Back in the Country

Ok so I know this is a lot of pictures, but a lot has happened the last few weeks. A lot of fun especially with family whom we LOVE. There were so many more pictures I wanted to share, but you can only see so many without losing interest. :) So we'll start in Lustre with da Olferts.

Uncle Daws bringing out the giggles in Nana.
Organizing the Olfert women for a picture is getting to be a challenge but it never goes without a laugh.
The most wonderful thing about kids and dogs is when you can borrow them for a little while and return them to Mom n Dad. We were thrilled to see Caleb and Becca for a bit too, or maybe I should say the beloved Uncle Caleb and Aunt Becca.
Yes she is on the roof. And no she's not teaching Hadden to climb up there by himself. She is a fun-loving GramO. ;P
The girls soaked up some Aunt Dhana time.

Aunt Mindy is scorin' with the bubbles at the bonfire on Sunday night. Landon and Mindy have a neat bonfire pit they shared with us.


Alicia put together a fun little activity...tie-dying t-shirts for the kids. Maybe the adults wanted one too? :) It was a lotta fun to hang out with my sisters and to see the kids playing together or maybe it was more like separately together.


Beautiful funny Abby.
Handsome silly Diek.
Hadden the king of "da" and "ba".
For fun (well for practical reasons as well), the Farmers and Cowboys turned boys decided to burn an old house down. Oh the things we do for fun....




Uncle Landon gettin' the giggles out of Nana.
The girls had their first ever sleepover. There was plenty of dancing, barrel swinging, princesses and flowers. I think I was almost as excited as they were about the idea of them staying up late giggling and talking, making memories. So I must admit to Aunt Mindy that I did nothing to dissuade them from sleeping next to each other...maybe even promoted it a bit. :)
We also got the chance to swing in on the Lind family campout. We were glad to see Anthony's family too!

Here's what was happening in the tent during picture-taking....
And Juliana, behind the tent flap was laughing her head off at her sister....I don't know what happened to NAP TIME.
Uncle Nathan is a favorite, he's holding Juliana and Maks (3 weeks older than Jules)
Who knew you could feel older when your car turns 100,000 miles?

Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

Annie has been ConLai's favorite show, so she's been watching clips on YouTube. Last night we were outside playing and I said to her, "ConLai? I love you."
She responded with a nice smile and then turned away to start singing, "Tomorrow! Today! I love you!"

Juliana decided to start monkeying up daddy's chest.
I think just to give him some love. :)
We decided to get out of the city over the weekend. To where, we didn't know, just out. So we found this gazebo in an area that is set aside for development but hasn't been yet.

This is ConLai's, "I'm trying to pose pretty, but it's raining on me!"



DDDAAADDDDDDYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

This is why we weren't taking pictures of Juliana.

ConLai was so completely happy playing outside in this area with me not telling her to stay close or to come back, so she decided to dance her little heart away....aaannd I joined her. ;)



We decided to make some sugar cookies just so we could use the cookie cutters. :) Well actually it wasn't JUST to use the cookie cutters, it was actually to eat them too, the cookies I mean. Ok, probably more just to eat them.
If you are wondering how in the world this child is sitting at the table all by herself, have no fear, she will not fall off. She is sitting on a bumbo chair which very securely holds her in place. I know some wonder about the liberties I give my children or maybe whether I really have an eye on them, but this time she is secure and will not get hurt.
Jackie Matias graduated from 8th grade AND as Valedictorian!! She worked very hard to receive that accomplishment. We had the privilege of joining in the celebrations.

Jackie's principal on the left and a gentleman from an organization who gave her a gift for Valedictorian on the right.
Katie Matias is wonderful with the girls...
ConLai loves Katie and Jackie, especially because they teach her how to do new things like painting nails all by myself, taking pictures all by myself.
Aunt Soni is also very patient, allowing ConLai to play with her face it appears.
Tito and Soni Matias have been our family here in Chicago, we truly love them. Her parents are in the middle and Tito's mom is next to Katie and Tito. Pablo up front.

Fun Times

Tummy time, Daddy time, Craft time, Water time. Fun times!!!

Cheerio and Macaroni necklaces were the craft of the day on Friday.
Daddy time on the front lawn with the girls never ceases to bring smiles.




Juliana spent almost the whole morning sleeping in the stroller..turned out nice for us.
Mommy was doing all the work drawing water from the lake for ConLai's little pond.