A visit from the Southern Stapps

Before Thanksgiving, the Southern Stapps came to visit us. David, Stefani, Oliver and Bella stayed with us for a few days as they made their rounds to family and friends in Missouri. We sure kept busy!

Oliver and Bella had fun playing with my Slinky and balloons leftover from Jason's birthday celebration. We watched movies and played in the park. Oliver had fun playing with my high heels, too!






We also baked some cookies to take to the Concordia Fire Station. We visited with Jim and Deb and checked out the big trucks and the ambulances. Oliver even tried on a fireman's helmet!

The last thing we did was go to the mall together. Oliver and Bella got their photos taken with Santa. (Oliver cried.) Then Oliver played in the kids area and Jason and I took him on a carousel ride. (Oliver cried again.)

It was so fun to see the family again!

Original by Oliver

I just got the best birthday present ever: an original by Oliver.

Spending time with Oliver

Once we made it to Georgia, we spent some time with our nephew and godson, Oliver. He just turned 1 on March 15, but you can already see the family resemblance.

I found out he likes to pretend to drive cars, so I let him "drive" our white one. I think he really enjoyed his trip.

We also took Oliver to the zoo in Albany while his parents went to some last-minute doctor appointments. The zoo was a little run-down, but they had the normal zoo menagerie: zebras, ostriches, alligators, rhinos. We didn't have anything to put Oliver in, like a stroller or baby pack, so Jason and I took turns carrying him. I can't wait until he can walk by himself, and I'm not even his parent!

Oliver also got to hunt for a couple of geocaches with his aunt and uncle. We found one at the zoo and one at a Confederate memorial across the street.