Lots of visitors!!

We have been blessed to have many special visitors this year!! We started out with the same friends that visited us back in September that we have known since Luke was 6 months old. They were able to be here to celebrate Micah's birthday with us.

The kids all watch a movie on Micah's bday.

Then we got a visit from two of John's aunts. There were here to visit John's grandma (their mother), but since we are only ten minutes from them now, they were able to come to the house and spend some time with us too.

 Aunt Ruth came to see us during Mother's Day weekend.

Going to a Japanese steak house is our Mother's Day tradition.

Next up, was a visit from one of my good friends from home. She told me on my birthday that she was going to come and see me. She was able to spend a few days in June with us and got to see some of our new life. We had a good visit. She got to see the farm, go to Zumba with me, watch some of the boys' baseball games, and hear the boys play music. She helped me paint an accent wall in my bedroom and we had several good conversations.

My friend Cherlyn and I

We got a visit from John's cousin and his family in late July. The kids had a great time playing together as you can see in the photo! One benefit of being in the midwest is that we can spend more time with some parts of the family that we have not previously been able to visit with often. So we look forward to seeing John's cousin and his family more often now.

My kids and John's cousins' kids playing dress up

Then we had a visit from John's mother. We were busy working and playing and I neglected to take any photos, but we had a good time nonetheless. I think playing Monopoly and going bowling were highlights for the kids.

After that, we had a one night visit from our friend who performed our wedding ceremony. He is an evangelist (www.christinaction.com) and was on his way back to VA from a time of ministry at Sturgis. He had his youngest daughter with him and we enjoyed getting to see them both. The kids loved playing with his daughter. She is one of 11, so she is great with kids.

Denny and Tabitha with the kids out front of our house

Next came a visit from my parents. This was their first trip out here, so they were finally able to get a glimpse into our new life. We had fun visiting some local museums and tourist spots. My kids also enjoyed the gluten free cupcakes their grandparents bought them. My dad also helped Luke and Nathanael work on their chess skills. Dad took all the photos, so I don't have any with him in them!

The kids and I with my mother during a visit to the Black history museum in Omaha

It was quiet for awhile after that visit, but we just had one more special visit over Thanksgiving from close friends from VA. They are the friends we used go to the beach with every summer and we have also  known them since Luke was a baby. We had a great week with them and the kids played hard from sun-up to sun-down. There were many late night chats that led to some very tired mommies and daddies, but it was totally worth the bags under our eyes. My kids had just received Pilgrim costumes from my parents and my friends' kids had Indian costumes, so the kids wound up doing a reenactment of the story of Thanksgiving, which we made into a little movie. It's a nice little keepsake from the visit.

Crazy Pilgrims and Indians

So who wants to sign up to come see me next year? ;)