Camping in Nauvoo

 It was so cool getting to be in the Nauvoo Stake.  We had several opportunities to go to the Nauvoo Pagaent and of coarse to the Nauvoo temple.  Right before we moved they were having a big celebration in Nauvoo and they were feeding everyone dinner, Susan Easton Black told pioneer stories and everyone could camp for free.  Ty was way too busy and stressed to come with us but I went with a few friends and our kids to camp! I was six months pregnant but I just love to camp so much and wanted to take advantage of this cool experience while we were still so close to Nauvoo.

Saylor and Raleigh had a blast playing together!

It was kind of stressful being there with all our kids and no husbands and it got a bit trickier when it got dark and Oaks was running around the camp site.  I had to distract her with the ipad for awhile to keep her in one spot.

Watching Mickey with Max

Cute Max and Lisa

Raleigh let Saylor wear his headlamp and she thought that was pretty cool.

Happy Camping Kids!

Roasting Marshmallows!

I really wasn't sure how the whole camping with a bunch of kids in one tent thing was going to go...but my girls actually did awesome!

Snuggling with mommy in the tent

The girls of coarse woke up as soon as it got light...about 6am

Drinking hot chocolate in the morning

So excited!

My little poser

I love our adventures!

Soccer Girl

 Saylor decided to play another season of soccer only after I told her it was good exercise haha. She was never very interested in the game, but it was fun to be outside running around and she of coarse loved those treats!

Oakley, on the other hand, was always dying to get out there and play! She may be the athlete of the family...

 Saylor had to have Griffin hair for her last game!

 Oakley was her biggest fan! Oaks just adores everything about Saylor and would do just about anything for her.

 I know I always talk about how I have the greatest friends ever but they really are the coolest! Lisa signed up to coach soccer just so she could be Saylor's coach.  Lisa is so good with kids and was an amazing coach, Say loved it! It was such a blessing to have friends like Lisa in Missouri that loved my kids so much when we didn't have family there.

Pella Tulip Festival

I already mentioned how the last six weeks in Missouri were so tough with Ty being gone more than ever, me being pregnant and tired and also having to pack up our entire house. We had to distract ourselves sometimes and get away! Me, Lisa, Allie and Ashley packed up our kids and drove 2 hours to the Pella, Iowa Tulip Festival.  Going places with all our kids and with out our husbands isn't the easiest thing haha but it was still a super fun day and a great way to pass the time! Sometimes it's nice to get out of town for the day. (especially in Kirksville where there is really not much to do!)

My girls love parades! They couldn't even take their eyes off of it to look at me for this picture.

 Enjoying the parade and the beautiful tulips!

 Parades that throw out candy are even better! Oaks was loving the suckers.

 These orange tulips were some of my favorite! They were just so vibrant!

 Sitting in the dutch shoes

 My beautiful babes

 We got to eat some super yummy pastries from the bakery and the fun part is, they have the parade again at night but all the floats glow in the dark! They passed out glow necklaces to every along the parade route too before it started so everything was glowing! It was so fun!

 Max and Lisa

 Snuggling up for the night parade!

 We had so much fun!

Baby BOY's Baby Shower

A very cool perk of having a husband in medical school was that Ty had access to an ultrasound machine and he got to find out we were having a BOY! Kirstie got to come with us too and it was pretty cool for Ty to get to discover for himself that he was finally having a son! It's actually still pretty unreal to me.  I don't know how I ever got so lucky to have such awesome friends who spoiled me with the cutest ever baby shower! Lisa and Stacy are pretty much the most talented and cute party planners EVER!  The theme was sweet pea and everything was green!

One of my best friends Stacy made this adorable mobile!

All the food was green and seriously so delicious! 

Collette, Allie, Ashley and Stacy were all so awesome to help!

Snuggling Baby Redmond

The best part about all these decorations is they gave them to me to decorate my nursery with!

I think I was around 24 weeks at this point...

 It was SO SO fun to get boy stuff!  Ty was especially excited about little boy's first Nike Jordan outfit!

YAY for a brother!

Stacy made this cutest ever cake and it was so yummy! The middle was layers of all shades of green, how did I not get a picture of the inside?!

My gorgeous friends! One of our last times together before Collette moved and Stacy left for Utah. I miss our girl's nights so much!