Official Summer Kick-Off!

Last week my parents came to visit, and coincidentally Travis's mom came to visit at the same time! We had a great week! We hiked through the woods, made waffles, went to the farmer's market, ate pizza, watched some amazing thunderstorms, and ended the week with a trip to Silver Dollar City. My parents are leaving in two weeks for a two-year mission to Liberia for our church. We won't likely see them at all for the next two years, unless my mom comes back for a big event. My dad can't leave, though, and it is also possible that they may be asked to extend for a third year. So it was fun to see them for one last time before we have to let them go!

Okay, when we went to the pizza place (where Nolan was less than thrilled to be, by the way), the hostess seating us asked us how she should do our tickets, since our server was new. Kate perked up when she heard that the waitress was new. She thought about it and wanted to write a little note to her, since she figured she was having a hard time with a new job. She was right, as it turns out - the server did look a little frazzled, and when Kate gave her the note, she came back to thank her with tears in her eyes and told Kate that it made her night. I thought it was such as sweet little thought that was so typical of Kate. I didn't think twice when I heard that the server was new, and probably wouldn't even have noticed whether she seemed stressed. It's definitely a unique talent my sweet little Kate has.

 SDC OR BUST!

 The train engineer stopped to talk to Troy and tell us about his steam engine, built in Germany in the 1930s. Troy was thrilled! He loves trains more than anything in the world.

This week:

We cleaned our church building...

Had the final walk-through of our new house!

While we were there, the landscaping crew showed up and plopped some plants in the front yard. And then planted a tree! Just like that! Well, okay then!

 The kids have kept themselves busy with all kinds of little entrepreneurial endeavors.

They opened a smoothie restaurant...

 Nolan and I shared a smoothie.

They came up with this cute little carnival one evening! They gave everyone tokens and they had all kinds of little stations set up! I spent most of my time at the back rub station (massage chairs!) and the "reading" station, where I found the gigantic paperback of Les Miserables completely irresistible (especially for a carnival!)

And then there was a race! We had to pay a token to watch, but Travis and I got to watch from the massage chairs! The race was Troy vs. Brooklyn, running laps around the staircase (down the hall and through the kitchen and living room) while Kate stood at the finish line waving flags that said "2nd lap" and "Final lap." It was awesome.

I've been spending my early mornings with this cute guy. He is walking everywhere now, and so he has decided he no longer needs Mom & Dad. He's pretty much an independent adult now, in his little mind. We also discovered that he has three new molars! No wonder he's been chomping down the grown-up food (and crayons) with no problem!

The kids are obsessed with this little game on Travis's phone. They taught Nolan how to play and he was transfixed.