DRIVING THROUGH AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN

Yesterday found John and I with an opportunity to take my step father's antique convertible car out for a spin. And we grabbed it without looking back.




It felt like another life that we got to relish for about 45 minutes. A life where we were foot loose and fancy free. It is such a cool car, and that is coming from someone who cares very little about cars.






We drove out in the country, through the wheat fields. Kansas has a whole different kind of beauty. When I moved there in 8th grade- I hated it. I missed the hills and trees that I grew up with in Arkansas. But, as the years went by, I learned to appreciate the wide open spaces and the big sky. It lets you breathe deeply.

I have loved the plains in their own special way ever since, though I am partial to my hilly homeland. We loved driving through the fields blowing gently and enjoying the streams of sunlight through the clouds.






John loved driving a stick shift once more. These pictures are taken from the parking lot of my high school.




All in all, it was a fantastic mini-adventure, though convertible hair leaves something to be desired.



Thanks, Wes! We love you- even more than we love your car.

MAX'S B-DAY PARTY & FAMILY TIME

This weekend has felt like the party that kept on giving.  All of my siblings and step-siblings have been in town, which has made it such fun, though a little crazy.  On Saturday, we celebrated my nephew Max turning one!  Ashley and Mike threw a killer party that we were thrilled to be able to attend.

She kept it simple, and it turned out super cute with lime green, aqua and orange everywhere.




The girls loved the balloons, as usual.

The babies also loved the balloons, which they demonstrated by sleeping more.



I made M cookies for the occasion.



There were family and people and kiddos everywhere, something which always makes things more fun.

(That's John with my super awesome step brother and sister.  So glad we are all family!)

There was some concern about how Max would respond when all the attention was focused on him and his birthday cupcake, but he did fantastically well.






Afterwards, the guys played washers in the yard as we enjoyed the beautiful June weather.  I loved dropping both the twins with my brother.  Having extra baby holder/feeders all weekend has been amazing!

Spending time all together at Mom and Wes's house has been a blessing to be sure.  There was some iPad fun, with an awesome photo-bomber.



There was sprinkler fun.




There was twin fun.

And there was sibling fun.  Having fun adult siblings has been one of life's greatest unexpected gifts.



To say it has been a good weekend is an understatement.

TWINS NEWBORN PICS BY MAIN STREET STUDIOS

Luke brought me the CD from our photo shoot when we went into Main Street Studios a couple of weeks ago, which I mentioned in this post.  I adore the way they came out and am again amazed at what a baby whispered Luke is.  Without further adieu - here they are!

Getting both babies lulled to sleep at the same time was a challenge, even though they sleep most of the time.  In some of these pictures, I actually had just helped William's eyes close the rest of the way with my fingers.  Then he would pop them back open.

Ellen and I did a lot of baby feeding to keep them totally happy.



We got precious individual pictures of them both.  I made the tiniest tutu of all time for Violet.

The studio had the adorable crocheted diaper cover and matching hat for William.

This is probably my very favorite that we captured at the end.



He also took some family pictures, which were difficult to wrangle for.  But, he did manage to get a couple that I love.

Thanks, Uncle Luke - thanks for being there for all our special family moments.