visit from Missouri Jill

 My friend Jill and her son came from Missouri to visit me. We became friends 19 years ago in Oklahoma when we both were working with the church youth ministry, and have been friends ever since. Since I have another friend named Jill, she has been "Oklahoma Jill", then "Kentucky Jill" and now "Missouri Jill" as she has moved around for school and marriage, lol. 

Anyway, it was wonderful to see her and for her to meet my kiddos. The last two times I've seen her I was pregnant, first with Jeanie, and last spring with Lucy. So it was nice for her to finally meet one of my kids beyond utero, haha.

It was a really nice week of busyness with the kids and trying to see some fun local things. 

A few trips to our ice cream place

We checked out the Reptarium, the kids could hold/pet any reptile they wanted and could feed them too for a little extra $.

Lucy with Lucy the snake!

Doug's favorite was the "fish spa" where the fish nibble at your calluses 😬 

We had a picnic at Belle Isle

and went to the aquarium

The DNR adventure center is really cool for kids

And took the kids to the splash pad

It was great to see her and talk and share life together. She hadn't been up to visit since being my bridesmaid 7 years ago. Lots of pictures of the kiddos, but NONE of her and I together! 😩 so she'll have to come back!! 😉

41

Well, 41 sounds older, but it still feels pretty good.

I had a great birthday, my friend Jill had come from Missouri with her son the week before and spent a week visiting us. We had a really nice time together, and our last night was my birthday. We had a pretty good day at home, went with our kids on a walk to the park, and then dinner and cake at my parents with my sister and brother-in-law, and best friend Liz too. Very low key and really nice. 

And one of my favorite times of the day, singing to my kiddos before bed. Her son Micah joined us in the rocker before bed that night.

I'm not sure if I have goals this year. These last couple years have just felt like surviving endless battles against the piles of dishes/dirty laundry/hungry mouths/ and dirty house. It's been a lot. So maybe that will lessen, in some ways, a bit as kids are growing, but who knows. 

Feeling very busy and blessed.