The weekend...

So on Friday Josh's mom drove up from Texas to meet us at the Diamond mine in Murfreesboro, Ar. We let the kids dig in the dirt in hopes of finding a HUGE diamond! No such luck, but the kids had a great time and we found some really pretty rocks for mom to use in her gardens. :-) Judy followed us back up to Hot Springs and we met up with Amy, Sam and their kids for dinner at Jason's. It was a blast and I was SOOOO excited to get to finally meet Amy and her family! They are awesome!! We brought all the kids back here to the house and they had some late night swimming...the rest of us just chatted until it was time for bed. :-) Yesterday, we had a big bbq for mine, Dad's and Elder Carter's (a missionary in my parent's ward) birthdays. Dad's was friday, mine is today and Elder Carter's is on the 28th or 29th. I made us a four layer german chocolate cake (my specialty) because it just happened to be all three of our favorites! :-) The kids swam some more and we really enjoyed the time eating and visiting. Josh's dad and stepmom drove down from Kansas and his brother and his family drove up from texas yesterday morning...so they got to spend the day with us and they all got to meet Cole!! We were so excited to get to see them and so grateful that they made the trip to visit us! Today we got up early for church and then Amy and her family, Ray and Jana and Aaron and his family all had to leave. :-( It was sad to say goodbye but we are going to see them real soon! Judy decided to stay an extra night so we get to have some more time with her before she has to leave. We've been having so much fun and I love just being able to spend time with my family! Tommy called mom's phone and mom told me he wanted to talk to me and I said "why? what's wrong?" LOL! I totally forgot it was my birthday and he wanted to wish me a happy birthday! LOL! Jess left a message on my cell...I don't get very good reception in the house so I missed the call...so if you are reading this...thank you so much for the birthday call!! LOVE YOU!! :-) Tomorrow we are going to hit downtown Hot Springs to see all the cool sites and we are going to try to squeeze in a trip to the movies to see Mama Mia. Then on Tuesday, we have to leave...I'm sad, I don't want to go...honestly if it weren't for the fact that Ryan has his first day of school on Thursday...I'm pretty sure that I would be staying at least another week. We've just had such a great time here. I also have to say that we are so blessed that my parents have such wonderful friends and neighbors around them. For all that they have been through, without us kids being close by, they have had such tremendous support. I can't even being to tell you how beautiful and wonderful these people are. I know posting a thank you in my blog doesn't mean a whole lot, and I have tried to express my gratitude to all these people in person but I just want to say it again...to their bishop, RS president, Brother Wray, missionaries, the English family, Mr. Bob and Miss Ann, Donna and her family, Lance and his family, Dana, Miss Rosie and everyone at Jason's, Miss Evelyn and everyone else here in Ar that have been so incredibly supportive of my parents, I can never thank you enough for everything you have done for them...if only everyone in the world were like you all, this world would be a much better place. We love you all!!!!