A Visit from Kelli!

Honestly, I love when people come to visit! There is so much here to offer and show off to people, and my kids love to hang out with new friends and cousins. But, our last visitor was super special. It was my sister Kelli and her three kids! They came to escape the awfulness of Jeremiah studying for finals (and to give him a nice, quiet break!) but I think we got the better end of the deal!
Kelli made it just in time for Easter, which was so fun to have all those kids hunting for Easter eggs and eating lots of sugar. And one more mom in the house means that much more "Please eat your dinner!" and "Stop whining!" and "If you do it again I'll put you in time out!". It was a blast! I love the chaos and the craziness of it all.

Sadly, the weather wasn't super perfect for Kelli's visit. It rained quite a bit and was cold. But we had time to go to Target (nine kids at Target was a little much) and do some girl stuff. We had a Girl's Only movie night at my house one night (Bryan went to the shop to work) and went to the Ram for a Girl's Only dessert night. We ate enough calories to feed a small village, but we laughed enough to burn off some of it! We had several play dates at my house where the kids would come eat lunch and then play outside until nap time.

The best part of Kelli's visit, besides getting to see her of course, was seeing her kids. They are so fun! I love Hayden's energy, and he and Rix got along so perfect. They are both a little weird, a little ornery, and they have similar interests, which include Pokemon, play fighting, and testing their mom's patience. They loved each other! Bryce and Roman were two wrestlers in a pea pod. Add Jack to the mix and we just let them roll around and wrestle. And Cole could not get enough of Aubrey! Even though she was a little shy in the beginning (I learned she loves to play catch, and that was my way to win her over!) she warmed up to us (almost) and she was a doll! Cole kept calling her "Cutie Cutie" and all three boys would say "I love Madelynn and Aubrey mom!"  Maybe they need a baby sister?? Hmmm...

It was sad to see Kelli go. I've been apart from my sisters for a good portion of my adult life, but leaving is always so hard. Whenever they would visit and then leave, I'd feel this empty ache inside and just bawl. Having Carissa here makes it so much easier, but I always feel like a piece of me is missing when my sisters are away! And now Kelli is talking of moving to Texas! I'll have to invest in a bumper sticker that says something like "Part of my heart lives in Texas" or something like that!

All the Hjelm grandkids. It is so hard to get nine kids to smile at the same time!

Madelynn was on the move during every picture, bu poor Aubrey wasn't going anywhere - even if she wanted to! She was wedged in that ladder!

The moms...this whole picture thing was so funny! I had to hold the two of them up on the slide. My feet were digging into the gravel and we were under constant threats of the kids at the top of the slide! They wanted to go down - and we were in their way!

Madelynn!

Aubrey would not look at my camera!

The kids did LOTS of trains down the slide. I thought for sure the slide was going to break! But I love the looks on their faces!

The slide generates LOTS of electricity...obviously.

Cole giving Aubrey hugs...

and kisses (she totally dissed him and turned her cheek!). This was right before they left back for Utah.

Rix and half of Roman's face. I tried to get a picture of Hayden and Rix, but they both insisted they already hugged and apparently weren't going to repeat said hug. So no picture of that.

Bryce and Roman