too long and a beautiful week

It really has been too long since my last post.  Life has been busy.  Tiring, happy, overwhelming, wonderful and a little bit of everything in between.  

We have been taking advantage of some beautiful weather here in the northwest.  There are still quite a few rainy days, and I hear it will be like that until after the fourth of july (yuck!). However, we have also had many warm and sunny days.  Praise God!  I have been craving some sunshine lately.  

Over Mother's Day weekend we had some last minute visitors.  Matt's sister, Hanni,  and her two little boys flew out from Michigan to see us!  Hanni is an amazing woman flying across country with a three and one year old on a whim.  

It was so good to have family here.  

Matt's siblings have not been able to come and see us as much as we would like these past few years. It was such a blessing having Hanni and the boys come and visit and simply get to live life with us for a few days.  It felt very natural having them stay with us.  I think Grafton and his cousin thought they were siblings.  Well, at least they bickered like they were.  I really enjoyed getting to see the kids play together and just be kids together for a few days.  We don't get to do that often enough with our cousins. 

 Here are a few pictures of their trip...

It was quite a feat trying to fit four little ones into our three bedrooms.  Grafton ended up sleeping in a pack and play in the kitchen.  He actually slept surprisingly well. 

 Maybe we should keep him there.

Grafton found a very large, slimy slug on a hike.  He held on tight to that little guy the whole time we were in the woods.

These two were precious together.  It was so sweet getting to see them interact.  

 

 We spent our last day together at the Seattle zoo.  Those boys had a blast.

Looking back at these pictures makes me tear up a little bit.  It is hard seeing these kids grow up so far away from each other.  However, it makes trips like this one even more special.

We love you guys.