Labor Day Weekend

This year, Labor Day weekend was so much fun. We took full advantage of the 3 day weekend. On Friday, my dear friend, Allison, whom I haven't seen in 4 years, came to visit us while she was in town visiting her family. We were so honored and blessed to have her and her girls drop in and see us. Me and Allison went to college together, she sang in 'Faithful', the group I ran sound for. We have had lots of bonding experiences through our travels together. Me and her husband, Stephen, majored in the same degree, so we were good friends too. Stephen and Allison are wonderful people, and we wish we got to see them more.
I hadn't seen them since I has pregnant with Adriana, so they had never met our kids and we had never met theirs. Their oldest, Julianne, is 6 months younger than Adriana and their baby, Lorelei, is about a month younger than Paxton, so everyone had a playdate. The girls got along wonderfully (after Adriana snapped out of her mood that lasted well over an hour). The babies played great together too. We had a great time catching up with Allison and seeing their beautiful family. We hope next time Stephen can join them. Here are some pictures from their visit.


The girls roped Ryan in taking them for a walk,
they had a good time.


Playing outside.

Paxton's new girl.

The best shot we could get of all four kids.
I think it turned out so cute.

Me and Allison.


On Saturday morning we loaded up and headed to Chillicothe. I know, where? Its a little North of Kansas City, my dad's cousin and family live up that way. You may remember my post, not too long ago, about them coming down to Branson and us getting to hang out then. Well, this time we went up to see them. My parents went too. Its about a 4 hour drive and it was our first trip with both kids. I was a little nervous to say the least. They actually did really good, so that was a huge relief.
We made it up there around lunch time on Saturday. After we ate a wonderful lunch, we headed out on 4 wheelers. Me and Ryan were so excited about this. Barb and Roger live on TONS of land, so me and Ryan and Mitch and Molly headed out for a little ride. I was a little scared (I'm not going to lie) about riding with Ryan. He has little to no experience driving a 4 wheeler. When we first set out, we headed down this hill that was washed out and our 4 wheeler slowly tipped on its side. Not a good start. After that though, it was a lot of fun.

This is a picture I took while we were on the 4 wheeler.
Notice my hair is blowing, therefore we are moving, and
Ryan's eyes are not on the road!

A picture of Mitch and Molly leading
the way.


After we got done riding around, Roger let us shoot some guns. Boy did he have a spread laid out for us.

We got to shoot any size gun or pistol we wanted. It was very nice of him to go through this much trouble for us, we really enjoyed it.

Getting last minute instructions from Roger.

Don't worry. I took Riflery in college, so I know

what I'm doing! :)
That day was so relaxing with such great weather to go along with it. The next day we went to church and then back to the house for more food and play. The kids played so hard, that this actually happened (mind you, it hasn't happened in over 6 months).....

ADRIANA TOOK A NAP!! Truly a vacation for all.

Roger and Jonas were wiped out too.

Poor Ryan wasn't really feeling good that whole weekend. He was fighting what we thought were allergies, but later turned into a cold. He fell asleep downstairs and this is what we found....

Yes, that is a pink bunny he is sleeping with. It was not staged there, he actually had had it under his head, but later moved it. Emma saw he was sleeping with her bunnies and said that it was okay that he used them while he napped. Too funny!
We headed back home on Monday, but not before the kiddos got to go feed the cows. Here is a picture of them waiting for Roger to get the feed. I love how Emma and Adriana are holding hands.

Adriana thought she was going to get to pet the cows but they were too scared, this was as close as they would let them get.

The last shot of the trip was of Emma and Adriana. Adriana adores Emma and loves to play with her.

We all had a great time. The trip was very relaxing, filled with good food and laughter. Thank you Barb and Roger, Mitch, Molly and the kids for allowing us to come and stay with you guys. It was a trip we won't soon forget!