I love Sundays

It's so energizing to me when we actually get a day, all of us together, where we laugh, rest well, accomplish things around the house, and do it all really enjoying each other. Those are my favorite days. I would always get so annoyed when I'd ask my mom 'Mom what do you want for Christmas?' or 'Mom what would you like for your birthday?'

She'd always answer 'I just want to spend time with you and your sisters.' I always wanted her to say 'A sweater would be nice, or a necklace.' Something easy and fun. I never understood why she wanted to just be with us, until now. It truly fills me up to be with my family.

Merrick is 7 months now! He's a whopping 23lbs, 30 inches, blabbing and humming, sitting up, and trying so hard to crawl. It's a bit harder for the really chubby guys... He loves the bath, anything Weston does, being outside, and snuggling.

Although he has more energy than anyone I know, Weston can surprisingly sit still and concentrate very well with his Playmobil people. A very lucky boy opened up a special gift from Grandma Joyce and Grandpa George today. A barn with animals and every little detail you can imagine that would belong in a very upscale horse stable, made by Playmobil. We walked into his bedroom and he had each horse lined up with a person grooming it, perfectly in a row... in some ways, (very few), he's a bit more like his mamma.

Love

Relationships are the best gift I believe anyone can give. To have a loving relationship with family, friends, and Christ, is my deepest desire for my boys as they grow. Since we've moved closer to our families, they all have amazed Ryan and me by selflessly giving their time with visits, phone calls, special gifts, and hosting us over the last couple of years.

Thank you for loving our little guys and playing such an amazing part in our life "story".

Lots of special visits

Great Grandma Emily and Great Grandpa Don, gave us tons of hugs and yummy treats...

Merrick and Marin met for the first time! Weston was so excited to show Eli all of Grammy's toys. They are getting so big!

Great Grandpa Keith and Great Grandma Jean came to visit and even played soldier with West. They are such great sports!

What a week!

How to tell if Spencer really loves you? He brought Weston an extra vacuum, just for him to play with. Vacuums are gold to Spencer... especially sharing them at Grammy's house.

We've started an annual tradition to celebrate my Oma, Uncle Tony and spend time with my overwhelmingly big family on my mom's side. It was a total success, very well done Mom! We made over 400 cookies, a few dozen loaves of German bread, and a classic Grandma Trudy dinner to feed us all.

Everyone was there, even Auntie Emmers!

The fun never stops when Grammy's in charge.

Fire Station

Weston and I hosted "ABC School" this week and were we ever lucky! We walked around the block to our local fire station and had a full tour. The kids were incredibly cute, curious, and well behaved. The firemen did a great job teaching and kindly let the kids explore everything. I even learned a bit! Weston was thrilled to see all of their 'gear'.