Early December

Sorry it's been an extra week since I've blogged, time is just going by too quickly! We had a WONDERFUL trip to KC last weekend. We arrived at Brian & Courtney's Thursday night and as we were driving past my old work, past our old house, on to our friends' house we said to ourselves, "Everything is so FAR!". Gosh, seems like my old commute that was a breeze just was forever away. It just took so long to get everywhere in KC. We are definitely spoiled now with easy driving and any rush hour that Hays has only lasts from 5:00 - 5:10. But, traffic aside, we loved visiting everybody. Friday was a busy day, we woke up & had breakfast with Courtney & Emma then the kids and I headed out. We visited Wanda, the lady that was the kids' caregiver while we lived in PV. Wanda was so happy to see the kids and they were happy to see her and the other kids. All the kids have grown so much, it was great seeing them. Then we headed to Royce's office and my office to say our hello's. Have I mentioned it was great seeing everyone?!? We went to lunch with the girls from my office and then the kids were ready for naps. After naps we hustled to get family pictures taken and then get back to PV for our 4th Annual White Elephant Christmas Party. The group of friends all started working together in the fall of 2004 and we started the party the year following. Most of the group have moved onto different jobs but the friendships are there to stay. What a fun group!

Saturday we all went out to breakfast then visited our former neighbor, Don. Don saw my kids grow up from the time we brought them home. He was there to greet us each time with a thoughtful gift. As soon as the kids could stand, they would stand at the door and wave at Don across the street in his front door. Don is 86 I believe and captured our hearts the moment we met him. Such a dear friend to us and we were glad to visit him and let our kids play in his back yard a little. He has 2 bridges in his back yard so the kids could circle for hours I think. I believe Don was the hardest part about leaving Kansas City.

Sunday we just got up and going. We picked up our TV we had ordered (Yay!) and then headed to my friend Jessica's. She and Kaylin were home and we had a nice visit. It wouldn't ever matter if it were 2 hours or 2 days, we could talk forever! Kaylin was born almost exactly a year after Isaac, February 12th, so Jessica enjoys seeing the mischief Isaac gets himself into because she knows Kaylin will be doing that before long. Kaylin was walking! She was just so happy and just strolled from place to place. What a sweetheart she is.

Here are some pictures from our stay at Brian & Courtney's. The kids had so much fun playing. Chloe remembers Emma (17 mos) from the time she was a little baby so I think Chloe enjoys seeing her advance as well. Chloe and Emma had the same PJ's so we had to get pictures of them. But Isaac and Emma had a little communication between them that was pretty cute. One evening they were playing "bye bye" together. They would each grab a play bag and tell me "bye bye!" and walk to the other room together. When they'd arrive in the other room they'd GIGGLE like you wouldn't believe. They really felt like big stuff! Then they'd arrive back in the room I was in and they would be so proud. This cycle repeated a few times and they had so much fun. Then they went "Bye bye" to the kitchen and I didn't hear anymore noise. All mother's know that when it's quiet is when something is wrong! So I went into the kitchen to find both kids putting the dog food into the dog's water. Lovely. Little stinkers!

Thanks to everyone we visited while we were in KC! We had so much fun and will be making another trip this spring!