A visit from Melendra and Bryn

Last Friday and Saturday we were so happy to get a visit from my good friend Melendra and her daughter Bryn. Bryn and Anna were born one day apart, and they hit it off immediately. (you Farmer relatives probably remember the amazing story of Bryn's car birth, which we forced Melendra to repeat in detail. April was a little horrified.) Bryn and Anna said hello, then disappeared downstairs to play for about an hour. I love how quickly little children make friends. If Melendra and I had been best buddies as 4-year-olds instead of 11-year-olds, I imagine we would have looked a lot like these two. It was very fun to watch them play and for us to catch up on the details of each other's lives. 

Melendra and Joe and the kids are preparing for a grand adventure in Europe starting next month. I am so excited for them and a little bit jealous. How would it be to just pick up and move to Luxembourg for 6 months? I found out that it isn't nearly that easy, but it will be a wonderful and memorable experience for them I'm sure. How I would love to join them for a week! Maybe if I save all my miles? We'll see.

I invited the rest of the St. Louis family over (with four of the seven Farmer siblings since we still have Trace and Tawny is back from Idaho) for a potluck dinner and to join in the visit with Melendra. It was some wild and crazy fun. Our little girl cousins came up the stairs without all their shirts. We were just glad they still had their pants on. They tend to shed their clothes at the slightest whim of any one of them. The little girls took to Melendra right away. The shirtless cousins were all over her, running around her, then jumping into her arms. They loved it.

Lyn looks the same as she did in high school, lucky lady...

London bridges

Certain little girls were caught over and over.

Love. (or was it torture)

Three little cuties on a chair

The Speedy Apple-Eaters

They raced to the kitchen, took a bite, then raced to the living room to take another bite. Repeated many times. They were careful not to let Mitchell catch up to them and join their elite club.

Poor lonely Mitchell, getting to the door a little late once again

Louisa proudly showing off her Mitchell-inflicted owie 

One must be aware of Mitchell's little hands at all times. 

Outing with Geoff

Just before the end of the Christmas break, Geoff gave me and April a break from the kiddos and took them to Autumn Hill where he works. His school for disabled children has many fun and interesting toys to play on, and the kids always have a blast there. They have even chosen to go there over the Magic House. They played and played and then went to eat at Taco Bell. Geoff even took the camera to snap a few pictures. At home I was enjoying doing the laundry in solitude while watching Downton Abbey. I had piles and piles of clothes to wash and was mostly finished when they came home. It was a very relaxing afternoon. Thanks to Geoff!

Lincoln on the Flying Thing

Annabug!

Hula-hooping on a tricycle like it's no big deal

The favorite activity I think

More swinging fun

Preston and Alec doing the Xbox 360

I love Alec's expression.

Geoff assured me that she was loving this. 

We had to get a little more sledding in before the snow melted. 

It's mostly gone now, but it was fun while it lasted.

New Year's Eve

Trace deserted his spot on the couch on New Year's Eve in order to make himself a sandwich. We all stopped to watch this unprecedented event. I quickly grabbed my camera in order to prove that this really happened. :)

Trace and the girls

Tyler and April playing pool

I believe April was the winner. 

(If you look closer you'll see that Trace has reclaimed his spot on the couch.)

Winter Wonderland!

Snow in St. Louis at last! The kids have long awaited this day. I wish Maren were here to play with us, but she is off in Florida having a great time with her band. We invited a few friends (Cane and Kyle) over to join in the fun. I took the kids to the ice skating rink, then we came home for more snow fun.

Tasting snow for the first time

Ahh! Snowballs! Watch it, guys!

Ah! The joy of it! It was worth the wait.

Trevor is not a huge fan of ice skating. (the picture is deceiving)

                                      

Ice Skating!

Cane and Adam on ice

Keeping Annalisa upright- not an easy task

                                        

Surprisingly, Annalisa didn't fall once.

We went around the rink twice like this. Then she was done.

Ice skating is not too challenging for Adam.
He goes faster than the rest of us and never falls.

The next-door-neighbors have the perfect sledding hill- steep, with an open field at the bottom. Not a tree anywhere. 

Trevor taking Annalisa for a ride

Adam having some trouble getting to the top of the hill

It was slightly slushy and very slippery. 

Notice him bringing an extra sled up the hill for someone else. Nice! 

Annalisa feeling some terror

It was pretty fast!

Hey, that wasn't so bad!

And up the hill! Again, with extra sleds. What good boys. :)

The Farmer boys came over to join in the fun.

I love these expressions, so I'm putting lots of pictures up. I can't help myself.

Lincoln was especially photogenic. 

Those Farmer boys... so dang cute.

The picture captures the speed. Look at his short hair flying.

They discovered it was even more fun to go down on the same sled.

What a ride!

Starting to wear out,

and loving it.

It even worked without a sled. He was bundled up enough to do this. April put them in layers upon layers.

The coldness wasn't such a problem. Wetness was more the issue. I saw Lincoln pulling off wet gloves only to reveal clean, dry gloves underneath. Same with his hat. April's a genius.

This has been one of my all-time favorite activities with my kids. I loved every minute.