Cheering on Drew in Fayetteville, AR

As hard as it was to leave our Iowa family, we were glad to get home and see Randy, Avery and Austin!  We were home for a few days before we took off for Fayetteville, AR where our nephew Drew was having a baseball tournament.  Fayetteville is only a few hours away so we hopped on the opportunity to see our Arkansas family and to cheer on Drew!

It's always amazing to me how we can be away from our family for long periods of time but as soon as we get back together, we pick up like we've never been apart!  Here are Avery and Rachel enjoying some time together!

It's safe to say Drew had the most fans watching!  Grandma and Grandpa John also took the drive over to see Drew and brought Tanner and Taylor with them.

Drew's team played awesome!  Drew even had the game winning hit in one of his games!  We were so happy to be there and see it!

Look at these cute little girls!!  Addie and Ashton love their cousin Taylor!

In between one of his games we went over to Steak n Shake, which we love!  To some, this picture might be gross but it makes my heart happy!  First, Austin, Addie and Ashton are so dang cute!  But also they aren't whining about having share or needing their own shake.  The food here is pretty cheap but the shakes are not!  I'm just grateful for grateful kids!

These girls love their cousin Tyler and he has always been so good with them!  

We grabbed a family picture on our last day.  We're proud of Ricky for taking the time to coach Drew and we're proud of Drew for all his hard work.  

It was a great weekend with our family, even if we are a bit crazy!

And having the cousins together means so much!

We decided to bring Drew home with us so the boys could have more time together.  One of the things we did was head up to Independence, KS water park.  We had a fun few extra days with him before I met Ricky up in Joplin, MO to give him back.

Happy 6th Birthday, Ashton!!

While we were up in Iowa, Ashton had her 6th birthday!  It was a tough decision for her to have her birthday without Dad, Avery and Austin.  Of course she missed them, but this was our only time to run up to Iowa and everyone up there helped make it a special day!

The table was all decked out when she woke up in the morning.  Daddy had promised to "send" her a gift and she had lots of gifts waiting on the table.  We opened a few at a time so they would last all day!

She asked for some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Nana's gift was first because it was something she could wear!  And she loved it!

Nana also got her some candy jewelry that you make in to jewelry, so the girls had fun doing that.

Their favorite thing every day was taking care of Brooklyn!  That was the best present!

Uncle Jordan came home for lunch and we had lunch and cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday!

He came home with some fun surprises... like this balloon and a piggy bank with some money.

And also these fun kites!

It was actually windy enough for them to fly!  The "mailman" came to the door with a letter and a present for Ashton from Daddy.  She was so excited!

First thing she did when she got it was call him on the phone, and then write him back!  Jordan was sweet enough to give her a stamp.  We beat the letter home, but it was so super sweet.  

That evening when Jordan got home from work, Nana stayed home with Brooklyn and we all went bowling.

After that we went back to get Nana and Brooklyn and then went out for some root beer floats at this fun little diner!  

We ended the evening with movie night downstairs.  Ashton opened her last present from her dad and I which was makeup!  So while we were watching the movie, we all got a makeover!

That's right, ALL of us!!  Uncle Jordan is such a good sport!

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl!  You are one in a million!  I love your fun spirit and loving ways!  You make us all laugh and you are such a great helper.  I'm so proud of you and the young lady you are becoming!  We love you!!

Our week in Iowa

We loved our week in Iowa!  The weather was so nice!  We came from the hot summer of Oklahoma to the perfect 70's weather in Iowa.  The flowers and vegetables agree!  Jordan has an awesome garden!  He does square gardening so each square has something different growing in it!  So pretty!  This may have tempted me enough to start one of my own!

The girls' favorite thing were the snap peas!  I remember having these growing up.  When they heard what they were, they were a little hesitant to try them.  Peas are not a favorite vegetable at our house.  But once they started, they were searching for them all!

Jordan and Jen live in a great little neighborhood with a school close by, so we took a walk over to the playground.

Uncle Jordan is so fun!

You would have never believed Jen just had a baby!  First of all, she looks great!  But also, she still had so much energy!

Nana helped push Addie....

And then took a turn herself!  The girls thought it was so fun seeing Nana ride!

What's summer without some ice cream!  I love the little ice cream stands in small towns that are always busy!

And there was time for chalk of course!

We had fun creating some chalk art for Ashton!

We also went to feed the geese.

Ducks and geese are everywhere in this town!  They have a lot of nice parks with ponds and so these guys just cross the street from one side to the other.  All you have to do is pull your car up and they come running... or waddling!

At first the girls were just throwing the crackers on the ground

but after a while they got brave!

One more picture before we go over to the park!

My little hamsters!  This wheel actually spun around!  We all took turns and it was wild!  I can't wait to come back and show Avery and Austin it.  

We are having so much fun, the time is flying by!  

Debuting Baby Brooklyn!

We couldn't wait to get up to Iowa and see our newest niece, Brooklyn Marie Powell.  Brooklyn was born on June 8th to my brother Jordan and his wife Jen.  We gave them a few days to get home and get settled and then I took the younger girls and my mom up to visit.  Avery and Austin were busy with summer activities but I couldn't wait any longer to see this sweet baby!

I had found this outfit a while back at our local Sunfest Festival and HAD to have it!  I couldn't wait to get it on her!  She's so adorable!  Jordan works for John Deere in their accounting department, hence the outfit.  Jen's grandma also made this John Deere quilt for Brooklyn.  They have lived all over... Atlanta, Kansas, North Carolina!  They currently reside in Ottumwa, IA which is a little over 7 hours away so the drive wasn't too bad.  And Iowa is a very pretty state... at least the part I drove through!

Addie was promised that she would be the first to hold Brooklyn if she was good!  Looks like she kept her end of the bargain!  Addie LOVES babies and she is so soft and tender with them.  

Ashton has been the youngest grandchild on our side of the family... until now!!  Everyone is so excited to finally have another baby around to hold and love!

These girls wanted to help with everything!!  They loved helping Jen change diapers...

and give baths!!  Jen was very patient with all the extra help!  I'm so happy for her and Jordan!!  Brooklyn is one lucky girl to have such amazing parents!!

Every once in a while my girls would allow me a second to hold my sweet niece!  Hahaha!  Actually I offered to watch B for a night so Jen could sleep.  I quickly remembered the broken sleep of a new parent, and happy that I'm out of that stage!  But she is absolutely beautiful and we fell in love with her immediately!  Welcome to our family, Brooklyn!  We love you so much!!