Our bags are packed.

We have said goodbye to Mema and Pepa.

We are headed to the other side of the world!

Recently

Emsleigh sings often....her little voice is so sweet.

She also has been giving sweet kisses.

And look at these sweet hugs.

Laughter

is the best medicine.....and so is a visit from my mom.

Kansas City Treasures

Thanks to a visit from Grancy, Jeremiah and I got to spend a day on a date. We began our date with lunch at Cafe Al Dente near downtown KC. It is a great place with yummy food. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the KC area.

Only a few blocks away is one of my favorite sites in KC. Family owned and operated, Steamboat Arabia is a great museum filled with some fascinating history. 200 tons of items from a sunken 1856 steamboat may not sound very interesting at first....however, it was like walking through a Walmart of the 1850's. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and artifacts!!

Here is J at by the paddle wheel.

Some of the many unused dishes that were on their way to over

50 general stores along the Missouri River. Yet, never made it.

Below are bottles of 150 something year old olives,

still perfectly preserved. I am telling you, this stuff was incredible.

Anyway, the rest of our date was not as interesting as this, but still super fun. :)

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

My husband turned 30 on Saturday.

I decided he needed 30 gifts expressing 30 reasons why

Emsleigh and I loved him so much.

He got to start on Friday opening presents,

since the first 8 presents were events on our date day.

Emsleigh had fun helping daddy open cards.

Yes, she loves cards, she really could have cared less

about the presents.

Happy Mother's Day

I took no pictures on Mother's Day. Oops. However, I am very thankful to Jeremiah for making the day special despite the fact that Sunday is the busiest day of the week for him. I especially enjoyed snuggling with Jeremiah and Emsleigh for an afternoon nap!

Happy Mother's Day to my dearest Mimi! I am so thankful to have a grandmother who loves to go to Panera for coffee with me, who enjoys talking while walking with me, and who will travel across the country to spend time with me. Counting the days til we see you Mimi!

I would also like to say that I have the most generous and giving mother-in-law. She is always quick to offer her time and resources to me. She is always willing to do all the work that goes unnoticed and for that I respect her a great deal. I am thankful for you Kathy!

And to my mother. My closest friend and confidant. I wouldn't be the mom I am today, if it wasn't for your example of sacrifice and love. I love you Mom!

Baby Chicks

Emsleigh loves animals - until they are staring her in the face.

We got to go to a friend's house today and see some baby chicks.

Apparently Emsleigh was not phased by this amazing little creature.

Or its mommy.

Or the fact that she could touch it if she had wanted to.

And here is a random shot of Emsleigh stuck under the table.

Dinner at church

We had a chinese dinner at church. Here is Emsleigh

and her dear friend Sofia. As you can tell, Emsleigh loves Sofia.

Such a sweet hug.

Emsleigh and Jeremiah in their chinese clothes.

A video of Emsleigh taking steps!

Be patient, the exciting part is at the very end.

Just what we needed!

A visit from Reiner!

Last weekend my roommate from college drove

down from Minnesota for a visit. Saturday morning

we were able to spend in our pj's just hanging out.

Emsleigh loves her new books and outfit!

Emsleigh loves filing her nails. For those of you who know

Reiner will understand completely when I say that Reiner

thought this was the greatest thing. Here they are filing away!

As noted in a previous post, Emsleigh loves to sing

This little light of Mine. Here she is teaching Reiner

how to do it :)!

Thanks for coming Reiner! Thanks for the good talks over cooking

and for helping make our chinese dinner a success...Love you!!

Emsleigh loves flowers

We got some flowers last week from some dear friends.

Emsleigh enjoyed smelling all the different kinds we received.

Here she is signing please to smell the flowers again!

Getting Big

Snuggling up for Veggie Tales.

Singing "This Little Light of Mine."

Starting to walk.

Sitting in her big girl chair to drink her milk.

Wearing mommy's sunglasses.