LOVE the Boyers!

You know how it goes with us & visitors.  One checks out of The Valentine Hotel & another checks in! Sometimes this happens on the same day : ) I took Gaga & G. Gran to the airport around 9am, tidied up the guestroom, put fresh linens in the bathroom & made a quick trip to the grocery store.  Around 3pm, there was a knock on my door & I opened it to find none other than the BOYER FAMILY! They squeezed us in between a cousins wedding in Tampa & a visit with Philip's grandmother in Miami. We had two nights together to catch up & it was wonderful. 

There have been various posts about this family over the course of my blogging days but quick recap... Jocelyn & I lived across the hall from each other freshman year at Texas Tech. We are both Labor & Delivery nurses, have been pregnant together & are married to men that have so many similar interests  it's laughable. Bottom line, I love this woman. She is such a dear friend to me & one that I miss terribly. 48 hours of togetherness was something to be thankful for but definitely not enough to make up for the full year between our last two visits! I sent Jocelyn the email following our ultrasound on September 27th, just a week before their scheduled arrival.  She quickly replied with what felt like a huge hug & a good cry via email. She said to let them know if we needed them to stay somewhere else with all that was going on.  We said The Valentine Hotel was open for business! I was thankful to have close friends in our home to share life with in the midst of some uncertainty. Just another bit of seeing God provide everything that we needed while waiting to hear test results.  Here we are at the park with Philip the photographer making us laugh. 

And onto those adorable kiddos....

Levi & Charlotte are 10 days apart while Joel & Eloise are almost 4 weeks apart. I do find it strange that Charlotte & Levi were born on the 13th & 23rd of July with Joel & Eloise being born on the 3rd & 30th of May : ) My husband thinks I am weird for even noticing things like that or that it just about killed me that Eloise ended up with an even number in her birthday while the rest of us are all odd numbers ; ) Anyway, all that to say, the kids are VERY close in age & after spending a few days with what might as well be two sets of twins, I'm a little nervous about what's ahead! Maybe nervous isn't the right word. I think I experienced a slight reality check & was made aware of how busy (and loud) our home is going to be with 4 kids under 4. It will be crazy & it will be a blast.  I have been around some little boys but we are mainly surrounded by girls in our neighborhood.  I must say I was shocked to see how differently they play.  Philip & Jocelyn do a great job correcting those sweet boys who are mostly obedient but they are BOYS! I was just laughing watching Charlotte quietly set up her tea party & Levi dumping a whole container of play food on the top while Charlotte looked at me sadly & said "Mommy, he is making a mess!" They were so noisy & so fun.  I love their little voices & their obsession with lizards & frogs. Between the four kids it looked like a bomb went off in the playroom after just 15 minutes.  

Eloise & Joel, oh my, these two are so ridiculously cute with their dimples.  I think they might be a perfect match for each other ; )

Charlotte & Levi were quick to buddy up & have a great time. There was a lot of chasing, laughing, yelling & even some tackling.

oh yeah, and lots of silliness...

They watched some frogs on the screen...

and Toy Story....

The Boyer's left the day before Jocelyn's 30th birthday so we HAD to celebrate. We decided on Indian Food which we all love & were not aware of how much the other couple enjoyed it until it was brought up by the hungry husbands. Philip reviewed the menu online about 100 times before making his selection of multiple entree's, multiple side dishes & LOTS of spiciness! We fed the kids while the boys went to pick up our dinner thinking we could have some uninterrupted visiting. Haha....might have been a good reminder as well that I can pretty much count on being interrupted for a long time ; ) Char & Levi watched their movie while Joel & Elo insisted on being held.  They are the babies & were pretty cute. Our feast was amazing & we packed up some leftovers for a repeat lunch the next day.

Once the babes decided they could walk around while we finished up, they did some hugging...

What a cute little pair, they were happy to climb up on the step stool in the bathroom together when it was tooth brushin' time. 

When we had a little bit more room in our bellies, we moved onto dessert to officially celebrate the big 3-0 for Jocelyn.  She & I share a love for the combination of chocolate & peanut butter so it was an easy decision to make these cupcakes with mini Reese's on top.  I had flashbacks to one of her birthdays in college where me & Cheryl made a cake & thought it would be a good idea to dump a bag of Reese's Pieces into the mix.  Who knew they would sink to the bottom & burn? This years dessert was much less of a flop  : )  Once we finished that, we got the kiddos in bed, the boys moved out to the porch for a little cigar smoking & the girls got snuggled up on the couch to watch The Business of Being Born & get into our Labor & Delivery mode of chatter.  It was quite relaxing.

What a sweet family.  We were sad to say farewell as usual but were reminded of the depth of the friendship we share that seems to be unaffected by the miles between us.  The boys are already planning a hunting trip in December & while us girls are thinking about how fun it would be for a weekend away someday when we can time having/nursing babies right. It may be a long time before we can be free at the same time but wow, that will be an amazing trip!