F:A:M:I:L:Y

**We arrived back home around 7:20 this morning. The trip went as smooth as the ride down and we've got kids fast asleep in beds and one Daddy on his way there :) Thank you for your prayers, thanks for the good time, California family & friends - we love you all! 

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last Tuesday evening: 

We had the fun opportunity to spend an evening with Jason's extended family. 

Jason's cousin and his wife have two very cute boys and his other cousin's girlfriend has a very sweet little girl. It was fun watching the kids all play with each other, now that they're all old enough to enjoy each other's company. 

Thank you to Uncle Larry and Aunt Christine, for hosting such a fun night! 

we bought this fun outside game at Old Navy. 

It was the best $5 I've spent in quite sometime!

Basically playing catch with velcro mits and a sticky fabric fish ball. 

Cute, simple and fun.

Jack 

it might look like they're trying to take the bubbles from each other here, but I assure you, Jack is helping Kara figure out how to get the stick out of the bottle. Like a cute little old couple lost and afraid to ask directions, these two stood there for more than 5 minutes working this out until they finally gave up and dumped the bubbles on the lawn instead :) 

Our kids are having a great time on vacation. They're enjoying seeing lots of family and friends.... 

But I think they're getting worn out. Jason and I have been re-thinking our long 2+ week stay. 

They miss home, but as Ethan said "it feels wrong to miss home, because so many people we love are here..." but we miss home. Our regular routine, quiet times, nap times, early bedtimes, etc... this is hard on 3 small kids and I think considering it all, they've done really well. We had a mini meltdown this evening, after we got home {back to my parent's house} from our get together. Rachel began crying when she heard an ambulance and couldn't stop herself. The tears over the ambulance became tears over the fact that she wasn't IN bed and she wanted to be IN bed right now. Because she cried, Kara began to cry, thinking the sirens were out to get her. We cried through brushing our teeth, struggled to get jammies on fast enough and fell into bed. 

AH! Grandpa made the bubbles stay in one place! 

again, the little couple, looking for frogs and birds in the trees :) 

the best part of the meal... dessert. I love how dedicated kids are when eating dessert. 

Suddenly, sitting still isn't too hard. Eating everything on your plate becomes easy and not so impossible. 

While I was eating dessert I looked over and saw Rachel enjoying hers with Grandpa and Great Grandma Nina. I'm beginning to see a lot of maturity in Rachel these days. She loves people and its nice to see her love for others shown in these sweet ways. 

She sat for quite sometime, chatting with Grandpa and listening to what he had to say. 

I love that about Rachel. 

Jason's Grandma Elsie <3

the Great Grandmas 

 Arnold families 

 Pytlik families 

the whole gang!