the weekend and a few other things

There is a theme to this post.  See if you can catch on.

This was a great weekend, and though Thursday is technically not the weekend yet, it starts then.  We had family in town (Todd's side) from Chicago the whole weekend.  We haven't seen them in a few years, so I was glad they were here.  Todd's cousin Denise has three kids, but two of them came with her.  The boys and Katie are really close, thanks to social media, and by the time Sunday rolled around, they were every bit as close to Joe.

We had dinner at Todd's parents' house that night and then we did this.

This was a game called Shanghai.  It's similar to Phase 10, but way more difficult and more fun.  We laughed so hard during this game.  I love times like that.

On Friday, Jonah and I met them at the zoo.  The other boys spent Thursday night with Mimi and Papa and their cousins.  Friday was beautiful!

I think my favorite part of the day was watching everyone feed the giraffes.  I got really close to them and enjoyed watching the kids reaction to them.  And my mom in love.  She loves giraffes the most and had me take pictures of her being really close to them.

I went to dinner with a couple of friends Friday night to talk about our Sunday school class and then I met my family back at my in love's house.  Jonah and Noah spent the night at a friend's house and Graham and Drew stayed where they were again.

On Saturday, I went to breakfast with one of my community group girls, and when I got home, Graham and Drew were back.  We stayed close by the rest of the day and that afternoon, Denise, Katie and Joe came to our house.  Joe made hot wings as part of our dinner and then we played cards.

That picture of me is horrible, but we were cracking up.  It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Sunday we were at church and that afternoon I had choir practice.

I enjoyed sitting next to some sweet girls that I love.  Even when it included me laughing during one part.  Yesterday was our first official day of school.  It was an okay day.  It was great for the boys, so so for me.  I don't know what was up with me, but I am thankful that today is a new day and for God's mercies that are new every morning.  I was at church again last night for a womens' event, and was blown away by our youth as they shared what all they did over the summer, as service to God.  It was a great night.

Well, I need to get started on this day.  Thanks for reading!  Love to all.