Five Things for Friday: Family Visits!

We were blessed to have TONS of family come visit us in Iowa at the beginning of July just before our move. They came to help Hazel celebrate her special day, and in my brother and sister's case to say both hello and goodbye to Iowa. 

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Grandma and Grandpa
Michael's parents arrived first. We got just the two of them to ourselves for a few days and it was perfect. Teri painted the girls nails in the fanciest ways possible. No professional pedicure could be as fun or meaningful as Grandma's! They also joined us for Hazel's ear piercing adventure, our last visit to the beloved Hickory Park restaurant, and one last hike on the high trestle bridge. 

Lenora LOVES grandpa and I can't get over how much she looks like him!

Teri and Tony have an incredible way of taking a few short days and showering the kids with a year's worth of love, wisdom, and reinforcement of the gospel truths we teach them. I love how they interact with our kids and feel so blessed to have them!

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Gram and Grandpa plus my Siblings!
Next up my parents arrived along with Gabby and Harrison and their families! It was so, so, so much fun to have all of us together for a week. We visited, let our kids stay up way to late, played, had fun, celebrated, and just had an incredible time. Hazel had no doubt how loved she is by all of these wonderful people!

The adults quickly became obsessed with this card game Harrison and Becca brought. I'm honestly not sure who had more fun on this trip, the cousins or the siblings. I'm thinking it was the siblings! 

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Nauvoo Trip
After Hazel's baptism on Saturday and church Sunday, Teri and Tony had to head home. Early Monday morning most of the group headed to Nauvoo! I stayed home with my mom for this part of the trip. Her neck/back still give her lots of pain and she has to be very careful not to overdo it. In my mind it was the best of both worlds, because I got a special two days in with just her! 

I'm told the cousins had a blast together in Nauvoo. They loved seeing all the sites, and of course adored the pioneer dress-up/game area. They also visited Carthage Jail which is something Michael and the kids had never done before.

While they were gone, my mom and I had a wonderful visit, and Lenora and Orson got some special alone time with Gram. We sewed, read lots of books, and enjoyed some beautiful walks. My mom is such an amazing example of patience and perseverance through trials! It was so great to see her and for the kids to read on her lap! (as opposed to over Skype).

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Cousins
Of course, these sweet kids had a blast together. They are so lucky to have so many girl cousins all in a row! I'm sure they're going to be close as they get older, and I can't wait to see it! This year Brooklyn and Lenora were older and much more involved in playing with the bigger girls. Lydia still isn't so sure, but she sure loved the girls giant dress up box! And Orson just goes along with the ride haha. Maybe my siblings will have some boys next so the poor kid isn't so outnumbered. He sure doesn't seem to mind for the moment. As for little Miss Ginny, they all just doted on her. She is full of smiles and sunshine; it was so great to meet her finally! 

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Outings

I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but we had something planned every day. We went to the library for story time one day and happened to catch tractor week. They had a real tractor parked outside for the kids to explore, and Orson was in heaven!  

 Another day we all took a ride on the Boone Scenic Railroad. It was HOT but so worth it for the beautiful views and the pleasure my dad got from having us all on a train ride together. That never gets old for him!

My Dad and Michael also took the big girls to the car races one night. The girls weren't so sure about it at first, but they said they had a blast! Somehow my Dad avoided most of the pictures while he was here, but it was so great to see him! He had his morning pow-wows with whichever kids were awake, told them wonderful stories, cheesy jokes, and loved them to bits. He is the best grandpa! 

 We even squeezed in some time for a family photo shoot. I love how the pictures turned out!

We are so blessed with wonderful families on both sides! It was an amazing week full of so much love, and we weren't ready to say goodbye. Until next summer! 

Eight is Great!

Dear Hazel,

Happy Birthday! Somehow the sweet little, dark haired baby that first made me a mother is already eight years old. Eight! You're growing in to such a wonderful girl both inside and out! 

Hazel, you are a joy to have in our family. You have a strong sense of right and wrong, and you often do your very best to make right choices. You are a great big sister and a big help in our home. You still have lots of strong opinions and no fear of speaking your mind. Sometimes this makes getting along with your siblings hard, but you're learning more and more how to lead instead of direct them. 

When you grow up, you want to be a teacher. You will be an excellent teacher! You love learning and are constantly reading. I'm not sure how many chapter books you've read so far this summer, but 25 or more is not an unreasonable guess. You've always been a sponge for knowledge!

Sports and physical activities aren't exactly your favorite. You like to be active, but in a fun, playing way, not an organized event way. You much prefer music and acting type activities. For part of your birthday, we got you a recorder, and you're having fun learning to play. It's harder than you expected, but I'm glad to see you pushing on and putting your best in to it.

Some of your favorite things right now include: reading (of course), helping cook, spending time with friends, playing outside, checkers, the new Beauty and the Beast movie, board games, and reading old blog posts. I honestly don't know what your favorite food is because you eat pretty much anything. And, believe it or not, your feet are already almost the same size as mine!!

You requested pies for your birthday instead of cake. Since we had lots of family in town for your baptism, you got to chose three pies. Lemon meringue, chocolate, and ice cream were your choices! 

One of the things you've been looking forward to was starting Activity Days at church once you turned eight. You were lucky enough to go to two activities in Boone before we moved, and our first full week here in Kentucky you were able to go swimming! 

I'm so glad you were able to go meet these sweet girls your age because this move has been really, really hard for you. For several days as we were packing up the truck in Iowa your tears flowed readily and often. It was so hard for you to think about moving out of the home we loved so much and leaving your friends. In fact, you're currently planning to move back when you're grown and buy our house again. Once we arrived here, it's been a bit easier. You still don't really like talking about Iowa because it makes you sad. I think part of what's been hard is you have more time on your hands here. We don't have full schedules with play dates and other things like we did in Iowa, so it gives you lots of time to think. You like Kentucky and have had some really fun days. I'm guessing once school starts and you make a few more friends it will feel more like home.

The other big, exciting things you've been looking forward to was getting your ears pierced. You've been waiting for this over a year. You were a bit nervous, but never looked back. I think you look so elegant and grown up with your pierced ears. You love them!

 Thanks for being such an awesome little girl! We love you (past Pluto like Gram says). Happy Birthday Hazel!

Love,
Mom

Last Iowa Fourth

Ward breakfast, lazy afternoon, friends in our home for a dinner cooked over the fire, and watching fireworks from a field full of beautiful flowers. It was perfect! 

Side note: This is Stan Jones aka Grandpa Jones. Orson adores him and we will all miss him terribly. He has done so much for our family. We love you Grandpa Jones!