Blessed Days.

I am thankful to report that our little family is once again healthy and happy : ) Here are some of the highlights from our week:

*Last Friday, we got a second vehicle! Hurray! We got a '98 Honda Odyssey. We found it on Craigslist at about 3:30pm.....met with the people to test drive it at 4:15pm.......went to the bank and got the money and met to transfer the title a little bit after 5pm. We got a GREAT deal on it and I am so happy to have more space in my vehicle...and even more excited just to HAVE ANY vehicle again! Kenzie loves the "van" and is always super excited to ride in it. We had the engine looked at, and it has been taken care of and is in good condition...plus it just had a new transmission put in 2 months ago! God blessed us SO much and I am thankful for the luxury of having two cars again : )

*Saturday was a fun day! Kenzie seemed to be feeling better. My mother-in-law babysat and I was able to go and celebrate the upcoming arrival of a new little boy! My wonderful friend Melissa is 8 months pregnant with her 2nd. Her little girl, Sydney, gets along great with Kenzie and we're both excited that she is having a little boy who can be friends with Ryken! Her friend Lisa threw a beautiful shower for her and I had a great time just being out and getting a little bit of a break. That afternoon when I got home, we had some visitors : ) Our friends' parents were in town and they came over to catch up with us and see the kids. They were actually Kenzie's VERY FIRST babysitters when she was 2 weeks old! We get to see them about twice a year and it is always fun to see them! After they left, I loaded the kids in the car and we went to see daddy at work. I didn't have any plans for dinner and it was a nice day. We got to Joe's Real BBQ and the line was out the door! So....I called in our order for carry out and we went across the street and played in the water at the splash pad at the Watertower Park while we waited for our food. We went back over to Joe's and picked up our order and ate it out at a picnic table while Kenzie's clothes dried out!

*Sunday and Monday our poor little Kenzie got sick...AGAIN! This time she had a high fever (around 103) for both days. Chip and I took turns going to church on Sunday and staying home with her. Monday I went and did the title and registration on the van. It was probably the BEST MVD experience I have ever had. We had printed off the paperwork and filled it out ahead of time. I walked in and got my number and had barely sat down when my number was called. It was quick and painless : ) Hurray!

*Later on Monday, when Kenzie's fever had broken and she seemed to be feeling up for it, we made a trip to Costco to get gas in the van and a few other purchases. We got some yummy strawberries and raspberries and a GINOURMOUS bag of spinach.

*Tuesday morning we took the van to be looked at....then we took Ryken to his 9 month well baby check up. He was 18lbs 15oz (25th percentile) and 27.5 in (24th percentile). He got one shot, but did great. He is a healthy, happy baby boy....I can't believe he is almost 10 months old already!! Kenzie was feeling much better by Tuesday (FINALLY!) and she had a great time playing on the slides at the doctor's office while I was getting Ryken all checked out.

*Wednesday we met a lady to sell her a cold seat. Then we picked up Chip's mom and we all went down to Joe's Farm Grill for an early lunch. It was DE-LISH! The day was GORGEOUS! It was overcast with occasional light sprinkles. Nice and cool. Wednesday night we had small group and it was great seeing some good friends and having a wonderful encouraging time of fellowship.

*Thursday we went to the zoo in the morning...it was another BEAUTIFUL day and the kids had a great time playing in the water caves and at the splash pad and seeing a few animals too. We got home and Kenzie was dead asleep. We decided to put her in her bed and the rest of us ate lunch. She slept for a couple hours and then woke up and ate lunch while Ryken took a nap. When he woke up, we went to pick up our car (which we had dropped off earlier to get new tires) and the went over to Chip's parents house. It was windy and Chip wanted to try out his kite. It kinda flew...but not very well. We decided to take advantage of Buffalo Wild Wing's special on boneless wings on Thursday nights and picked up food to eat with Chip's mom and dad. We spent the evening with them, and left around 8pm. The kids had a great time seeing Grano Lulu and Papa B.

*Today, I got to go see a brand new baby : ) Our friends had their third baby early this morning (like 3am) and I got to go to the hospital and meet him! Both mom and baby were doing well...a little sore and banged up.....but nothing TOO horrible. He was a cute little guy! I came home and Chip had already fed the kids lunch...nice! We put the kids down for a nap around 1:45 and Chip left for work at 2:30. I decided to try to get a couple minutes of sleep before Ryken woke up.....and I woke up 2 hours later and the kids were still sleeping! YAY FOR AMAZING NAPS! Kenzie didn't end up waking up until after 5:30!! We went outside to play and ended up staying outside for over 2 hours! The neighbor kids came out and played with Kenzie and we just enjoyed the amazing cool weather, something that we know will be rare for the next few months.

So that was our week. So many amazing blessings!

And now....we're gearing up for my little sister Cassie to be married...just ONE WEEK from tomorrow! Woohoo : )