To steal a line from Mason Jennings...

"If I have my way, I'm never gonna leave East Lemon Avenue."

Tonight we were leaving the park and our neighbor called to me from across the street. She asked if I had already made dinner. I had sort of started something. She had an extra batch of Chicken Alfredo for us. I don't turn down free food. Especially free, delicious, ready at dinner time when my husband is at work food. As we walked home with dinner in hand we passed a newer neighbor who was out watering her grass. Zeke started to chat with her and then I introduced myself too. We talked for awhile. Zeke scooted down the street and ran into his favorite neighbor, Ana. Both Zeke and Olive love Ana. She kissed and hugged them, asked me how I was and then went inside to eat dinner with her family.

Our verse for this week is Matthew 22:37-39, "Love the Lord...love your neighbor." I love that Zeke really knows our neighbors and that he feels as though our home is not just our house, but the community in which we live. It's a very special thing to know and love your neighbors.

Her First Girls Weekend

Miss Olliepop had a big adventure last week as she joined the Bixby women for our Quinquennial (go ahead and google that, it's ok) Bixby Girls Weekend.

She learned many important lessons about being a Bixby girl. Things like...

1. Make sure there is a delicious restaurant within a two mile radius at all times, but don't forget to keep lots of back up snacks in your purse, just in case.

2. Never pay full price for anything. (Auntie Cokes isn't always great about sticking to this rule, which brings us to #3...)

3. Don't mention to Uncle Jeremiah how much shopping we did.

4. Stay at a nice hotel, on the Concierge floor, with an awesome "snack room". (Seriously, food is important to us, just ask the men in our life what happens when our blood sugar drops a bit.)

5. And, finally, you can never have too many pictures of yourself...

It was such a fun and relaxing time away. I think we need to make this happen more often. Olive missed her brother a ton, so she brought back a little treat for him. She knows what he's into.

Today was a good day to...

be naked

drink lots of water

finish a painting

enjoy some ice cream

surprise Daddy

Accessory Envy

The Westra men have a serious case of it.

Cast Away!

Today was a big day for the Westra clan as we celebrated the loss of an important member of our household.

Zeke waiting for the report from Dr. Hanes.

Despite the look on Zeke's face, the news is good! His femur looks great and it's time to get rid of this nasty casty.

His first bath in six weeks!

Our boy is looking more like himself. He's been pretty cautious and is not using his leg much, but he is one happy guy and, after two baths, he is smelling SO good!

What did we see at the Zoozie Zoo?

For those of you unfamiliar with Barney's "Let's Go to the Zoo", it's a must see. Especially if you are looking for some classic zoo melodies (our favorite - "What Will We See at the Zoozie Zoo?"). Very helpful if you are taking your own trip to the zoo--which we did on Monday!

The cutest (and wildest) animal we could find.

According to Jeff Westra, lions can sleep up to 20 hours a day. This surprising fact put some serious jelly on my face.

The giraffes were my favorite.

Cutest Sasha invited us to come with her on their family zoo pass. So not only was the day fun, it was free!

Sasha's awesome skirt and tennis shoes inspired me to go home last night and make a little something for myself. Just what every girl needs - a Sasha skirt and a pair of Chucks.

A Fun Weekend

Picnicking in the park with Oma and Opa...

and celebrating Auntie Cokes' birthday!

Stats

At 3 1/2 months, Olliepop is weighing in at 13 pounds (50th percentile) with a height of 25 1/4 inches (90th percentile).

Today we've got...

One messy house.
Two happy kids.

Whaddya think?

Zeke thinks he is the coolest in these glasses. Jeff thinks he looks like an old lady. I can kind of see that.