A Full House!

Rob's brother, John, and his wife, Laura, and their kids are staying with us for a few weeks this month before John's internship starts. Their 5 cute kids mean that all of a sudden things are a lot more fun around here!

Introducing: 

Nora Jane--hamming it up for the camera

Cosette (Coco) hamming it up for the camera

Laura, Nora, and Coco...they give me hope that we'll make it through the first year with twin girls!

3-year old Anne Loren

Big brother, and champion swimmer, Brian

Dad (John) coaxing a smile out of Caitlyn

And Nora again, ready for her glamor shot  :)

So if anybody is looking for a party, you're almost guaranteed to find one at the Ellis homestead this month!

P.S. This post marks a momentous occasion: all pictures were taken by CHRISTA!   Rob is busy bringing home the bacon, so I realized if we waited for him to take pictures our blog would die.  Good thing I have some cute subjects to practice on...

The Mud Run

A few weeks ago we went up to Dallas because Matt convinced Rob that participating in this Mud Run would be a great brotherly-bonding experience. 

A nice "before" shot

The course was about 6 miles long with 30+ crawling, climbing, swimming, jumping, swinging, MUDDY obstacles to get through. 

Natalie and I herded the kids to a place in the shade where we could catch some of the action.

Running

Climbing

Crawling

Still smiling!

And after 1:36 hours, the brothers reached the finish line!  I'm pretty sure there wasn't even a single inch of them that wasn't completely caked in mud.

Mmmm....Rob's muddy arm-hair

Luckily the race organizers anticipated the serious need for a post-race shower and brought a fire-engine to do the job.  I bet the firemen were glad for the change of pace! 

And finally, THEY WERE CLEAN!!!!   Except....2 days later, Rob was still finding mud in weird places like his ear canal and belly-button. 

Natalie and I thought it looked like so much fun that we're going to participate in Mud Run #2... after she's done growing her little baby girl and I'm done growing these two little ladies.  3 more Ellis grand babies coming in August!!

Baby Girl A

Baby Girl B