Day 208 Friend time!

Today we got to spend time with our great friends, the Wagars!  They've got 8 kids: Delaney, Berkley, Cordelia, Wolfgang, Thornton, Almanzo, Evangeline, and the newest little guy is....well, he's got a Serbian name and I just can't seem to remember yet! He's not even 2 months old yet, so I have time.  Thankfully, we've known them long enough to watch as their family kept expanding, so I memorized them one at a time.  Actually, we bought our dog Socks from them!  They've been serving overseas as missionaries during the time we were away, so it's been interesting to debrief each other in our journeys of "coming home."  Keith went to seminary with Jared and Jennifer has always been great friend to me, bringing meals when it was my turn to have a baby, and even helping to pack up our kitchen over 4 years ago.  They homeschool as well, which is always a plus for me.  Oh, and their oldest is only a tad older than Benaiah, so they understand the whole teenager and having a toddler at the same time kind of thing.  Anyway, we had LOTS to talk about, so much so, that I didn't take any pictures.  Maybe next time, because oh my, their youngest daughter has the cutest curls you have ever seen!

We were there for 4 hrs, and Jenn was kind enough to feed us once again.  She even knew what I needed for both a yummy treat and for a meal because we sort of follow the same plan!  What a blessing!  We'll have to have them over sometime to return the favor for sure.  Abishai had a blast eating spaghetti, so much so that his shirt is now soaking in some oxyclean.  He even got to try to drink water out of a real glass! Lots of fun things at the Wagars!  But he was exhausted, so we finally headed home.  He fell asleep in the car, but woke up as I carried him in the building.  He ate a little snack and went back to bed.  Then we talked with Jared as he was preparing for bed too.  Only a couple more days and he'll be home!  The middles couldn't play PS4 because of their behavior last night, but they found some painting and archeology to play with.  Then it was leftovers for dinner, and time to mess around while Mommy got a few boxes of books done!  Yeah for late in the day cup of coffee for that one.  One box at a time.

Meanwhile, Benaiah had gone with Grandma and Grandpa to help a relative pack up their house onto a truck so they could move.  We Johnsons/Cooks don't like to sit still, do we?

Just like the dog, if you say "bye-bye," Abishai will find my shoes and his.  Let's go!

Spaghetti stains!  But he had a blast!

Abishai "reading" to Justin.

Keturah likes to sleep next to Abishai and saves her loft bed for important things like markers and her books.  So, Abishai thought it would be fun if he took over her spot.

Abishai tucking himself and Keturah in for the night.  He still sleeps in his crib though.  I would never leave that child at night without caging him in!

A couple of fun quotes:

Keturah said I'm a super mom because I have to get through Abishai's stinky diapers and I feed (nurse) him.

Jared told me via text to hug squeaky (Abishai) until he squeaked.  Well, it worked!  The kids and I had a great time laughing about it!