meeting shelby + some bonuses

last weekend i went down to southern california to meet my new niece, miracle baby shelby. there’s nothing, nothing, nothing like a newborn sleeping on your shoulder…and this girl is the sweetest. i’m so glad she got to get acquainted a little with her favourite aunt! :)
  
of course it was also the best to hang out with shelby’s mom, dad, sister and brother. i slept in the guest room bed with lyla, and before she got tucked in on friday night i told her to be wake me up when she woke up. at about 7am i felt her little hand gently on top of mine, and then a little shake. and then, speaking of favourite aunt, she showed me what she drew for me:
and! bonus! my oldest sister saren and her family happened to be in southern california for a wedding that same weekend! so we had quite the crew. on saturday saren and jared went to the wedding, noah had school, and it was time for kristi to take a nap and get things done without the kids around – so i ended up with nine kids for the day. here’s my attempt at getting a picture:
missing a few (ashton was absent for all the photo tries…)(lyla is showing off some of the dozens of snails we found):

not sure what happened here…

and nearly everyone is looking – lyla is enamored with the snails:

the weekend also included some pretty epic dance parties, some intense rounds of mario brothers, cooking and eating and attending church together, a long walk/scooter ride around ladera ranch, late night talks, errands and babysitting, building and coloring and hiding and seeking, and soooo much shelby-loving.
look at those incredibly awesome people. i am blessed.