Weekend in St. Louis

We spent the weekend in St. Louis so Ryan could help his brother Darren finish their basement.  They worked HARD.  Meanwhile Jack and I had some fun.  We stayed at Shannon & Andrew's (minus Andrew who is busy eating Sushi in Japan) and Jack and I got some good time with Shannon and the boys.  We had fun spending a day at Darren & Melissa's with Melissa and the boys and got to celebrate John, Riley, and Jack's birthdays with almost everyone (missed Grammi & Papa).  Ryan and Darren emerged from the basement everyone once-in-awhile for food and birthday cake, but as Ryan's guys know, lunch breaks don't last long. :)   So glad we got to see everyone and I can't wait to see the basement when it's all finished.

The Magic House with Owen & Noah

Getting a picture of the 3 of them was a bit of a challenge--maybe Shannon did better than I did!

Jack and Uncle John

Jack did great on both the trip down and back.  As long as he gets one chance to get out of his seat and "drive" for awhile he's good.

Thanks Shannon for letting us stay for so long and for your hospitality.

And thanks Melissa for all the meals and snacks you made for us all!

Next Generation Duck Caller

Making Papa Jack (and daddy) proud! :)

New Sink

Ryan put in a new kitchen sink for us this weekend.  (And we were gone on a youth retreat all weekend--not sure how he managed it!)  I'll spare you any complaints about the old sink because I realize that having clean, running water is not to be taken for granted.  I'll just say that I absolutely LOVE the new sink!

The Plumbers

Love it!

JANUARY 10th

Yes, January, not May.

The hat was over kill, but who sends their kid out to play without a hat in January?

The other reason (besides insurance coverage) we need a rail around the deck.

Playing in the Cupboards

Literally...

Jack's Drawer 

Oranges

Jack enjoyed himself an orange the other day.

What a deliciously sticky mess!

CHRISTMAS 2011

Our last guest was dropped at the airport yesterday afternoon.  We had a crazy, but super fun two weeks of celebration.  Kinda sad to see it end, but I suppose you have to get back to the real world eventually.  Time to start some laundry and make a grocery list.

Our Family Christmas

We decided to celebrate the Monday before Christmas, since we got to host the Richardsons on Tuesday night.  I failed to get pictures of Jack and his buddy Cohen, but I'm sure there will be lots to come, as Cohen will soon be just 10 minutes [or less] down the road...we can't wait!

Brinkman Christmas

The Brinkmans showed up Wednesday evening for "Christmas Eve" and "Christmas" on Thursday.

Don't leave your KU gear laying around my house...I just might end up wearing it! 

Skating downtown w/ the gang

Helmkamp Christmas

 We followed half the Brinkmans out the door on Thursday night to head to St. Louis, while a few stayed behind to clean up. :)  We got a good amount of time in St. Louis, which was a nice change from our usual short weekends.

A real live "Mer-man"!

Baby Shower

We had an "unofficial" baby shower on Tuesday night with a group of friends--three of which will most likely have babies before we see them again.  It was great to catch up again--can't wait to meet the little ones!  Forgot my camera...

Williams Christmas

On Wednesday we got to have the Williams Christmas at our place.  No offense to any of the "regulars", but this year was especially fun because most of the Georgia gang was up for the week!

We got to meet Madison for the first time--what a sweetie!

She's just a few weeks oder than Jack.

I think these two are going to be buddies...

Baby shower in Chatfield

The girls and I headed up to MN on Friday to see some of my cousins--one in from Boston, and the other from Burma.  The main reason for the gathering was to celebrate Jamie and Ethan's little guy who is due in a few months!  Some of the gals from the farm were able to come too.  It was fun to be w/ everyone, even though it was short.  Forgot my camera...big surprise! :(

New Year's

We rung in the New Year w/ some of the girls and Taylor.

Got a little mini hockey in with Taylor in goal.