Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

We were so happy that my brother Jordan and sister-in-law Leah could join us for Thanksgiving with their kids. Legend and Topher spent a lot of time outside throwing a football with Peter and Cooper, Zariah did crafts with Phoebe and Sophie, and Maverick loved playing the ukulele throughout the day.

And we ate good food and talked about what we're thankful for.

Thanksgiving with Cousins

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. It deserves a much longer post which I don't have time to write today. Instead, I'll share these fun cousin pictures that Sophie took when she borrowed my phone.

Do As I'm Doing

We had a dinnertime visit from Uncle Jordan, Aunt Leah, and the cousins tonight! They were on their way home from a trip and stopped to eat with us and to chat for a bit. I was so busy talking that I didn't take any pictures. Thankfully, Sophie borrowed my phone and took these of Zariah and Maverick. Legend was there too, but he was busy playing with Topher and didn't join in the picture taking.

Thanks for being such a fun cousin, Sophie. And thanks for visiting, Jordan and Leah!

Two Short Days in the Golden State

Our first full day in California also happened to be Emma's first day of school. Thankfully, it was a half day so these two still got lots of time to play together.

Phoebe loved all the time she got with Tuxedo. He decided she was a safe person to hang out with.

Aunt Paige pulled out her fun splashpad for Emma, Topher, and Sophie to play with. I didn't think to take any pictures until we had turned it off.

Sophie and I gave a little ukulele concert for the grandparents. Topher had played so hard all day (and stayed up so late the night before) that he took a nap while we strummed. Cooper was a good sport to hold him.

Topher started day two with lots of scooter riding in the backyard. That led to a crash and a gash just below his left knee. The doctor said he was right on the line between needing stiches or glue. Topher begged (rather aggressively) not to have stiches, so the wound was glued shut.

After three hours in urgent care, we were on our way home. Ten minutes after we arrived Topher had fallen again and ripped all the steri-strips off and pulled open the glued cut just a little. Bryan ran to the store to buy sturdier bandages. We had to replace them again that night because they were coming off. That was a consistent theme of the trip: trying to keep this injury clean and covered.

These two really love each other. I'm so glad they had a couple days to play.

Copy Cat

This weekend Sophie discovered that Maverick would copy her facial expressions while they took selfies. That led to a mini photo shoot.

Cousin Time

My brother Jordan and his kids came to visit for the long weekend. There was lots of energy and chaos and mess and cousin time for almost 48 hours. I focused on spending time with them, so I only have a few pictures of our time together. Thanks for visiting guys!

Cousin Time!

Uncle Jordan and his kids visited us for the weekend while Aunt Leah had a much needed rest at home. The weekend was full of playing, church, playing, movies, playing, food, playing, sprinklers, and playing.

Zariah enjoyed doing Peter's hair before church on Sunday. Peter was not as enthusiastic about the project, but was a good sport nevertheless.

Zariah and Maverick were both eager to help water the garden.

Sophie was practicing her babysitting skills. She loved getting to help watch the babies.

I snuggled Maverick to sleep while Jordan got Zariah and Legend to sleep one night.

We did a little park hopping the morning of Memorial Day.

That afternoon we pulled out the swimsuits and sunscreen and ran through the sprinklers. Bryan prepared a delicious dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, and sides. Popsicles served as dessert.

Then everyone came inside, washed off the grass and sunscreen, and watched a movie while Jordan packed up the car.

It was fun for Topher to be one of the bigger kids this weekend. He and Legend played well together and didn't require the same level of supervision that the littles needed. 

Thanks for visiting guys! We love you!