When the dads are away....the moms pretty much still do a lot of work

You know you are an extrovert when flying alone with 3 kids is the lesser evil to being alone for 11 days. :) Mark was headed out for a few different reasons and I was very blessed by the conspiring of he and his friend Ben who figured out a way to get us to Michigan for a bonus trip.

This flight was better than our last though because a)we didn't have a layover, and b)Mark came thru security with us and he's just so great to have around. :)

This picture is blurry-but I just wanted to document that the Honda Odyssey IS in fact, an 8 passenger vehicle. 6 kids. It took Allison and I about 42 minutes to load everyone when we left, but we did it.
I'm not even gonna get started on this love affair, but I sure hope it continues...
Ava was just a tiny bit excited to see her friends.


Got to sneak in a quick visit with my sweet sis before she jetted off to the Dominican Republic on a missions trip.
When you are co-mothering 6 kids 4 and under, quiet times are an essential part of every day. We let them stay up because "they weren't tired." You can totally see the zest for life in their eyes.
My great love Michelle working on cake balls. (Thanks STEPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
The great thing about Allison (beside that she hosted me and my crazies for almost a week) is that when they moved to Grand Rapids, we had about 7 mutual friends. I couldn't go anywhere in town without hearing about her. :) I'm thankful!
Just a few kids.

Precious friends! (who babysat! thank you!)

So we could go out with more mutual friends :)
Dave was up north with Ben and Mark, so Christina and her cuties got to come visit, too! (In case you're counting, this made the total number of kids living in Allison's house 8-4 and under).
This is the worst picture of me ever, but I love how engaged that sweet little Cruz is. So fun to see him!
Phew. Finally the Dads came home! Hooray! I love how happy they look. We are so blessed with AWESOME dads for our kids!
Then we made them change and sent them outside.
And we went out again. It was so great to have them back. :)
Another highlight was seeing our Michigan family who we miss more than words can say.
Reese has really mastered the cheese.
Yay for getting to see Grandma Betsy 4 times this Spring despite our move!
Auntie Barbie...xoxo

Our last day was spent at the pool where we used to go. Love all these little munchkins!
I highly recommend bringing Dads to the pool!

So you can sit on the side... :)
We missed seeing a LOT of people we love dearly this trip because of no car and a tight schedule and lots of kids...but can't wait to get back to the motherland again soon.