A supa visit....

from the supa Stutzman family! 

Last week one of our favorite families in the whole wide world came to visit us.

{I had to tell the kids at the last minute they were coming because they would have been asking 1.4 million times}

The first thing Nora wanted {begged} Addie to do, was her hair.

Addie {as always} agreed.

Nora is just happy to be with her.
{ Sweet Petros, in the background, was moving bikes like a boss all evening!}

Next up?! 

Jake's tattoo parlor

{On a side note, the kids have  been drawing on themselves for forever, wanting to be "like Jake."}

Homestead Ink

Sol couldn't wait. 

Worth the wait.

The finished product

Nora's turn


A beautiful butterfly.

Sam and his dragon.

Sweet Marya, taking it all in

A little reading time.

Much more play time and laughs not captured.

Thrilled that the Stutzmans are, geographically, closer.

Thanks for hanging with us.

Love you guys.

We cannot wait for the next visit.

A supa fun time.

Road Trip'en.

We {mom}wanted to take a short trip somewhere before school on the homestead begins. 

Our first stop {naturally} was to see the cousins who moved just a wee bit closer. 

{Only 4 hours away?! We'll take it.}

I didn't capture many pictures as we were all busy playing and laughing. But I did manage to capture Marin and Nora having a great time beautifying. 

Marin, teaching Nora the art of nail drying.

Sweet, sweet girl, doing her thing.

Sol, getting in the action.

{Which his dad loooooved}

Nora is thrilled with the result.

Showing off their nails.

{Beautiful}

We had such a great time, is was hard to leave. Our first of many visits.

{Thank you Rhodes family for your hospitality! We love you guys.}

A beautiful time.

We then headed to Kansas City for a quick overnight stay and a visit to Legoland 

Made a quick stop at the Crayola Factory to do us some doodling. 

In the belly of beast, watching how Legos are made.

Getting our hands 'dirty,' playing with the legos.

Having a good time.

Enjoying the indoor slide.

Riding the animals made of legos.

Taking in the 3D show.

Looking good.

Real good.

Nora, making some lego cupcakes.

Their favorite spot, the race car area.

{Where we spent approximately 84.2 hours....roughly}

Sam, ready to race the car he made.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

{The funniest part was observing how laid back the kids were and how competitive their dads were.}

Shep opted for the tall and fast ramp.

{No surprise there}

Excited

{A little}

Sol and the sweet race car he put together.

Racing it.

Sam, still racing.

On your marks.....get set......go!

A good looking race car.

Proud of his work.

Nora, loved racing too.

{She told the boys to "Move, move!" as she was coming through the crowd to race her car and they parted like Red Sea}

A great time.

Thankful....

****

“Just can’t wait to get on the road again.” 

-Willie Nelson-

Nothing says "Party"

Like a cow cake

{Decorated , by the kids, with sand box toys that had to be disinfected}

Last week we threw the cowboy an impromptu birthday party.

With a surprise visit from the cousins.

{And their mama and dad}

And it was a beautiful time.

Nora is excited to see her partner in crime.

  

Sol, ready to party.

Soooo happy to see each other.

Surprise!

The cowboy is thrilled to see his big sis.

Nora, ready to celebrate her daddy.

Taking it all in.

This beautiful young lady just had a birthday and turned 10.

{10?! Not possible.}

Nora's got her party hat on.

Blowing out his candles

Noelle, in her party dress

So glad to be together

And this picture? Needs no caption. Look at that sweet boy.

A beautiful sight. 

A perfect way to celebrate our cowboy.

5.

Major, you would be 5 today.

So today, we are celebrating your birthday, once again, with your cousins making cards and laying them where you rest.

While we ache....

We ache as we are reminded of the of the celebration missing here...

We ache as we are reminded of the separation...

We ache as we are running out of pictures and memories of you...

We ache to be reunited....

We ache to see the unseen....

We remember you today sweet boy. 

Today and always.

****

And hope does not disappoint us....

Romans 5:5

***

Please remember Major's mom, dad, sisters, brother and grandparents today.