Fourth of July Fun

We hung out with some great friends on the fourth and saw some cool fireworks in Kirkwood. It was hot, but not miserably so, especially compared to lately! I was glad to make some more fun memories of our time in STL.

My dear friend, Sarah, with Josie and Maddie

Me and Sarah



Josie sat on Gabe's lap for some of the fireworks display and he loved every second



And Seth was just chillin' in a chair

Papa and Grammies Visit

Mom and Tim came to visit us, and we had a great time with them. It was super hot, though, so it kind of limited what we could do...we just made our own fun instead:) We were so thankful to have them here! As usual, I forgot to take pictures until it was almost too late, but we got a few.

Grandpa and Seth playing around with glasses

Zoo Date with Josie

The hippos are Josie's very favorite, and this time they were kissing or wrestling (I wasn't sure if they were preparing to mate or just playing around, but didn't really want to wait to find out) for 10 minutes!

Fun with the Hejleks!

We had so much fun boating, tubing, swimming, riding the four wheeler/golf cart, and just hanging out with the Hejlek family. I took care of Tim and Lindsey's kids, Reese and Colin, this past year. They are sweeties and I have missed them! Our kids had an absolute blast! Tim's parents live on Goose Creek Lake, which is where we went for all the fun. Thank you guys for inviting us and for your wonderful hospitality! We had the best time ever.

Colin and Josie in the boat

Gabe and Seth tubing

Reese and Josie

Tim showing Nile how to run the four wheeler, with Gabe on the back

Colin and Jos...I think she misses him, too:)

Gabe, Seth, Josie, Reese, and Colin on the spillway

Gabe and Josie

A few more of Josie's B'day

We had a little party at home, after her party at the Log Cabin with her friends. I forgot to include a few statistics of my five year old! Josie is 45 inches tall (90th percentile) and 44 pounds. I was very thankful she had regained the 6 pounds she lost while in the hospital. She was a rock star getting all her shots (she had to have 3) again this year, and I always thankful for that.

Josie's Birthday! (June 10th)

Josie is 5 years old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone, and that she will be going to kindergarten this fall. I am not at all excited about that, but I'm pretending I am for her sake:)  We had a party for her at the Log Cabin on campus, and it was such a fun time. I love her little friends, they are all so sweet! Some things I think of when I think of Josie at this age are: she is so incredibly affectionate (many times a day she tells me she loves me, that I'm so pretty, that her cup overflows, ect. She also loves to hug and kiss us all and especially loves to have Nile and I hold her at the same time and hug and kiss altogether); she is hysterical, really hysterical...those that are blessed to see this side of her laugh a lot. In the past year or so, the funny/performance side of her has really emerged and our whole family has been laughing ever since;  she runs like the wind and will try almost anything, never wanting to be outdone by her brothers. She was my first to ride a bike with no training wheels, my first to do the fire pole by herself (at 2!), and was racing 8 year old boys on campus with her scooter when she was barely four. She cracks me up, this girl;  she loves people well, from family (maybe minus Seth on certain days, tho they have become best buddies this summer...lol) to all of our extended family, too; she loves to play dollhouse and Barbies and will spends hours by herself doing so; she loves to play UNO and I think we have played hundreds of games of it this summer alone; and I would be remiss to not mention her challenging areas, as well (I really don't want to make this sound all rosy and perfect, because who can relate to that, after all? And it would be an unfair picture, anyway!)...she is stubborn as a goat, has buns of steel that often need more than one set of spankings because the stubbornness remains as does an unremorseful heart, and she has gotten more emotional this past year, so we are working a lot on being self-controlled with our voice and with our actions. I say all of this in love, because I love this girl to the ends of the earth. Just things I want to remember about her at five;)  We are SO blessed to have you, Josie Elisabeth! You bring uncomparable joy to all of our lives! 

I made my first banner and tissue paper pom pom, but couldn't get a good picture:(

I just loved seeing the names of her friends together!

Busy at work on their craft, which was decorating the letter that their name begins with

Seth was a great helper! He wanted to demonstrate the games and such, and did it with much gusto, as usual!

Digging for the hidden butterflies in the flowerpots...it was a relay race to get a butterfly put in the butterfly net and get back to the next person on your team. We only had one minor crash:)

Getting wrapped up like cocoons

My precious husband frosted this cake for me!

Are they not the cutest things ever?!

And of course a silly one, too!