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Back in college I was in a little group called A Cub Bella. Yeah we were a female acapella group and yeah we were pretty good. :) Ok so anyway…since we lived out of the state for nearly 5 years I missed out on a lot of reunions and get-togethers of the group. That all ended when I went to a Bella Baby Shower in St. Louis. One of our alum, Lacey, was the mom-to-be but so many years have passed that many other girls now have babies and there were others who were pregnant! It’s kind of crazy how so many of us are at completely new and different stages of our lives. Anywho…
That Saturday I hopped in the car (by myself!) and made the 2 1/2 hour trip to STL!
Once at Lacey’s house I was able to catch up with so many Bellas! It was crazy but I haven’t seen some of these girls in almost 10 years!
Amber (due any day now!), Alyssa (with one of her two darling babies!) and me (minus Owen…I was actually kind of sad I didn’t have him with me since it would’ve been so neat to have them meet him).
Lacey unwrapping all the gifts…
All the Bellas…
Me with Lacey who has now welcomed little Mallory into the world!
It was so great to see some old friends and to welcome a new Baby Bella into the world!
-Shannon
To ring in 2012 I had the audacious idea to invite our playgroup friends over…husbands, kids and all! Everyone brought food and we began the countdown to the New Year!
Along the way the kids were allowed to pretty much do whatever they wanted. The parents may have been too busy eating and drinking to care. :) Here is the mess that Owen and Allyson made in the bathroom…
Since we hosted the event I took advantage of that fact and put Owen down for bed. But most of the other kids made it! In fact all but one family stayed until 11:00 when we watched the ball drop in New York City. We were all happy to make it that long and called it a night. But before everyone left we took a quick group picture…L-R: The Carnahans – Kathleen, Kevin, Lucy & Jennifer; The Dorans – Chris, Valerie & Allyson; The Goses – Brian, Clara & Mallory (baby Tessa was sleeping upstairs); The Endicotts – minus Owen…
I am so thankful for this group of friends and that I have a new year to look forward to with them!
-Shannon
Last school year we were lucky enough to become friends with Esther. She was a student at CMU and is originally from Juarez, Mexico. Spring Break 2011 we traveled to El Paso to her former high school, LPI, and during this trip we were able to meet her entire family. This past summer Esther married Corey, her college boyfriend, and they now live in Kansas City. While we were in KC for Christmas we had the chance to see Esther and Corey and the timing was great because her whole family was visiting as well (minus one sister)!
Owen loved seeing Esther again…although it took a little remembering on his part. :)
Owen and Josie…
Josie, Enid, Esther, Owen and Corey…
We loved soaking in some Mexican love especially since they made us breakfast. :)
-Shannon
It had been almost a year since we saw our friends, the Smiths (Spencer, Abby, Grace and their newest little one, Eve). Lucas had a trip to southwest Missouri and we convinced the Smiths to drive up from Tulsa so we’d all meet in the middle! We actually ended up crashing at Spencer’s parent’s house in Joplin which made our time together wonderful. We could put kids down for naps when needed but still spend time together. It was so good to see them and to finally meet the little addition to their family. Grace was happy to show off her little sister…
And with Owen and Grace being only 3 months apart, we had plenty to keep us busy. There was bath time…yes, I know my son is holding a razor…it was quickly removed from his hand. :)
We were too busy chasing the two toddlers around to take many pictures, but we managed to snap a few outside as we were loading up the car.
Owen kind of started getting upset at the end of the photoshoot and I guess it’s because we had him perilously perched on the rock…
Oh wait…no we didn’t! The two inch drop to the ground was just a little too much for him.
Back to happy!
It’s been almost two months since we saw them hence the fall tree but I’m still so glad we were able to work in some time with close friends!
-Shannon
Way back in May we visited NYC with a group from CMU where our days were filled with seminars and exploring the city. The last morning we were there we hauled all the students out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It made for a long day but we couldn’t pass it up. We barely made it on the first boat out and after wrangled everyone on board Lucas and I ducked off to a quiet corner to sit by ourselves. We sat down and about 30 seconds later I see someone look over at us. I glance over and then kind of start freaking out…it was our friend Andy White!
A little back story…I first met Andy when I was 15 at a Christian retreat. He was a student leader for the weekend and I remember thinking he was one awesome guy! Lucas met him around this time as well through the same retreat and each of us were friends with him through high school. Once college years hit, we all went our separate ways and reconnected recently through facebook. So long story short…we hadn’t seen Andy in almost 10 years!
He was visiting NYC with his wife (and they have a son and are expecting another!) and of all the days and all the boats to be on we happened to see each other! We walked around Liberty Island together reminiscing and eventually said our goodbyes. It was crazy to see him in NYC when in real life we live about 4 hours apart.
So here’s to old friends and chance meetings…Lucas, Me, Andy, Jennica
Like I said before, I was pretty bad at taking pictures while our friends were here. So our last morning together I had to make up for it by taking pictures and videos. Owen and Lillian were playing the morning away while Charlie was upstairs sleeping because he came down with a stomach bug the night before.
Owen loved watching Lillian and Charlie play but it was really neat to see just Owen and Lillian playing. She doesn’t get to be the “big kid” too often and you could tell she enjoyed it!
It was so great to see our friends and watch our kids play!
-Shannon
Ok no one actually came from Vancouver to see us but our friends Jeff & Jess came from Kansas. But we don’t really associate them with Kansas because we met them in Vancouver. We met there while at Regent and knew each other before kids even entered the picture. Before the left Vancouver (a year before us) they had Charlie. Now Charlie is 4 years old!
Last weekend they made the drive from Kansas to come stay with us for the weekend. We had lots of great conversation especially after all the kiddos were in bed. And it was so great to reconnect with friends from the past.
We enjoyed lots of time together but taking pictures wasn’t high on my list of things to do. Although I do wish I would’ve taken a few more. However, one afternoon all the guys headed out to enjoy the snow.
First the big boys threw snowballs at the roof to try and knock off the snow…
Next up was a picture of Charlie with the snowman they made. The head had already fallen off…
And finally they each took a turn hitting snowballs…
We had a great time playing in the snow!
-Shannon
After months of planning and hoping that they could make it up here, our friends Mandi & Jesse made it for a weekend! They live in Springfield and we’d seen them several times since moving back to MO but they hadn’t been able to come up and enjoy Boonville…that is until now! They arrived late on Friday night and stayed until Monday morning (MLK Day) when they had to head back home.
While they were here we enjoyed lots of time just hanging out and talking. They even brought their dog Moulder so he had to get in on the cuddle action with Owen…
On Sunday afternoon we even ventured over to Columbia to enjoy some Shakespeare’s Pizza. Everyone enjoyed it…
We were sad to say goodbye to them but it was so refreshing to have wonderful friends around while they were here.
-Shannon
A quick continuation of our trip to Tulsa to celebrate Miss Grace’s 1st Birthday…
Over on Grace’s mom’s blog I enjoyed seeing pictures of G + O so I thought I’d share some of my own of O + G. There’s nothing like a morning photo shoot in footed pajamas…
Grace trying to kiss Owen…
Owen showing off his standing and almost crawling skills to Auntie Abby…
The always beautiful Grace…
We love our friends!
-Shannon
We were recently invited to a birthday celebration! Grace was turning one and we were needed to help with the celebrating. :) Grace’s parents, Spencer & Abby, are some of our best friends so we made the trip to Tulsa to share in the big day.
Abby put together wonderful decorations with the theme of a circus…
Here’s the birthday girl and her beautiful Momma…
After enjoying the food it was time to open presents!
We brought this little shopping cart and Grace loved pushing it around…
Finally it was time for cake!
We had a great time celebrating with Grace and her friends. Happy 1st Birthday Grace!
-Shannon
