Guatoberfest Preview

Yesterday morning the kids and I loaded into the car and headed west to visit Julia McKenzie and her family. I first met Julia a year and a half ago at the Marriott while I was picking Garrett up and she was visiting her son, John-Bryan, for the first time. She has told me that her first video of JB is actually of my son head-butting her son repeatedly while both giggle. Yeah, that's my son, the bully, but in a loving way. Any how, we have lived in close proximity of each other and yet have never taken the time to get our kids together for a playdate. With my moving across the country in a couple of weeks we decided to rectify that while we could.

The result was a preview of the entertainment we will experience at Guatoberfest. Julia invited her friends Karen, Abbie Faith's momma (Abbie's been home about 5weeks!), and Megan, Mackenzie's momma, to join us for lunch and play time fun. It was great to actually get together in person with Julia, instead of just chatting on our blogs, and I really enjoyed meeting Megan and Karen (I've lurked at their blogs several times. Now I'm going to be a regular. Thank God for NetVibes!)

I think the photos do the best job of showing what just five Guatemalan cuties can do when they get together. Of course, I didn't get a photo of Julia's living room floor littered with all of JB's toys.

All I can say is:

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A GREAT TIME IN TWO WEEKS!

ATLANTA -- ARE YOU READY FOR US????

JB showing off his baby sister, Abby Grace. What a cutie that little man is!

Sleeping Beauty.

All the kids were fascinated by this beautiful baby girl. She is such a sweet heart! I am so glad that I finally got to meet her!

This beauty is Abbie Faith. She reminds me of Elena in some ways -- serious while scoping out the situation, then all smiles and giggles. What a doll!

First photo we were able to get of the boys together. The only way we could get them to stop long enough for a picture was to distract them with the dog outside.

As I said, Elena was fascinated by Abby Grace. From her tiny hands,

to her little nose, that she couldn't quite pick,

to her little, ticklish feet.

The only photo I captured of the McKenzie-Merrill Crew

A short video of Garrett and JB playing. Yes, that is Elena in the background crying because Julia left the house for one minute. My daughter is in love with Julia. Loves her. Too cute (even if I'm a little jealous)

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Elena helping Julia feed Abby Grace lunch.

Two peas in a pod.

Our attempt at a group shot. If we couldn't make it work with 5 babies, how in the world will we ever do it with 50?????

(Check out Mackenzie [on the far left] -- she just couldn't understand why my two and JB were so upset)

Happy again and off to the races

Snack happy.

These photos are from today, but I promise they are connected to our adventures yesterday.

Garrett is totally enthralled by busses right now. Wherever we go, he points out busses, talks about busses, plays with bus toys, etc. So, yesterday afternoon Garrett would not let go of JB's Little People Bus. Turns out that Julia is not a fan of that particular toy, while Garrett is a HUGE fan. Guess what we got to bring home with us?

Don't be fooled by the photo. While Elena might be sitting next to her brother while he is holding the bus, he is still the one holding and playing with the bus. It was the first thing he asked for when he woke up this morning. Garrett says, "Thank you Julia and JB for my new toy!"

Also, emptying out my car last night there were two bags of goodies in the back seat. Julia was sneaky and got them in there without my even having a clue. The kids have already read both books several times this morning, and Elena has her new phone attached to her ear.

Thank you Julia for wonderful day and for the wonderful gifts. You are an example to me of how to live life with grace, faith, and hospitality. I look forward to the day that our paths cross again!