that that isn't heard of much any more. Silly man.

One morning we had taken the kids to VBS and I realized I hadn't put the breakfast food away.

Me: Oh, shoot. I left the yogurt and fruit out on the island. I wonder if it will still be good.

Shannon: I put it away.

Me: Thanks! I noticed you made the bed, too. Thanks for doing that.

Shannon: Isn't it good to have a wife?

Yes. Yes, it is. Our husbands are two lucky men!

Since the husbands were not here, the week would not have been complete without Shannon and me completing a blue job. The conversation went something like this. Of course, you really have to know how Shannon and I swap sarcasm and silliness.

Shannon: Jody. Do you know how to make this toilet work? I used the bathroom and of course now I can't get it to flush.

Me: Uhh...you push the little silver handle down?

Shannon: Yeah...I tried that.

I walk into the bathroom and Shannon already has the top off the back of the toilet.

Me: Let's let it fill up and try again.

Shannon: I did that, but I don't think it is filling up.

I take the very tip of my finger and poke the little flippy thing in the tank down. I know it isn't toilet water, but there is something very gross about reaching in there.

Me: There.

Shannon: I did that and it didn't work. Well, it does seem to be filling up.

We are both standing there for what seems like a very long time staring into the tank of the toilet.

Me: Oh. It looks like my little bleach thing has dissolved. Now I know how long those last. I'll need to replace it.

Shannon: (With much excitement) Ohhhh! Don't you just love those?

Me: Yes! They are so nice and keep the toilet looking so clean.

Shannon: Yeah. Me too.

Rachel walks in while we are still staring into the tank of the toilet.

Rachel: Can I use the bathroom?

Me: Upstairs.

Rachel leaves.

Me and Shannon: (Something like this is exchanged.) Yes. We are both standing here staring into the toilet tank like we do all day every day just waiting for one of the kids to come in to use the bathroom. You would think when a kid walks into the bathroom and sees us standing here looking like idiots staring into the toilet tank they would figure out they really need to go use one of the other bathrooms. Sheesh.

The tank fills up and we try to flush. The little flappy thing lifts and water disappears but there is no flushing sound.

Shannon: Oh! Look. The little bleach thing is stuck in there.

Me: Let me grab something.

Seriously not wanting to stick my hand in there. I grab a knife and poke it. The tank fills up. The toilet flushes. We are very proud of ourselves for fixing the potty.


Rachel, Hannah, Lori and Noelle at the pool.

The youth volunteers were invited to a pool party on Friday after VBS. Since Shannon and I skipped out on volunteering for VBS, we volunteered to drive. We picked up the pizzas on the way which also lessened my VBS ditching guilt. The kids played and played and played. Shannon and I taught one of the ladies from my church to play Nertz. Another convert!

Shannon and I were exhausted when we got home from just sitting in the heat. Apparently it didn't bother the kids because they wanted to go jump on the trampoline. Where do they get that energy?

That was ammunition for the last big laugh. Shannon and I sat and watched the clock to reach 8:00 p.m. so we could go to sleep and not feel guilty for letting the kids wind down in front of the t.v. We reminisced about the days when we could stay up until 2 a.m. and still get up with the kids. We were so tired we probably would have paid the kids to go to bed earlier.

Safari

Last year when Bethanie was visiting, the kids and I took her to one of our favorite places. It is a wild life park. This year, she requested that we be able to go back to show Mom, Hailey and Riely.

Usually we ride the big bus through the safari, but this year we decided to rent one of the vans to drive through the safari ourselves. It was well worth it. This was by far our favorite visit. The van was a 15 passenger so there was plenty of room for everyone to have their own window. The bus is usually full and the kids have to try to climb over each other to see.

This is the entrance to the drive through portion of the park. There is a cattle gate on the ground and the animals know they can't cross it. As soon as the van crossed the cattle gate, the animals swarmed the van waiting to be fed.

I was amazed that the larger animals have learned that if they stand directly in front of the vehicles, the vehicles will stop. Then the animals slowly move to the side of the van.

These little calves had me stopped, but they had no idea they were supposed to move to the side for food or move out of the way so I could drive. This momma cow came along and gently bumped them with her head until they moved out of the road.

My mom cracked me up. She kept her window rolled up most of the time so she wouldn't be surprised by any unexpected guests sneaking up to her window.

There are tons of pigs running around. This momma pig is being followed by one of her piglets.

Then we saw these two little ones trying to climb the hill.

It looks like Aaron is actually talking to the elk which he was.

There are two camels who aren't allowed to roam free, but we were able to pull right up to their fence to feed them.

The giraffes, on the other hand, are allowed to roam free. I took this picture as the giraffe was approaching the van.

He bent down for Riely to feed him.

Then Riely got to pet him. This is the best smile I saw from this kiddo all week. Priceless.

Here Hannah and Bethanie are feeding some of the many elk.

Hailey also thought it was fun although she was not happy about being slobbered on.

We packed lunch to eat at the park. There are picnic tables set up where we were able to sit and watch some of the animals.

Mom and the girls enjoying lunch. Rachel wasn't with us because she went tubing with the youth from our church for Youth Week.

After lunch we went through the "walk about" portion of the park.

When Hannah first walked up to this bird, it said, "Hello." I wish I had had the camera on her at that moment because she looked at me with such a fun look of surprise. The rest of the group came over to hear the bird talk. When they started to walk off, my mom said, "Bye" and once again I wish I had had my camera focused on the entire group because they all looked at me with that same open mouth surprised expression Hannah had when the bird said, "Hello."

One of the employees had an Albino Burmese Python out sunning in the grass. The kids were excited to get to touch it.

Of course, I had to end the day with a bit of silliness.

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Program

I still have a treasure trove of posts from our trip to Indiana and Missouri, but I need to take a small break to post some current happenings. Otherwise, my blog will end up like my scrapbooks, so far behind I don't even want to try to catch up.

My friend Marine Wife and her girls are visiting us for a few days. We met while stationed in 29 Palms. Her oldest daughter is sandwiched agewise right between Rachel and Aaron. Her youngest daughter is about 6 months younger than Hannah. The older three kids spent countless hours playing at the park and at each others houses when we lived in the same neighborhood. I'm pretty sure Rachel and Big Sis' (Marine Wife's oldest daughter) remembered each other a little bit.

When they walked into the front door for this visit the kids were off as though they had been bestfriends their entire lives. I had dinner ready shortly after they arrived. The wait between their arrival and dinner being served was long enough for Rachel and Big Sis' to realize the biggest thing they have in common is how much their younger sisters annoy them.

I was thrilled to have them come visit and since both of our husbands are absent at the moment, it is especially nice to be able to hang out with another adult. The first night the kids were all so excited we decided to get everyone ready for bed and then watch a movie to try to get them to settled down a bit.

Here Hannah and Lil Sis' are sharing the Dora couch while watching a movie.

We celebrated the Fourth of July with a morning parade and fireworks in the evening. The participants of the parade threw candy to the crowd. Our kids collected five pounds of candy. I know this because I weighed it when I got home. That doesn't count the popsicles and water bottles they were handed and downed on the spot.

Rachel, Aaron and Hannah looking patriotic.

Rachel was really opposed to wearing the same outfit as Hannah. She was willing, "as long as I don't have to wear the same flip-flops."

We walked around for a while. Marine Wife took great pity on our hot children and treated them to Dippin Dots.

Big Sis', Aaron, Rachel, Hannah and Lil Sis' enjoying their Dippin Dots.

Hannah and Lil Sis'

Aaron and Rachel

Since this is our first Fourth of July in this area I had to figure out where we could watch the fireworks. We followed the crowd to the popular spot and claimed our space. The kids blew bubbles and had a snack while they waited for the show.

Rachel, Aaron and Hannah waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Lil Sis' blowing bubbles .

In case the above link didn't give it away, Marine Wife is a fellow blogger. Here are the mommies hard at work updating their blogs. Enjoy!