Best Friends!

Life changed when we met the Pursley's! We became instant friends! For the first time ever Jon and I found a couple that we could hang out with. All four of us got along great!

Then they moved. :(

I was beyond thrilled when Laurie called me and told me they were planning to come for a visit! YAY!!!

As soon as I knew for sure when Dan, Laurie (and the girls, of course!) would be here, I set out to get a babysitter so the four of us could go on a double date! We had a super, amazing time!





We love you guys and miss you SO much!! Thank you SO, SO, SO much for coming for a visit!! We can't wait to do it again!

Vacation: Day 10

It was awesome to get to spend time with this awesome family in St. Louis! We will definitely be heading back there for a visit!

We made a quick decision on the road to make one more stop on our trip. If you know me very well, you have heard me (more than once!) talk about my friend, Karen, that lived in Oregon. Well, she doesn't live in Oregon anymore!! She and her family have moved back to Missouri and I couldn't be more happy about it!!! She is now less than a five hour drive away from my house, so we decided to stop in for a quick hello and to have lunch together! I was overjoyed to get to see her smiling face after two long years apart!!
As you ca tell, we had an amazing vacation!! It was such a great time! This is one vacation that we truly had to come home and rest from instead of resting while we were gone!!

There will be more talk about Karen as we are (at this very moment) getting ready to head out for a girls only weekend in Branson! Which means I better get out of here since I'm supposed to be leaving to meet her in less than ten minutes!!!

Vacation: Day 1

We left on Friday, July 2 on our whirlwind vacation. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning! We were able to drive almost all the way to St. Louis with the windows down! No air! It was great!
We opted for taking the car instead of the van since it is more reliable right now.
And this is what it looked like in the back seat.
The kids did surprisingly well! (No, Luke really isn't unhappy here, just making a funny face for some reason.)

The first stop on our trip was St. Louis! Jon and I were both really excited to see our friends, Dan and Laurie! These are our friends that moved back at the end of May. We have missed them terribly and were so happy to get to spend some time with them again!!
Good times! Good times!!

So Hard To Say Goodbye!

I'm starting to wonder (well, not really starting, I've been thinking about it for quite a while) why the Lord sees fit to bring great friends into my life only to move them far away. I pretty much hated living in Bartlesville until my friend, Laurie, came along. She has been the best thing about Bartlesville and now she has moved to St. Louis. :( I am happy for her and her family that her husband found a job and that they are all together again, not to mention that they are back living near all of their family! But selfishly...I want them here! This is the first time that Jon and I have had a couple in our lives that we both got along with so well! You know how often you have a friend that your husband doesn't really click with their husband or he has a friend that you just don't really click with the wife? Well, this wasn't the case for us this time!! Jon and I both had an instant connection with Dan and Laurie!! We will miss our time together SO MUCH!!!
Last Wednesday we had a going away party for the Pursley's before they headed out of town. We all had a great time talking and laughing!

This is our small group that we meet with every Wednesday night. A great group of friends!
Even adults can to take a silly picture, right?
Well, Dan and Laurie and the girls were supposed to leave on Thursday, but I think the Lord wanted Jon and I to get to spend some more time with our friends. (They had terrible issues with the moving company and had to stay in town for a few more days! YAY!!) I think we tried to fit as much time together as we could! The kids got to go swimming at the hotel pool, we went to the movies, Laurie and I got to go get pedicures and go to lunch together (THANKS DAN!!!)
and then we all just hung out at our house and enjoyed each others company! I truly felt like the unexpected time together was a gift from God!!

Can you tell which piggies belong to me???
This is the way to start the grill when you are out of lighter fluid... (Jon forgot to tell me to buy some...)
Luke is really going to miss Miss Laurie! These two are buds!!!
Of course we made s'mores!
Me and my girl, Laurie! :)
In case you haven't figured it out yet, I am seriously going to miss these people!!! We have already figured out when we will get to be together next! Thankfully St. Louis is on the way to Indianapolis!!!

THANK YOU, DAN AND LAURIE, FOR BEING SUCH AMAZING FRIENDS!!! BEST OF EVERYTHING IN ST. LOUIS!!!

Spring Break Fun

I am SO thankful for the beautiful weather we had for most of the week of spring break!! It was so nice to get out of the house, go to the park and play! On this day we met some friends at the park and had some fun!

Ben and Abby just adore Luke! I did not ask them to take him to play, they just did! They are sweet with him!
I think this is just too sweet!

I'm not sure who enjoyed throwing the rocks more! They both got a good laugh out of it! It was so fun to watch them play together!

Peek A Boo! (He never would go through that tube...)
Luke really likes the slide!

Annabelle exploring the creek.

Josephine and her prized branch that she pulled out of the creek.

My sweet baby girl! :)

I was so happy for Ben that some of his friends from school showed up at the park!

A boy and a stick...they just go together!


Me and my awesome friend, Laurie! I don't know what I would do without her! SHE ROCKS!!

The girls got brave and took off their shoes to get in the water. I guess it didn't really matter since their shoes and socks were already soaked!

Luke was so excited that he could see the girls from up on the bridge!

Trying to catch some tadpoles.

Like I said before, what would boys do without sticks?

Laurie is such a good citizen picking up trash at the park!

After we came home from the park, Abby's friend Jackie came over. So what do they do for fun? Play UNO on the trampoline, of course! (Abby got hurt on the trampoline right before Jackie got here and wasn't able to jump. Bummer!)
Friends! :)

It was such a gorgeous day! We spent most of the day outside! We decided that we had to grill for dinner and ended up eating outside too! It was a bit chilly by dinnertime, but still...great!
Ben is warming himself by the grill.
The grill master!

Such a great day! Our first trip to the park, our first dinner outside... I LOVE SPRING!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, I know, this a bit overdue, but this is the first time I have time to sit down and do it. Valentine's Day seemed to be a whole weekend affair around here! It started out with Abby's class party at school on Friday.

Abby HATES it when I take pictures of here at school, hence, the expression on her face. I loved the idea of the thing she is holding! PTO put these together for those that ordered them and then they delivered them to the kids on the day of the Valentine's parties. Such a fun little surprise!

It's a can of Dr. Pepper with tons of candy attached to it.

The note attached says, "You're just what the doctor ordered." (Get it, Dr. Pepper, just what the doctor ordered...)

I thought this was a fun idea for the class party! They dipped their pretzel rods in melted white chocolate and then in sprinkles! I think I might have to steal that idea for a birthday party!!

Abby was ok with me taking pictures of her with a few friends. This is her and Kelsey.

Abby and Jackie!

Abby and Jenna!

Ben, Abby and Luke were so excited to receive Valentine cards with McDonald's Arch cards inside from their Grandma and Grandpa Grief!

On Saturday Ben and Abby got to use their Arch cards.

This is what Ben chose to use his Arch card on. I wouldn't normally let him get a Big Mac, but how could I refuse him when it was his gift?

Abby stayed in the normal range of food!
(Luke was napping at this time, so he hasn't been able to use his Arch card yet.)
THANK YOU KEN & JEANIE! THEY LOVED IT!!

Saturday night we watched our friends, Dan & Laurie's, girls so that they could go out on a date! We did "make your own pizzas" which my kids always enjoy! I think Annabelle and Josephine did too!

This is Josephine making her pizza.

Abby's turn.

Annabelle wanted a picture with Abby. Look at the smile on that girl! Maybe she can teach Abby to be a little bit more cheesy!

Annabelle's turn.

The finished products. So cute! Anna's pizza has a heart made out of pepperoni's and Abby's has an 'A' for Abby. Jo went simple with extra cheese! YUM!!

In return for watching Dan and Laurie's girls on Saturday night, Jon and I got to go out on Sunday for Valentine's Day. We don't often get the chance to do a whole lot without the kids, so we really enjoyed some to ourselves! We went to Owasso for dinner and a movie (Valentine's Day) as well as some kid free time at Target and Best Buy. So much easier and faster to go in and out of stores without three kids in tow! We had a really good time! THANK YOU, DAN & LAURIE!!!