a visit from friends

 I know I have talked about this before, but I am so thankful for friendships.

Our good friends Nick and Jessica came all this way to visit us for the whole weekend!  That is a good 9 hour drive, and they brought 3 of their kids, so we feel blessed indeed.

A bit of background on Nick and Jess:  Jess and I had our first babies (both boys!) only 10 days apart.  When the boys were just tiny newborns, we joined up with some other couples to do an 18 week parenting Bible study.  And the rest is history--we became fast friends, and so did our boys!  

Two years later, Jess and I had our second babies (a girl for me, a boy for Jess) only 1 month apart.  And then our third kids are only a few months apart, too!  So our families were destined to be friends:)

Here is a picture that I love.  This is when Nick and Jess visited us when Halle was born.  I remember Halle was super fussy that evening...it is so crazy how fast they grow up!

 (Halle, Kaine, Carter, Mason)

So anyway, here is our weekend!

Friday evening, Nathan and Nick made a fire for the kiddos.  Fires are always a hit with our kids--especially Kaine.  That kid could burn things for hours.

In fact, they ran out of things to burn...so Nathan had the great idea to go and get our kids' craft/project box.  Here is Nick, looking at a flaming craft that Halle made.  Thankfully, our kiddos didn't mind!  They were just happy to get more kindling!

Saturday morning we woke up to a very rainy day.  Actually, it was really the first rainy day since we have moved out here to MO.  Bummer, huh?  So we had to be creative :)

The kids thought they would love to put swimsuits on and play on the playground.  They thought it would be a great waterslide!  Here is Carter on the slide.

However, as you can see from the lack of smiles on Daisy and Addi's faces, they didn't enjoy it much.  They were freezing!!

So they ran back up to our apartment just minutes after they went outside...

And we bundled them up in towels.  I love this picture of Kaine and Carter!  What good buddies they are (and Hudson, they missed you!  Maybe next year :) )

(Here is another flashback pic of Kaine and Carter.  I love this pic...I just want to squeeze those cuties.  Actually, it makes me tear up to look at it, so I will move on...)

Adalynn and Layla are about 4 or 5 months apart, and this weekend was awesome for them!  They played so well, and it is obvious that they genuinely love each other.  I love to see their friendship developing!

Of course, a rainy day has to include at least some ipad time...

Nathan played UNO with the older 4 kids...

While Jess read books to the younger 3.

Later on Saturday, we drove to the next town and ate out for supper.  Layla and Addi were crazy as usual in the back of our van :)

A picture of the girls:

And the boys:

And our group (minus me).  We decided to put all the kids at one end, and the adults at the other end.  The kids all did awesome!!  We adults could actually talk to each other!

Love this sweetie :)

Another girl pic, with the mommies included:

We got back to our apartment and of course the kiddos were all super hyper!  Jessica brought them all glow necklaces, so they had fun in the dark with those.

Then for our evening entertainment...did you know that if you light a ring of fire around a scorpion it will panic and sting itself (basically committing suicide)?  Crazy, I know...but it is actually true!  So we tried it that night...

Most of the kids weren't too sure they wanted to see an "animal" commit suicide, so they watched from the safety of our living room window :)

By the time we got our kids to bed that night, it was after 10:00.  But my amazing sis was still more than willing to come sit in our apartment with our sleeping kids so that Nathan and I could go and hang out with Nick and Jess at their guesthouse.  Thank you, Jill!

Kaine spent the night at the guesthouse with Carter, and when we got there that night I had fun spying on them as they jumped from bed to bed...they have so much fun together :)

Nathan and I had a great time playing games and talking with Nick and Jess that night until after midnight.

The next day, we all went to church in the morning, and then we ate at Subway for lunch afterwards.
Halle and Mason are both 5 and they really get along well, too!  It was cute to see them interacting with each other.  I am really not sure what they are trying to do to each other in these pictures :)

And these 3 girlies are just so adorable.  I just love them.

Kaine and Carter of course wanted to sit alone!  They practiced pinching each other and giving "indian burns"...such funny boys.

There is a cool cliff along the drive to church that Nick and Jess had a good idea to stop at for a photo op.  Here is Layla and Addi, waiting for the guys to make their appearance at the top of the cliff...

All the boys:)

So thankful for these godly husbands and amazing fathers!

After church the kiddos talked us into letting them watch The Sword in the Stone while the little girls napped.  It was a great time of conversation for us parents!

After Layla and Addi woke up, Halle did "art class" with them.  So cute.

For supper that night, we headed out to Ha Ha Tonka State Park for a picnic and a chance for the kids to check out the castle.  Daisy's stroller was loaded down with food...

We had a picnic...

Beautiful little girls...

All the kids!  (minus little Bodie)

The kids loved exploring around the castle...

Love this friend!!

We ended the weekend back at our apartment that night.  The dads did a "Royal Rumble" with the kids.  Pure craziness!!

Whew.  As I was typing this, I realized I just subjected you to a TON of pictures!  Sorry about that!

Nick and Jessica, thank you so very much for coming!  We had a lot of fun with you guys, and we so appreciate the effort.  We love you guys :)