Meet The Early's: Like Mother, Like Daughter

First, let me apologize for the delay in posts; aside from trying to beat the heat, we have not had too much going on. The weekend before last we made a quick trip back Kirksville to pick up Viva, Grandpa Sparks was nice enough to watch her for a couple of weeks while we were on vacation. Although he enjoyed his time with her, I think he was ready to give us back our big fur ball of energy. Grandma Sparks treated us to some lunch at El Vaquero when we came into town on Saturday. When our bellies were full we ventured over to my parents house to spend a hot day at the pool. My parents were taking Molly to camp in Branson on Saturday so while they were sitting in their car, we were enjoying their pool. Grandpa Sparks and Asa even came over to hang out with us and play with Briley. We also took the opportunity to see if Viva was a swimmer and although she could swim, she was not much of a fan. Saturday night, Grandpa Sparks BBQed some hamburgers and we made an unsuccessful attempt at making homemade ice cream. My parents were back in town on Sunday so we spent the majority of the day at their pool with the Farwell's; Briley always enjoys playing with her cousins. That night my parents made us BBQ hamburgers and, you guessed it, homemade ice cream. However, this time the ice cream turned out.

On Thursday, we had our friends Shawn and Katie Stetson over for dinner. It was great to see them because it had almost been a year. This weekend was a hot one in Kansas City so we made our trips to the pool in the morning before it got too hot. One of Autumn’s favorite movies when she was growing up was Wizard of Oz and last night it was on TV and Briley loved it; like mother, like daughter. She watched the movie from a number of seats including the coffee table (her favorite spot) and sitting on top of Viva (the fluffiest spot in the house). We have Grandma Sparks and Asa coming into town this Wednesday for a few days and I’m sure Briley and Viva will enjoy the company. They will also be in town to see me channel my inner Albert Pujols when I start playing for my bank in a softball league; if anything, it should be entertaining.

One more note to our family on the east side of state (St. Louis), although we are not ranked #1 or #2 on the STD or murder list, Overland Park was recently ranked at the top of another list, coming in at #9 on the lists of Best Communities to Live. Just another reason our family needs to quit waisting their time going to St. Louis and come see us more often.