(mostly) April

Here are pictures & a bit of commentary from our April '11. They are in no sensible order but I expect you'll be able to enjoy them well enough.

First, we had a most lovely surprise when Clint and Sydni got to come visit!!!!!!! What.joy! We had two days together, and we filled them with great times creating lovely memories.

Here are two pictures from our zoo trip.

In the corner of that viewing platform are Justus, Natasha, Sayler, & Sydni. I was pushing Hayven and Clint was looking at something else at the time.

Swinging bridge! Sayler was NOT wanting to walk on it, but after some convincing she finally believed us that she'd be perfectly safe, and she carrrrefully proceeded -- and was even able to smile for this picture! Go girlie! :)
There is something very precious to me about seeing these nieces from afar playing with our box of Little Kid Toys. ``happy sigh``
At the Cheesecake Factory the morning of their arrival, we had some time waiting for the cheesecake Sydni ordered for my birthday, so we shot pictures.

Hayven really liked to touch Justus's buzz-cut hair. :)
Sayler, just awakening from her nap, watching Justus play his hand-held video game.
Favorite thing about this picture (besides the fact that she was in our house!!)?? Hayven's little feet. :D
The little girls enjoyed being entertained by Natasha -- who enjoys being silly and entertaining! Perfect!


This picture I saved because it's too bad to delete. Just hilarious!
Justus was dulllll because of the pain meds he had to take in anticipation of receiving his final cast earlier that morning, not to mention he had to get up EARLY for that appointment.
We went to the Capitol Building. None of us had been there before, and it was interesting and a bit exciting. Too bad it was cold & windy! Brr!

West side of the capitol.

This is my favorite picture of Clint and Sydni's time with us. The background is Iowa's state motto: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Good stuff.

East side of the capitol. I thought our troop was so cute walking toward the building so I lagged behind to get a shot ... which was more difficult than I expected 'cause Sayler kept disappearing from view, haha!



Here is the one picture I took, just a week ago, when Emmit & Teresa, Caleb, Ethan, Loren, & Cora stopped in to see us for a late supper on their trip to MN!! These bright, wonderful, polite, funny, homeschooled children live in a home with no TV or video games (by choice, of course), so it was "big fun" for them to relax in our family room and play a racing game on the Wii. Note how N & J have two of the controllers.... ?? Well, anyone half like me would mmmuch rather just watch, than actually have to play, hahaha.... Ohhhhhhh, it was so wonderful to spend some time with these precious people.


Justus took a spill from his scooter, & 'hurt' his arm and his knee. Nice bruise, Buddy!


Two falls later, he b-r-o-k-e his arm. Bah. :( Soft cast for the first few days waiting for swelling to decrease.





This was the arm before they went for medical help. `sigh` You can see the unnatural bump above the wrist?



I took this picture to show the interesting angle at which the doctor decided he needed to set the arm.

Oh! Here are some pictures from Easter. :) Carrying on a Free family tradition, we bought a bag of foil-covered milk chocolate eggs, and Jeremy and I hid them on Saturday night for the children to hunt for Sunday while I prepped lunch. When counting, to see who had found more, Natasha ended up dumping hers and had to start over counting, haha. Like mother, like daughter.


This picture just cracks me up, not only because of Natasha's evident enthusiasm, but also because it's a little peek into real life at our house: trash bag waiting to go out, freshly-laundered bathroom rug drying over the top of a kitchen chair. Hahaha! :)


Justus is big enough now to wear as pajamas Jeremy's old work tank tops, softened by hourrrrs in the elements, not to mention repeated washings! This night he and Jeremy ended up both wearing navy tank tops to bed, so it called for a picture. I used to take lots of pictures of them crashed in bed together back when Justus was little. He's not so little anymore, boy howdy! <:\
Jeremy shot this one of J, close-up. [Note the wonderfully-aligned front teeth??! :) ]