Visitors!

You can thank Corrie for this update. :)  I've been thinking about updating the blog but there's been all kinds of stuff going on around here and as a result I have a lot to blog about now!  I will try to keep it short and sweet.  Yeah....right.  ;)

This has been the month of visiting and visitors. Let me tell you.

Several weekends ago we went to Dubuque for the day to attend the funeral of a dear man and family friend, and then we spent the rest of the day hanging out with Ben and Kristi.  It was the last time we were going to see them before they moved to the Bahamas!  I am almost positive that I took at least one picture of me and Kristi that day but I can't find it anywhere!  Did we use your camera, Kristi?  Anyway....Kristi and I were able to do some crafting for baby girl's room while the boys played video games.  :)  It was short, but nice to see them one more time before their big move.  We didn't say "good-bye"....we said "see you later". 

 The first weekend of March we had Charity and Hannah Beth stay with us while Tony was in Tennessee.  It was extra special because we hadn't seen each other since October and since that time we had both become pregnant (actually I think she was pregnant then, but wasn't telling yet :).  She used to live in North Carolina and you'd think we'd see each other more now that she's only a couple hours away, but life is busy! We of course enjoyed lots of chatting and catch up time, wandered around Target as we talked about baby registry stuff and sipped on Starbucks of course. I also took Charity to a couple of my favorite consignment shops where we found some deals we couldn't pass up.  :)  Hannah Beth had a blast climbing up and down our stairs and meeting Gilbert again.  The girl was fearless. It was good for Gilbert to have some interaction with a little person as he will be doing a lot of that pretty soon on a regular basis!  And it was good for Ryan and I to remember that we still have some training to do with this giant puppy of ours.  One of my favorite things was watching Ryan with Hannah Beth.  He is going to be such a wonderful daddy to a little girl. :) 

precious. :)

Poor HB had reached the end of her rope for the day.  :)

baby boy and baby girl :)

That same weekend we had a quick but long overdue visit with my long time friend Wendy, and her husband Dean!  They were kind of in the area and made a point to see us and I'm so thankful they did!  The last time we saw them was at our wedding.  Isn't that sad!?  Wendy gives some of the best hugs of anyone I know and she has a huge heart.  She has always been a good friend even though we sometimes go months without talking.  It was a short visit, but I'll take that over no visit at all! If anything it gave us motivation to see each other again soon. 

I love you, Wen Wen

Last weekend my friend and former roommate, Rachael came to visit from Lake Geneva!  The last time we saw each other was at my wedding and so much has happened in both of our lives since then.  She arrived Friday afternoon and we did a little shopping for a shower we were attending the next day and then we went to Caleb and Mel's for a young adult's fellowship. Rachael didn't really know anybody there but I knew she would be fine with it.  You can throw her into pretty much any social situation and it's no big deal! It was a fun night. :) We have recently had some new families attending our chapel and we went from practically no young adults to 10-15 of them! 

Thanks to Rach for taking this picture!

The next morning I took Rach to a sweet little place called Cafe D'Marie for delicious homemade quiche and fruit smoothies. I love it so much because it reminds me a lot of One Mean Bean which is my favorite coffee shop in Dubuque.  Ryan and I are actually in the same child birth class with the couple that owns the cafe.  Small world, considering it's not through the hospital.  The four of us make up the whole class!  More on child birth class another time....

With full bellies, we started off on our drive to Fontanelle, IA. Rachael and I had been talking forever about her coming to visit and it worked out beautifully for her to come here the weekend of Amanda's shower so that we could drive together. It was a long day, and I'm very thankful I had her to keep me company on the drive. We stopped for a quick coffee in Des Moines and I was able to drive past Ruth Harbor Maternity Home to show Rachael where I worked the year before Ryan and I got married.  So many memories.  

It was so fun to see Amanda in all of her glowing and beautiful engagedness. She was surprised to see Rachael because we kept it a secret that she was coming. Surprises are so fun! :) Sadly, I will probably not be able to make it to Amanda and Nate's wedding on July 13th since my due date is July 7th, so I'm glad I was able to at least make it to her shower.   It was a personal shower with a Disney princess theme. If you know Amanda, you know she's a big kid and Disney movie buff :)  Also...it was held in a public library.  Granted...it's probably one of the world's smallest libraries and it was closed so we were the only ones there.  :)

roommates and friends. :)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday was a relaxing day that included lunch at my in laws, watching the guys play sports, a quick drop in visit from my parents who were on their way home from out of town, a little cat nap, a trip to target, supper at Noodles, and drinking coffee while watching Dan In Real Life (it's one of my favorite movies, and Rachael had never seen it). I convinced Rachael to stay the night and just leave Monday morning so we could maximize our time together. It didn't take much convincing.

Rach fell in love with Gilbert and he loved her too.  She was like the dog whisperer. :)

 On Tuesday morning I woke up to a text from my friend Becky asking what I was doing that day.  I happened to have the day free, so she drove a couple hours to my house with her two boys just to spend the day with me! Becky and I became friends when I lived in Des Moines and we would try to get together as often as possible to talk and do bible study.  She was such a blessing and encouragement to me while I lived there....and she still is! :)  We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went for a walk by the river.  I decided to take Gilbert because I knew he could use the exercise too. I'm sure we were quite a sight.  I was pushing a stroller and holding Gilbert's leash at the same time.  EVERYONE and their dogs were at the river walk that day, so at first I thought it was going to be a disaster with Gilbert trying to get to the other dogs, but he quickly figured things out and was really good most of the time and walked right next to the stroller.  It was such a refreshing time of fellowship with my friend and I'm so glad she felt prompted to text me and see what I was up to that day.

The last time they visited Ryan let Lane shoot his nerf gun.  Becky told me Lane was talking about the gun all the way here that day because he remembered. :) Ryan was happy to get it out and let Lane practice his shooting skills.  So sweet.

I think I covered all of our visitors over the last few weeks. It has been busy but so fun catching up with friends I haven't seen in awhile or don't get to see very much!  

Stay tuned for a baby blog update soon!