Great Friends, Great Times

We've been looking forward to Scott and Kate's visit all summer and finally the time came! We all couldn't have been more excited. They arrived Friday mid-day and stayed with us until Monday morning. We sure did fit in lots of fun (and some relaxation, too!) in those few days. Friends like these are hard to find, once-in-a-lifetime, can't-be-replaced kind of friends and we all just LOVE them! 

Saturday morning we went to the Downtown Farmers' Market in Des Moines. It was so awesome! Among many other fun things, we got to see a very talented balloon animal artist. Travis got a monkey and Cassidy got a fish on a fishing pole! Amazing!

 Afterward, we all enjoyed coal-fired oven pizza at Centro. Yum!

 Sunday morning we took our friends to our "new" church! What fun it was introducing them to many of our friends and church family.

 

 

Scott and Kate drove back to Michigan this morning and we already miss them! Come back soon, Scott and Kate!

The Princess Haircut

I've been saying for a very long time that we need to have Cassidy's hair cut. I have trimmed it a few times but it's never been cut the right way. I finally made the appointment and today was the day! We've been talking about this haircut all week long and Cassidy has NOT been excited about it. So this morning I told her we were going to get a "Princess Haircut"! She picked out a favorite pretty dress and shoes and off we went. I was a little nervous about how she might react, but as soon as we walked into the salon, she turned into such a little lady! She walked up to various women and said, "My name is Cassidy Jensen! How are you doing today?!" And of course all the ladies just ate up her precious little girl charm. She sat so well the whole time Brandi was cutting, blowdrying and styling her hair. She looked SO grown up to me in her purple cape and with her hair all Hollywood-glam-style! We all had so much fun!

 

 

 

 

Zoooooooo Day!

We've been waiting for a day under 100 degrees to go back to the zoo. Today it was about 75, sunny and not humid, so off we went! We were all so excited to be at the zoo!

Trav rode in the backpack, way up high so he could see everything well. He still sits in there great but Kurt's back was very sore after a couple hours of lugging around The Trav!

 Cassidy announced right away that she wanted to see the tiger, get some popcorn (?) and look for George (Curious George, of course). 

 Pumpkin's eyes got HUGE when she saw the carousel! What fun for a little girl.

 Daddy and Travis sat for some of the ride. 

 We had a quick moment of tears when the short ride ended, but a quick slip of another $2 to the carousel attendant got us a second go-round!

 Here's Cassidy in a little cave, trying to get a better look at the animals.

 Then we found the monkeys! Here, Cassidy is exclaiming about "George" climbing so fast up a pole!

 This is the look that told me it was time to go. Travis could barely keep his tired little eyes open!

 Can you see what this girl is acutally holding? A bag of popcorn! She actually found some! She is a popcorn hound, I tell you! (Takes after her Grandpa!)

Memories of Michigan

We are so thankful to Dawn for sharing the pictures she took while we were visiting their family last month. We spent just a couple days in Lake Leelanau with them, but we packed in lots and lots of fun, good food, laughter, and memory-making! Dawn captured some truly special moments with her camera. We are separated by many miles right now, but Jake and Ruby, Dawn and Josh are still part of our everyday lives as we talk about them, pray for them, and remember them with pictures and memories. We can't wait to see them again!

Homemade play-doh!

Travis started shaking hands with everyone in the room, saying "nice to meet you!" over and over and over again! It was so funny, it had us all in stitches!

  

Two buddies, walking the trail together. It's funny to think that Ruby and Cassidy are about the same age difference as Dawn and I are. 

Four Musketeers

  

One of my all-time favorite pictures of Cassidy. Pure joy on that face!

Travis, explaining the ins and outs of wheels, to Josh.

Shaking hands again, this time with Josh.

   

Napping Trav. I went in to check on him and found that he had somehow gotten hold of a box of kleenex and, of course, removed every single one!

We stuffed 'em all back in. We owe you a new box of kleenex, Dawn!

The big kids and the little kids. This picture makes me happy and sad at the same time. Those big kids are still little kids to me, but next to my babies, I realize how "big" they really are!