Day #7 - Picture Day and a Family Tradition!!!

On Tuesday we all got dressed up and ready to get our pictures taken. The last time we had a family picture was the December before Kaley was born, so by now it is really out dated! What I think was the most impressive was getting 6 adults showered, dressed up, 2 children under 5 dressed up and looking pretty AND a 4 month old fed, dressed and ready to go all by 9:15 a.m.! As always, pictures with children are always an interesting experience. They did really good and we were able to get some good pictures of the whole family, the cousins, our family, Jason and Erica's family and a grandparents picture.

After that, the boys took the kids for lunch and then to home for nap time. Erica, mom and I stayed at the mall and went shopping and then mom treated us to lunch at Red Robins! We had a really nice afternoon with just the ladies which was relaxing and fun to just be able to chat together. Erica and I found some really cute tree skirts and stockings for Christmas and mom found some art supplies for the grandkids.

When the girls had woken up from their nap, Mark, Jason, dad and I took them to the community center for some swimming. If there is anything that the girls really love to do, it is anything involved with water. They had a great children's pool that we all enjoyed and even a sauna for Mark.

That night the kids went down to bed early and we did our New Years tradition which is to fondue!!! We haven't done it for awhile, so it was quite a treat to fondue with all of us there. As always, it was delicious! We had the tried and true chicken, pork, beef and potatoes and added zucchini and won tons to the experience. It was a fun filled day for all (okay maybe all minus the guys with the picture taking);-)

Day #6 A Whole Bunch of Fun

On Monday, Kaley and I went into Olathe where we met my good friend Desma from college and had a play date with her girls. The three of them played together while Desma and I had a chance to catch up on what has happened since college. Who would have thought that over 7 years ago we would be moms of wonderful kids and wives to great husbands! We had a great time sharing our parenting stories and where we've been, what we've been doing and how much we love what we are doing. It seemed as if these last couple of years just melted away!

Then in the afternoon the whole family went to the new Nazarene Headquarters and luckily were able to have a tour of the facility before they closed. I had never seen it before, so it was neat to see the whole operation all in one place. It was a beautiful building!

For dinner, Mark and Kaley and I went to have dinner with the Waddle family. Curt was and is a very special friend to Mark. He was influencial to Mark and an important time in his life and has remained very close to him. We hadn't seen Curt's children for a LONG time, so it so neat to see them all grown up. We had a great time sharing stories, laughing together and again catching up on these last few years.

All in all, it was a great time spent with those that mean the most to us. God is so good to us! To think of all of the family and friends that he has blessed us with makes us feel extremely thankful and blessed beyond measure.

Kaley and I in our new Pioneers clothes from MNU

Kaley sporting her new shirt

Mark and Kaley at the Nazarene Headquarters by a picture of George Coulter.
He is Mark's great uncle who was a General Superintendent in the Nazarene Church.

Dad and mom in front of the huge globe. We all got our picture taken here which also is their visitor archive. We will forever be remembered as having been there:-)


Dinner with the Waddle Family

Day #5- Church and Dinner with Family

On Sunday, we had a very inspirational and worshipful morning at Jason and Erica's church. It is such a blessing to be able to worship together with your whole family, and it was nice to sit with Mark in a church service- which is a rare but special opportunity. Jason's church is very welcoming and inviting and the Spirit of God was ever present! After church we got to participate in a Thanksgiving potluck and boy was it good! I do miss Nazarene potlucks, all of my favourite foods were there.

That Sunday evening, our family went in to meet Mark's aunt Hazel-Ruth and her family. Mark's cousins, Paulette and Laurette, were there and Paulette's girls, Lauren and Elly, came out to have dinner with us. It was a nice time visiting with each other and catching up on what has seemed like forever! After dinner, we drove into Spring Hill where we first met and drove by the old homes where Mark lived and our first apartment together:-)

It seems as though time has flown by, but it was a nice trip down memory lane and seeing where it all first began.

Mark, Hazel-Ruth and Kaley

Paulette and Kaley

Laurette and Kaley

Laurette and Me

The Second Cousins

Day #4 - Weekend Fun

On Saturday, we all took it a bit easy and had a nice relaxing Saturday morning. Jason and dad went to the church to work on the Live Nativity sets for the afternoon. After Kaley's nap, dad and I went to pick up Mark from the airport. Mark went down to visit a friend from Seminary for a couple of days and really enjoyed his time there. In the evening we all played Sorry Charlie which is similar to Farkle. The girls had a lot of fun playing together and it was good to have everyone together again!

Easton (3 months) - Such a happy boy!

Grandma and Easton enjoying their time together

Day #3 of Vacation - Day with Grandpa and Grandma

Dad and mom decided to take the girls out for a fun time together Friday morning. They went to a place called Paradise Park that is much like a children's museum/play place in Kansas City. They played non-stop for 3 hours going from the ball pit to the water play to the play store and the tumbling area. Then after a fun morning together they went for lunch at McDonald's. They had so much fun together that they all had a nap that afternoon!

Day #2 of Vacation with the Matters

We are down in Missouri with Jason, Erica, Olivia, Easton, dad and mom for American Thanksgiving for a week and a half and having a really good time. You can just imagine what it is like with 6 adults and three kids under 5....a ton of fun!!!

Grandpa and Kaley playing in the yard

Olivia has forever loved to tease dad and he in turn enjoys playing with her and making her laugh. Kaley has since then picked up on the teasing of grandpa and is just as ruthless as Olivia is. There is a running joke between Olivia and dad that has lasted 2 years now with these mice that she teases him with and now it has expanded to a rubber centipede-another creature that dad hates. Now dad has two granddaughters that wake up in the morning and can't wait to wake grandma and grandpa up to start the teasing!

Kaley with the centipede ready for fire!

A Great Start to Monday Morning

I saw this video on Erica's facebook the other day and finally got around to looking at it today. Not only do I love this song, but it brought a smile to my face on this beautiful Monday morning. Take a watch and hopefully it will do the same for you!