Michelle and Laurie come visit! (August)

William had the funniest spaghetti face one night. The kids were calling it the old man Italian spaghetti face. He was pretty proud of it.

Wonderful Aunt Michelle to the rescue. Fixing up the girl's hair in beautiful braids. This inspired them to let me get my hands on their hair, but only for a few days. Then they decided it wasn't that important anymore. ha

Laurie was nice enough to let Hailey take some pictures with her super fancy/expensive camera. She took some great shots. Hailey loves photography. She has an eye for detail and beautiful art. I love to see her take an interest in it.

I was doing something in the kitchen and looked out to see Blake chatting with Michelle and Laurie. Which made me really happy. Because who can say their husband can pretty much get along with anyone? He is a great guy. And isn't summertime in the Midwest just magical?

After living in rentals for three years, I have had plenty of time to dream about what I want my house to look like. This room is pretty much it. We changed the brown/peach walls to blue/gray. Finished the floors. Hung pictures and got a new couch. A pretty couch which was bought to be pretty, not for function! I love this room. We all do.

Spencer has taken a liking to an old CD Blake had from George Winston when we were first dating. He plays it in his room all the time and the kids have invented a dance to it. It's to my favorite song on the CD and it makes me laugh everytime they do it. It includes twirls and dips and all kinds of great stuff. I don't know how long they will continue to do this kind of stuff but I hope it lasts forever!

I get make up/skin samples in the mail and sometimes end up with some weird stuff. This time it was some very red lipstick that would not come off no matter what! Spencer was scared of it. He hated seeing me with it on. It was pretty funny. We saved it for the Halloween/dress up box. The girls even put some on William, poor guy.

I love this cabinet! I got lucky and got it on Craiglist for $60. My friend Katie held it for me in her garage until we moved. Then Blake got some nice strong friends over to move it to our house. It has been so great. I love having a place to keep stuff I like that I don't want destroyed.

We were on a walk one day and ran into our friends Danielle, Asher and Blake at the park. They had their ferret out and the kids had a great time petting him.

William taking on the family hobby of reading. He especially LOVES trains! And yes, he lived in his swimsuit most of the summer. Less laundry is a good thing.

When we got back from our trip out East, the garden had exploded. We were gone less than two weeks and it had tripled in size even without watering or weeding. I learned a lot about gardening this year and hope to use it next year.

I loved having Michelle here. Just loved it. We have been here three years and this was her first chance to visit. It was so fun to see her. We went to Amish country and got lost in Amish country but finally made it ot some true blue Amish stores, full of fans moving by pully and horse and buggy and flies everywhere. It was fun. They always have the BEST baked goods.

Green beans from the garden. So delicious. Next year, I hope to have mountains of them! I would eat them for lunch somedays. And I would have to steal them from the kids.

We made the yellow basket from an old basket and spray paint. Hailey decorated the rest. She had a great time taking her doll on bike rides. We live on a quiet/old person street which is great for bike riding and slow cars. Isn't Spencer's face the greatest?! Also, I love that brown house in the background. The lawn is always gorgeous and the garden is amazing.

Laurie kindly took baptism pictures of Spencer. I wasn't allowed to watch but I love what they came up with. They match his personalities perfectly. He loves "blowing stuff up" and is constantly in a war with some country in his imagination. Mostly he is United States against Russia. I think because he watched the old GI Joe cartoon when he was younger.

We went on a walk. It was humid. It was hot. But the Westerners made it through. I just had to take a picture of my kids here. I love their friendships and their little band they have created. Moving alot means love each other or be alone. They have chosen to love each other (mostly). Makes me so happy to see.

Michelle and Laurie taking obnoxious pictures on my phone while I was putting the kids to bed. They took a ton, so I decided to share them with the world online. Got some pretty funny comments back. It was great fun.

Michelle telling Spencer how much she missed her little boys!

Laurie showing Spencer his baptism pictures. So nice of her. She has such a talent.

Spencer being stinking cute with his little freckle face and future missionary tag. He is a special spirit. Seriously he is so cute.

Obligatory picture in corn

Next to the plaque of our relative, Hosea Stout in Nauvoo.

Just beautiful!! I have no idea what these purple weeds/flowers are but they are just beautiful. We had a great day in Nauvoo. Blake offered to stay home with the kids. We made it to Carthage too. Tried out a yummy ice cream shop I haven't tried out yet in Nauvoo. Went to some bookstores and in some pioneer houses. It was fun and too short. I loved getting to show them this great place.