Big Trip: Tennessee, a Day at the Farm

Today we traveled to the Donnell Century Farm, where they

host groups of schoolchildren for a farm adventure! This farm

has been a working farm for over 150 years!! It was an amazing day.

The perfect way to end this past week's Cousin Camp. It was HOT...

nearing 90 today. The kids learned about cotton, milking a cow,

chickens, goats, cows, walked through a corn maze, fed donkeys,

and had a YeeHaw of a goodtime in the barn going down the huge

slides and playing in the corn box.

Thanks for the amazing time, Sis. I miss you loads and loads. I can't wait to hear about your new adventure welcoming Molly into your wonderful home. I love you.

Big Trip: Tennesee... Thanksgiving and more!

On Saturday morning, all three Howell boys had soccer

games back-to-back, and at the field there was a great

playground. It was smokin' hot, as you can

see on the kid's faces...

Well, there's lots of catching up to do! We fly out to

California in the morning... and I'm pretty sure

that Great Grandma Jill doesn't have a computer

so I'd better update now! (Jen's computer downloads

pictures faster than I can blink.... WAY better than mine at home!)



The pic above, and the following pics are from Thanksgiving Day!

Yep, we had Thanksgiving a tad early, since we'll be

missing it together. Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole,

mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, and apple pie. Yu----mmy!

A rousing game of stick the hat on the turkey.

What are we thankful for this year? Being here in TN!

And guess what?? Well, you probably know if you read

my sister's blog... but we got pictures of Molly last night on

"Thanksgiving"! They were told not to expect any more pictures!

And lo, and behold brand new pics of sweet baby Molly. AND....

they got THE call today after 3 years of waiting!!! They're flying

to get her on Saturday! And will arrive back in the

States on Thursday with a daughter! We are so blessed

to have been here through all of this. If we can't see her,

it's the next best thing. Can't believe we'll miss her by

just a week. :( But God knew that they needed 6 crazy

distractions to keep their minds off the wait. I think we did the trick. :)

Lotsa plum-tuckered little turkeys.

Big Trip: Phase 2, NBA Basketball!

Friday night, Kris, Jeremy, and the 4 big boys went to a NBA Basketball game in Memphis!!! Kris scored some FREE seats in a box office!!! Those sweet rooms that VIPs sit in! The boys had a blast... so did the Dads! Then they hit Steak & Shake on the way home. Yum, yum! Thanks, Howells for a FUN night!!! What a highlight.. Jen and I took a spin around Jackson with Peyton, Morgan, and Annika for some more shopping. Big surprise.

Pumpkin Patch!!!

Nothin' beats a day at the pumpkin patch!

I hadn't been to one since I was a child in

Washington!!! We had a great day, as you can see!

Beautiful... there were so many different

colors and shapes of pumpkins and gourds.

Our sweet little pumpkin grabbed on to this little one early

on and chewed on it the whole time. All six of us picked

out our own to take home. All the mini one's were 2/$1!

I seriously wanted to take home the entire patch.

Precious sisters.

Cousin Camp group photo!

Swimming in the fffffrrrrreeeeeezing water.

But they had such a fantastic time.

I vowed to get in this week when the

solar cover has been on all night. :)

It was 85 degrees today and perfect.

Big Trip: Phase 2 Tennessee: Jeremy & the Bacon Bits arrive!!!

They made it! Cousin fun begins... They had a great trip,

the only glitch is that AK Airlines couldn't check their bags

all the way through because they had to switch airlines 3 times.

So they had to go to baggage and get all their bags,

then check

them all back in with United in Chicago... and then still make

the connection. They got to their gate right at boarding! I was

SO excited to see them and share Tennessee with them. It is so

fun here and WARM!

As we got back in the hot car today, Morgan said,

"When is somebody going to turn on the coldness?"

And right after, Gavin piped up with,

"Yeah, I can't breathe in this weather!"

Cousin Camp shirts are complete!

Jen and I just finished the final touches on the

Cousin Camp t-shirts!! They turned out so COOL,

if we do say so ourselves! I think I may have found

another new hobby to add to the others. :)

Up next? Jeremy and the kids arrive in 4 hours!

Yea! I just talked to them and they made it to

Kansas City. Hooray! 2 flights down, 2 to go.

Big Trip: Phase 2, Auntie Nanny!

Last night, Kris & Jen had their community group Bible study and usually they hire a sitter... but this time? Auntie Nanny! We had a fun night documented with pictures! I miss my nephews like crazy and it was SO fun to spend that special night together. First up? Group pictures with the camera timer. We had some really funny outtakes on this one.

All three boys ask at each bottle feeding if they can feed Annika. Tonight I finally got to feed her myself! They are really good with her... Peyton was just too cute during our night together not to snap a pic.
After din-din, it was on to the Wii! Peyton totally schooled me in bowling, but I got him back in boxing and we tied in tennis. It was so fun!!
Hide and Seek was next, by request... they have a great hiding house! Here's Peyton finding Keat.
Found ya, Zach!Movie time!

On a side note... I was folding my laundry while the boys were watching the movie and I noticed what a rut I was in this week. These are the 4 shirts I wore the last 4 days... purple, pinky-purple, pink, and more pink. :)

And this morning, Auntie Jenny gave Annika a bath... I love this pic!All clean, happy baby!

I just talked to Jeremy, he and the kids get on their first flight on their way here in an hour and a half! I'm so ready for them to be here with me. Pray for them! They have 4 flights to catch and will be traveling for 16 hours. Jeremy has been Super Dad while I've been away. (Well, he's always been Super Dad, but he gets extra extra bonus points for this one.) Nine days without Mama! We'll keep ya posted on Cousin Camp starting soon!

Jen and I bought t-shirts at Target last night, today I designed the logo, tomorrow we're printing them on our t-shirt transfer paper and ironing them on! I think they're gonna be adorable!!! Molly (here in our hearts) and Annika even get their own onesie versions. I think our first stop is going to be a pumpkin patch on Friday! Can you believe it?