Roomie Reunion

A couple weeks ago Faith and I travelled to Des Moines to meet up with my roommates from my junior year of college. We hadn't all been together in almost two years. It was the first time some had met Faith and the first time all of us had met Holly and Brent's little girl, Sophia. The weekend was a great blessing to me--just the refresher I needed before the craziness of school started up again. Speaking of the craziness of school---it has officially begun. But, Nate is doing so well. His hardships last year have produced more confidence this year :) Faith is going to our friend Diana's again three afternoons a week.....and she loves it. She gets to play with Mattias and they have a great time together. I hope to get them on video together at some point. This is my last semester of classes in the MSW program! They are mostly elective and are going to be interesting, though busy. So, if posts are more few and far between....you'll have to forgive us :) Here are a few pics of the girls weekend.

YEP...that's right folks....six girls, one two bedroom apartment. And, we LOVED it :) Only God could arrange that one :)

Making an Egg with Elephants and Lions

Faith is starting to pretend play alot these days.....she changes bunny's diaper, makes Mommy a hot dog, rocks her baby, talks on her cell phone (or many a random object that our poor child thinks could be a cell phone...what have we done to her already?! :) ). I was blessed enough to catch Faith at her kitchen making an egg. She was feeling generous and humored Mommy by doing her elephant and lion impressions as well. Hope you enjoy :)

All Moved in with Fish in the Freezer

We're all moved in with help from our families. Grandma Dot and Grandpa Greg came down to help us move the big stuff, then Uncle Dan joined the group to help us unpack and clean up the old place. Soon to follow was Uncle Dick and Pawpaw Al. But...don't be fooled! They were also meeting up to go on a week long fishing trip to North Dakota :) So, Nate, Dan, Pawpaw Al and Uncle Dick went to North Dakota in search of the "the one." THANK goodness they found the one! Nate caught 2 twelve lb catfish and Dan caught a 19 lber. Needless to say, that made the whole trip worth it :) We're enjoying the catfish back in MO now!

While the guys were gone, Grandma Debbie (Gigi) and Aunt Ally came down for a visit (and to keep Faith and I company :) ). The girls had a great time, and we even got to meet up with Aunt DD in Osage Beach for an afternoon....AND Aunt Kiki came through town so we got to celebrate her bday with her as well. Now it's back to "life as normal" around here....gearing up for school to start and enjoying the rest of summer. Here are some pics from the visits.

One night's catch!

Nate with his 2 12 lb. catfish

Dan and the monster 19 lber.

What a cheese ball! She's figuring out when to smile...can you tell?

Faith and Uncle Dick. Her first time meeting him, but she latched on quickly :)

Wearing one of Uncle Dick's shoes :)

(Sorry Mom, Greg and Tucker....I didn't get any pics when you all were here helping! We were too busy working :) Thanks for all your help!!!!)

Generations

Since our last post we have gotten all moved into our new duplex (3 bed 3 bath and a GARAGE! :) ) and gotten internet hooked up. Needless to say, my blogging has taken a back seat. When we were visiting in IA Nate did hard manual labor all day to make some extra money and Faith and I got to travel around and see family...hardly sounds fair, does it? :) It was such a blessing, though to have time to spend with my grandparents, Faith's great-grandparents. Usually we are rushed, but this visit we got some quality one-on-one time.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Will visiting Grandma from WI. So glad we got to see them for a little while. Although you cannot tell from the pic, Faith warmed right up and was giving Will kisses in no time at all :) Faith playing at G and G Smith's We also got to see Great-Grandma Van Eaton and Great-Great Grandpa Pettigrew (Grandma's dad). Grandpa didn't know exactly who we were, but he knew we were his :) He couldn't take his eyes off Faith. What is it about babies that we could watch for hours? :)

She loved his overalls and Grandpa was so good with her.

Here we are in the gazebo with Grandpa Pettigrew. Faith and Grandma V are playing. Who knows what Faith's trying to tell her.

This picture represents five generations although we are missing my dad. It's amazing that this is possible.
Grandma V and Jim were such good hosts. Grandma even made apricot pie. It was, of course, delicious.

Aunt Donna (Grandma V's sister), her daughter Jen and Jen's kids Noah and Hailey were able to stop by and visit. Jen happened to be in town too, so it worked out well. Faith took to Noah and Hailey. They did a great job playing with her. Unfortunately I did not do such a great job of getting a pic where Faith isn't putting her finger up her nose!

As you can see, we had a wonderful visit. Thanks Nate for working so hard so that we could spend some time playing :)