Did I mention...

...how blessed I am? As I go back through the pictures that I need to post here, I am reminded of how God has surrounded me with so many amazing people. Family and friends that support me, love me, and make me who I am. Since I've moved around so much in the last several years, many of "my people" are out of state. Some in Minnesota, some in California, some in Oklahoma...all places I've lived in the last seven years. How lucky am I that people came from as far as Minnesota and California to come see The Sound of Music? For two weekends in a row, we had the blessing of friends and family visiting and I know that is such a statement of God's provision in our lives. He has not only provided Steve with a job here in Kansas that uses his very specialized degree in Meteorology, but he's also provided support for us wherever we land. And then that support system continues to be a part of our lives even as we move from place to place!

Our first June visitors were Steve's parents (I have incredible in-laws, by the way) and also my best friend Gretchen, her mom Diane (who is really like one of my other moms), and her sweet little boy Aden (her hubby Ryan had to stay back and work - bummer!). We had such fun while they were here. Of course, we took them to Shawnee Mission Park and they braved the heat and enjoyed the sunshine with us. Steve and his dad got to do a little fishing, too! They caught (and released) some good ones.

We also had a little visitor while fishing...gave me the heebeejeebees! Ewwww!

Saturday afternoon, before Gretchen, Diane and Aden left, and before our call time for that night's Sound of Music performance, we had a great barbeque at the park. Here's Aden enjoying his dinner. Isn't he precious?!? Love that boy.

It was wonderful to share that time with family and friends, and we got even more of the same the following weekend when my parents, my brother Eric and sister-in-law Katherine, and my friend Kristine came into town. It had been seven months since I'd seen my parents and Eric & Katherine, and five years since I'd seen Kristine!

Of course, besides providing them with entertainment in the form of a lovely evening of theatre (pronounced theat-ah, for effect), we also put my dad to work. Haha. I am in the process of making cloth wipes (to go along with my hopes of being a cloth diapering momma), and asked if I could use their serger to allow for better looking edges on the fabric. My dad loves a challenge, and it had been awhile since the serger had been used, so he enjoyed navigating the trickiness that is the serger. Unfortunately, by the time we figured it out, we only had time to serge two wipes. Oops! I'll be finishing the rest soon.

It was also fun to take them to a couple of our favorite eating venues. We don't go out to eat much, so it's fun to have a reason! There is a fabulous little brunch place near us that makes the most incredible food! If you are ever in the Kansas City area, I highly recommend checking out Eggtc (catchy name, huh?). Based on the smiles, I think our guests approved (Eric and Katherine hadn't gotten to KC quite yet...they'll have to take part in the deliciousness next time).

Another favorite was a trendy new self-serve frozen yogurt place called Peachwave. We are enamored with this place. They sent us grand opening coupons in the mail, which proved to be an excellent marketing tool, because we keep going back! Kristine and I ate there almost every day that she was here...for reals. It's that good.

Here is my brother and his lovely bride.

Seriously...look at these masterpieces. YUM!

And, well, you guessed it...we went to the park. It was pretty hot out, so we didn't stay long, but we did come across some cute little families. These yearlings (teenage geese, as I like to call them) kept getting closer and closer to us as they picked through the grass for bugs (or whatever they were hoping to eat). Their dad walks right up to us and starts hissing! Seriously, dude, keep your kids in line, don't hiss at us when they are getting in our space. Geez...parents these days. Ha!

We had so much fun with our 2nd weekend's worth of visitors. And an extra bonus was that Kristine stayed with us for a few more days before heading to Vegas (she is one busy girl! So many vacations to take, so many people vying for her presence!). Kristine is a chef, and an avid Food Network fan. She's visited several restaurants that have been featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Kansas City is famous for its barbeque, so she did her research and introduced us to some amazing BBQ! The best ones are the hole-in-the-wall places, and it was so much fun to discover so many new places to eat here in KC! One of our favorites was Woodyard BBQ...it was so good! They even let Kristine cook! Well, maybe...

We're so blessed to have had lots of visitors in June. Thanks everyone for coming to see us, and supporting another one of my theatre adventures! Next up...pics of the show! Can't believe it was over a month ago...this summer is FLYING! What fun things are you doing this summer?