Amish Country Inn

Amish Country

As part of Phillip's vacation last week, we went to a bed and breakfast in Seymour, Missouri called Amish Country Inn. The b&b was in a barn that had been renovated and it was very nice. The owners were very nice too and the wife (they have 7 boys and 1 girl) even took Daniel back to the kitchen with her the night we got there so we could eat our meal in peace. Daniel did very good and slept well that night (no crying!) which was a blessing! I was worried that he might keep everyone up (there were honeymooners there) which would have been awful, but he didn't! The next day we took some pictures around the place and then we went to an authentic Amish store. It was on an actual Amish family's farm and they ran it. There are about 2400 old order Amish around the area and we saw lots of horse-drawn wagons and buggies as we were driving around. It was very neat! The Amish store was interesting too. When we walked in the ladies were talking in Pennsylvania Dutch (German?) and of course they were dressed in Amish clothes. One of the girls was younger (I couldn't tell how old she was; she could have been in her late teens or early 20's) and I couldn't help but stare discreetly - she was so different than me! She was very pretty though and I find myself wishing I could talk to her about her life. But we know that they don't like people staring and prying so I didn't of course. The store had lots of things, including Amish material and boots and hats. In addition, it had baking pans and supplies, toys and books for children, and some food. Just a side note, if you would like to read some books on the Amish, look up Beverly Lewis. She writes Christian historical fiction on the Amish and I love her books! Anyway, from there we drove on to Branson and did some shopping there and then it was home. My mom got to go with us which was also a lot of fun!!

Daniel and Mommy at Shores Lake

Daniel is almost 7 months in this picture. So cute!!

Shores Lake and White Rock Mountain

Last week Phillip was on vacation so we got to do some fun stuff together as a family. We went to several craft fairs (fun for me!) including War Eagle and Mulberry Mountain. The day we went to the craft fair at Mulberry Mt. we impulsively decided to drive on to Shores Lake and then up to White Rock Mountain. It was quite a drive (lots of dirt road too) but very beautiful, especially the lookout view at White Rock. Daniel did really good in the car and he smiled for the camera a lot too!

Sharrah's Visit

Here's some pictures of Sharrah and the babies!

I absolutely LOVE this picture of all 3 of them!!

This last weekend Sharrah and Kevin came to visit! It was so good to see them again!! Kevin had enough frequent flyer miles to get both him and Sharrah tickets (thank you, Kevin!). Originally, Sharrah was coming to not only see us but to also go to our 10 year highschool reunion that I was organizing. However, that reunion didn't happen because pretty much no one could come. Anyway, that meant more time for me to spend with just her and Kevin. They flew in Friday and went to visit Andrea near Fort Smith, so Friday I didn't see them. Saturday we all (including the Osbon family) met at the Rolling Pin cafe for breakfast and had chocolate gravy and biscuits. Yum! Kevin was really looking forward to the chocolate gravy (he doesn't get that where he's from up north, poor guy - he needs to move down here...). After breakfast we went our separate ways (Sharrah had a wedding to go to that afternoon), but then met back up at my parents' house that evening for dinner. Phillip grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we watched the Razorback game (well, kinda watched it; it was pretty boring). Besides my entire family, Sharrah and Kevin, and Krystal's family, Pam was also there and Andrea showed up too. It was a lot of fun and we got some cute pictures of Sharrah and the babies! Sunday after church and lunch, just us girls went to get some icecream from Shake's. This is an old tradition from our college days. Ok! Maybe I shouldn't say "old!" :) It was a short trip but I'm so thankful that Sharrah got to come and that we got to see her even if just for a couple of days. This was also her first time to see Daniel and Justus in person so that was very special!! We love you, Sharrah!!!!

Inseparable cousins

Catalina 21 months, Daniel 6 1/2 months

Don't they look alike?

Cousins and Best Friends

Catalina Isabel (my niece and Daniel's cousin) is Daniel's "best friend" at this point. Catalina is almost 2 years old and she absolutely LOVES baby Daniel (his name is "Baby" so far). Watching the two of them together is so much fun! Catalina can see our car driving up and will know that it's Baby's car (Aunt Audrey takes 2nd place to Baby). For the next half hour she will repeat the word "Baby" over and over. Daniel also LOVES Catalina. As soon as he sees her, he gets a big grin on his face and starts making happy noises. Sometimes they play laughing games. Daniel will laugh and then Catalina will laugh and they'll just go back and forth - it's so adorable! Catalina does, however, pose a small health risk for Daniel as she is constantly trying to pick him up or "play" with him. But Daniel has no worries (only mom worries) and he loves the attention he gets from her. They also like to get their diapers changed at the same time. In fact, the only way to get Catalina's diaper changed is to change Daniel's diaper too. And anything Daniel does, Catalina wants to do (this includes getting in the baby walker and putting on Daniel's onsies). She's also very good at being "quiet" when baby Daniel is nursing or sleeping. She puts her finger up to her mouth and says "shhh" but then immediately follows with a loud "baby!" :) I know we will all enjoy watching them grow up together. There's just nothing like best cousins...best friends.