A Collection of Happy Days: End of July/August 2015

Get ready… The pictures & videos alone make this post long…

We have been very busy this month. We've had TONS of cousin time. It has been so much fun! But at the same time, SO exhausting. Ha. So for now we're just enjoying being at home where it's quiet and we're on our own time. Here's what we've been up to.

Random picture of Kayla #1…Well for this post, I always post lots of pictures of her. But there are plenty of them here, just because I thought she was so cute!

Kayla sitting up in our bed. She was getting really good at it in this picture. Although she couldn't get herself in the sitting position yet.

She likes to help Mommy with laundry :)

July 31st

She's mobile. Only if she wants a toy bad enough, though. it's pretty adorable the way she plops forward. Lol!

I often find her under the piano bench. Unfortunately, now that she crawls she likes to go through the legs to the right of this picture and try to eat my computer cord.

Pretty girl :)

At the beginning of July the sister missionaries were sending around a list of who would be available to go out teaching with them. I'll be honest. I ignored it. But I really was willing… just shy. Luckily a few weeks later they felt that they needed to ask me to come to a lesson with Ciara. It was such a great experience. She has such an amazing testimony and it has been such a blessing to me to be able to be a part of the lessons with them. So I went to a handful with them. On July 31st, I was able to go the her wedding in the afternoon.

Her husband is also a recent convert of earlier this year. We actually just hung out with them last night. It's been so fun getting to know both of them. I seriously love their story and their wonderful testimonies that just show in their words and actions.

Later that evening was her baptism. It was a really neat experience to have been there during her lessons and then to be at her baptism. Her husband was also not only able to baptize her, but he did it in his native language, chinese. The spirit was so strong!

Afterwards we surprised them with a little mini reception for the wedding and baptism.

I'm so glad I was able to be a part of the whole day for them!

One day I went to watch a friend's kids. Kayla was so mezmerized by the fact that there was someone smaller than her. But as I took the picture she got distracted by her bottle.

They both really liked each other though!

Jacob's oldest brother Michael, along with his wife Kiya, and their 2 kids Crew and Lina all came to Texas. We were able to spend a few days with everyone. And then Michael and Kiya took off to Nicaragua for a week. This was where Michael served his 2 year church mission. As they were planning the trip and especially when they returned home and we were able to hear some of their experiences, I had no doubt that the Lord needed them to go, and He made sure everything fell into place for them to be where they needed to be. It is so amazing how much the Lord's hands are in each of our lives. Some days were rougher than others here in Texas with 3 kids under 3 (my mother inlaw and I were watching their 2 kids + Kayla) but it was SO SO SO worth it. Not only did we have some great times with the kids, Michael and Kiya were able to have some really special encounters with people he had met on his mission who happened to need him there with them at that exact time.

A day or so after Michael and Kiya arrived, Kim and her family were able to spend a morning here before they headed back home from vacation. I was actually going to Katy this day to watch my niece and nephew, but I was able to stop by for a few minutes to say hi and get some pictures. This is almost all of the McConnell grandkids. We were just missing Emma and Reese who live in Utah.

The 3 youngest grandkids.

Kayla is the youngest and happens to be the biggest of the 3.

Here, Kayla is 6 months, Jane is 1 year, and Lina is 7 months.

In Katy with Harrison and Henley

Anytime I try to get a picture of the 3 of them, there's always one not looking.

Harrison loves Kayla. Sometimes a little too much. She may be bigger than him, but sometimes he just smothers her with love. Haha.

2 sweet cousins!

Seriously, I couldn't get enough of these 2! They are 3 weeks apart and it's so fun to see them together.

Jacob playing the piano at Grandma's house with Crew.

And then Kayla started to try to pull herself up on things.

Just a random, cute picture of Kayla.

Saturday the 8th, we got to hang out with Bella. She came over to Jacob's parents house with us in the morning, so we had 4 kids under 3, but half way through her visit Crew and Lina went down for their naps and then my parents came into town and we spent the rest of the day with them.

Sunday at church. Grandma was happy to have 3 grandkids to show off!

He insisted that the teddy bears and doll needed tucked in next to him and then he proceeded to read to all of them. So cute!

Every once in a while he would play with both girls. But then they would touch him and he was over it.

Sweet girls!

Tuesday, Kayla and I went to our first play group. Grandma, Lina, and Crew came along too!

Crew had fun riding his bike. Which we did again at the Bryan building on Wednesday when Grandma had her meeting.

Again, pulling herself up!

Thursday was a very busy day for the kids. Here's all 3 of them crammed in the back together.

After an errand at Kohls, we went to go see Papa at work. He works at the Texas A&M Vet school.

Crew had so much fun! He got to see some horses, cows, and goats. And Grandpa got to show off the 3 kids to all his coworkers!

We made sure to take lots of pictures to share with Michael and Kiya.

Then we went to see Jacob. He works as a mechanic at a paving company and Crew got to see lots of different equipment. And Jacob let him turn some on. And they drove around in one too!

Crew was ecstatic to see all the trucks!

That was all the pictures I have with them.

On Friday, August 14th, Kayla's first tooth came in! We are so excited. BUT since she's been teething and we've spent so much time at Grandmas and in Katy, her schedule has been so off, she no longer sleeps through the night :( But she is still happy and healthy and seriously growing like a weed!! We love her!

Saturday Michael and Kiya came back. And they all left back to Utah on Sunday. It was such a great trip for everyone, we're glad everything worked out :)

Monday and Tuesday the last 2 weeks of August I spent in Katy watching my sister's kids.

Okay I lied, they are all looking here, but none of them are smiling. And then there's Hutch, mid-stretch in the background.

Monday, August 17th, Kayla finally started crawling. (No more plopping. Haha.)

And then she decided to start pulling up on everything.

She turned 7 months old on August 22. And that's also when she decided to start standing against everything! She also can now get in the sitting position by herself. It's so fun to watch her develop and grow.

I know everyone says it all the time, but theres just no other way to describe it… Having a baby is one of the hardest and best things all in one!

I'm starting to have a hard time keeping up with this busy, moving, standing girl ;)

Also on Saturday, we got to hang out with Elizabeth, Brody, and Bella. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of all of them. Later in the afternoon I snapped this of these cuties while running errands. Kayla and Bella LOVE each other. I love seeing them together.