The Couples & their Babysitters

We are so lucky to know so many good people. I just wanted to take a minute and share some good things about these good people. These are the couples we convinced to go on our wild adventure with us. They all had to make arrangements with other great people to watch their kids for a whopping 7 nights and 6 days of babysitting.


THE MINNICKS
Jared & Elizabeth
They have 5 boys. Yes, FIVE boys. They are great friends and we love 'em like family. Elizabeth's mom, dad and friend Michelle took care of their kids.



THE CHRISTOPHERSONS
Robb & Kari
These guys have 6 kids. Kari is Jeremy's sister and they live next door - in case you didn't know that already. Robb's parents planned to watch their kids the entire time, but had some health issues to deal with for a few days. Kari's parents stepped in like troopers and took over for those few days - even though they should have been on their own vacation at the time (thanks for filling in you guys!).



THE "OTHER" WARDS
Matt & Aimee
These guys have 3 kids. Matt is Jeremy's brother and they also live next door. Their babysitting arrangements were a little different than the rest. Their kids got to go to the coast and spend the week with Kelly and Julio (Kelly is also Jeremy's sister). The kids thought they were getting a vacation!



THE WARDS
Jeremy & Jennifer - that's us!
Yep, we were the ones that started this whole shenanigan. We have the best 4 kids around. My mom agreed to take the kids for us. She stayed most of the week at our house and ran the kids here there and everywhere. We came home to a clean and quiet house - she kept the kids at her house on that last night so we could have time to rest for a few hours after our long night of traveling. She is the best - what else can I say?


So, if you were keeping track, that was 18 kids we left at home - yes EIGHTEEN KIDS! We couldn't have done this trip without all those great babysitters. You guys ROCK! We appreciate you so much! We really are so blessed. We love you guys. Thanks for making this trip such a great experience for all of us.