Family and Friends

We've had such a fun month with lots of family and friends!  The month kicked off in the best way when my brother, Steve, and his daughter, Meera visited us during his spring break! We absolutely loved spending time with them and showing them around Virginia.

Meera is almost two years old, and both Emma and Hallie had the best time playing with her.

We took the girls to the mall to play one rainy day

They picked out matching backpacks and purses at the store

And shared ice cream afterwards!

The rest of us enjoyed some ice cream with them.

Even Hallie!

We finished off our active day with a fun bath time  

Uncle Steve and Hallie bonded while he was here

Meera was just the sweetest thing! She loved to give everyone hugs and kisses.

We took a trip to Williamsburg to meet Dan's mom for frozen yogurt and swim in her timeshare's indoor swimming pool!

All three kids loved playing in the water!

We ended the evening with dinner at Panera Bread before Steve and Meera headed back home to Boston the next morning.

Emma, Hallie, and I joined my parents on a road trip to Washington DC to celebrate my cousin, Rachel's, wedding.

My mom and dad with the beautiful bride!

Emma quickly hit it off with her younger cousin (whose name is also Hallie)

They danced the night away together. It was the cutest thing!

My Aunt Wanda even got my dad out on the dance floor, which is nothing short of a miracle!

Rachel and her groom, Richard, looking very much in love

Hallie, Emma, and I got to wear our fancy red dresses for the occasion

Another fun event this month was the Ringling Bros. Circus! Our local library provided free tickets for kids who read 5 books, so we collected enough tickets for all the Jester kids to go, and almost the whole family got together to spend an afternoon at the circus.

 We visited the animals before the show started

Naomi and Emma met some clowns during the pre-show

Naomi was tickling Emma to try to get her to smile for the camera

Nathan, Benjamin, Dawn (+ nephew #5, due in May!), Tim, Josiah, and Aaron enjoyed the show, too!

Emma was invited to one of her preschool classmate's birthday parties last weekend. They rented a gymnastics center and had a room for eating pizza and cake.

 Then they let the kids run wild in the gymnastics area! Emma was so brave and willing to try anything she saw her friends doing.  She has developed a lot more coordination in the past year, and I love seeing how strong she is, especially after watching her recover from multiple surgeries this year. God has been good to her and us.

The last big event of this month was that Dan left on a two-week European trip with his school's Senior class.  It's an amazing experience that we're glad he can have, but we miss him like crazy! Thank God we are still living with my parents, because I'm not sure I could manage to keep the kids alive without their help.  We are keeping up with him through texts and FaceTime, and are counting down the days until our favorite guy is home!