Friends and Family

We were incredibly lucky last week to have a rash of visitors from all over the country converge in Phoenix.

First, Grandma Rose, Aunt Laura and Granta Pamela made their way from Missouri and San Francisco to spend a few days with us. We enjoyed lots of family dinners, exploring Phoenix together and sitting outside, soaking up the sun while the kids played.

Ellie is telling us she wants to start sleeping with Willem so one night we let her give it a try. After about an hour, we snuck in to take a picture. It was pitch dark but they had been quiet for awhile and were both laying down. The camera flash went off and Ellie popped up. Decided to keep her in the crib for now, though every night she tries to stay in bed with Willem. They are both very excited about this but we want to wait a little longer. We are enjoying our uninterrupted sleep too much right now:)

Ellie with one of her namesakes.

After our family headed home, our good friends The Renk's came in from Iowa to visit their parents home in Mesa. We have been lucky to see them once or twice a year since leaving Iowa and Willem really looks forward to seeing his friend Isabella. We hit up the Arizona Museum of Youth for the afternoon and the kids were in craft heaven. Later that evening, we were then able to go on a kid free double date. Time flew by and we closed down Mojo's at 11pm that night.

The next day Erica came to town for Jude's Birthday and we spent the whole day together. We baked cupcakes and Willem's new favorite, poppyseed cake, jumped on the trampoline and were able to catch up. We definitely miss Erica and hope she moves back next year! Then on Saturday we went out to dinner to celebrate Jude's Birthday, what a great week of catching up with friends and family.