Our schedule had felt full for months but I hadn't really slowed down to think about why until this past week and then I quickly figured out what it was- nearly half of the past 10 months we have spent either staying with family or having family stay with us. Over the summer we moved in with my sister's family and during the school year the addition of Baye brought Grandma visits, as well as all 5 of our siblings and their families. It's pretty incredible to have family that is willing to take us in for not just a week or two but for an entire summer, and to have so much family that is willing to make the effort to travel thousands of miles to visit. So glad for our families!
Blake, Traever's brother, who lives in South Korea came over Christmas and was able to stay through most of January. The kids loved wrestling and playing with him. The weather wasn't great, (for southern California) but temps climbed into the mid 60's one day and we decided that it was the warmest day we would probably get with Blake so we grabbed the surf and boogie boards and hit the beach. It was cold but the men made the most of it, the kids chased sea gulls, and Baye and I stayed huddled under a pile of beach towels to stay warm.
I'm so glad Blake got the chance to meet Baye. Here's a link of Baye getting to know her Uncle Blake: https://youtu.be/MNhFLkdjm18
It was sweet for the rest of us to get to spend time with him too.
In March my sister, called and said that they were coming and since it was fairly short notice Traever and I decided that we could keep it a secret from our kids. So one Wednesday night in the middle of March the doorbell rang and as usual our kids made a mad dash to answer it, much to their surprise they found 5 of their most favorite people standing right there in front of them. I would post the video from that moment, when our kids opened the door, but unfortunately I'm laughing hysterically throughout the entire video because I could not contain my own excitement... just a little too embarrassing to share here. Anyways, our girls said it was "the best surprise ever!"
Hiking Torrey Pines with 7 kids 6 years old and younger makes for a pretty low key hike. I'm pretty sure we didn't even go a mile.
The below picture cracks me up. Traever pushing a stroller loaded down with 3 kids along a sandy path while herding another 3 kids ahead of him. I'm not sure what the rest of us adults were doing, but Traever was working it.
Chad took a turn too. I love the snack bag in the face, such a great depiction of parenthood right there :).
Traever made sure the kids got a chance to fly a kite.
I kept finding these two cutie patooties with their hands clasped together. They were so happy to be with each other.
Beach Day
The Herman and Guingrich clans made it to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
We had one rainy day, so off to the indoor Discovery Museum we went with our small traveling circus. :)
Traever showing Thatcher how to build a tower. This is what Traever does at the children's museum every, single, time. He will forever be a kid.
A little picnic at the Peacock Farm.
Pool time. I've daydreamed about the kids having their cousins/best buds with them here. Maybe that sounds weird, but it was so fun seeing them splash around and have a ball together at one of our favorite spots.
These two are hilarious together.
Our week with my sister's family flew by. We had an "empty house" for 6 days and then my brother and his family came to stay with us for a week. We were pretty excited to see them.
My sweet little niece Josie at Del Mar Beach.
Hiking Torrey Pines with 7 kids 6 years old and younger makes for a pretty low key hike. I'm pretty sure we didn't even go a mile.
The below picture cracks me up. Traever pushing a stroller loaded down with 3 kids along a sandy path while herding another 3 kids ahead of him. I'm not sure what the rest of us adults were doing, but Traever was working it.
Chad took a turn too. I love the snack bag in the face, such a great depiction of parenthood right there :).
Traever made sure the kids got a chance to fly a kite.
I kept finding these two cutie patooties with their hands clasped together. They were so happy to be with each other.
Beach Day
The Herman and Guingrich clans made it to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
We had one rainy day, so off to the indoor Discovery Museum we went with our small traveling circus. :)
Traever showing Thatcher how to build a tower. This is what Traever does at the children's museum every, single, time. He will forever be a kid.
A little picnic at the Peacock Farm.
Pool time. I've daydreamed about the kids having their cousins/best buds with them here. Maybe that sounds weird, but it was so fun seeing them splash around and have a ball together at one of our favorite spots.
These two are hilarious together.
Livie learning stunts with Uncle Traever.
Our week with my sister's family flew by. We had an "empty house" for 6 days and then my brother and his family came to stay with us for a week. We were pretty excited to see them.
My sweet little niece Josie at Del Mar Beach.
Our babies getting to know each other.
Most of these pics are from Alex (his pictures are much better quality than mine), the below shots are pretty accurate depictions of what going to the beach with 4 kids looks like... not a lot of relaxation going on :) but it's still a good time. It's been wonderful to live relatively close to a beach these past 3 years. I'm going to miss it!
Pool Time
Thatcher was a bit smitten with his Aunt Brittany.
Thankful to have some quality time with them!
Showing Alex and Brittany the park just beyond our neighborhood.
Our time with Alex and Brittany flew by.
About a week passed since Alex and Brittany left and we received a call that my Grandma Huber passed from this life into the next. A call that we were expecting for quite some time. She lived a very long and full life, battled health issues and dementia. Her soul was ready to leave it's frail body and meet her Savior.
I'm thankful for a husband that was willing to stay back and care for 3 small children for 3 days so that I could fly across the country to be with family and attend the visitation and funeral. I had the chance to see a lot of extended family, some which I hadn't seen for a decade. The reunion of cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, Mom and Dad was sweet and unleashed hundreds of memories from growing up near each other in the hills of Kentucky, of sitting beside Grandma in church and her offering me leman mints and cough drops, memories of visiting Grandpa and Grandma on the farm, watching Grandma pick a bowl of lettuce from the garden, catching fireflies at night, hayrides, going for walks down their lane in the country, and hymn singings in the barn. However perhaps the most touching moment was not a memory of my own... it was seeing my Grandma's siblings take their last glance at her mortal body and realizing that they had walked, stumbled, ran, crawled, and bounded through some ninety-some years of life by each other's sides running to this end- of seeing their Savior face to face. And by God's grace, by His unwavering faithfulness she was there. No longer sojourning here alongside her family but finally home. So thankful for His faithfulness as well as the incredibly good gift of family.
During my quick trip I got a lot of one-on-one time with our littlest one too. Something that she and I don't get a lot of. I don't think she minded the extra attention.
Traever and the kids survived my absence just fine. I'm pretty sure I missed them more than they missed me. At any rate after 3 days I was ready to hug, squeeze, and smother them all in kisses.
