Spoiled by Grandparents

The grandparents have all officially met Shannon, and man, were we spoiled with them in town!

The first visitors to arrive were my mom and step-dad. They came and stayed with me for a week while Tyler was out of town for a conference. Shannon was 5 weeks old, and they were SO helpful each day taking Whitney to/from school and keeping Cole & Annie constantly entertained (or should I say "spoiled"?). They even let me take off for half a day to do all my Christmas shopping. I easily owe them a small fortune for all the babysitting they did for me.

I wonder how they got away with me taking no pictures of them. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was never with them while they were out and about with my kids... taking them on trips to the zoo, parks, and restaurants galore! 

While they were here, Shannon really started smiling more.

Tyler's parents came in town the Saturday before we blessed her on Nov 14th. Sad that this is the only picture I got of Tyler's dad while he was in town for barely 24 hours.

We enjoyed a lovely Sunday together as Linda cooked a delicious meal for us. My sister (who is having a baby GIRL in May) and her family came over too.

Here's Shannon in her blessing dress--exactly 6 weeks old. Always a blast squeezing the family onto the loveseat...

Grandma Nelson stayed in town for an extra week to help with the kids. We took Cole's preschool class on a field trip to the bowling alley. It was neat seeing what happens behind the scenes over there!

Love those miniature bowling shoes!

Linda brought me an early graduation gift (I laughed out loud when she called it a "graduation gift" b/c I for sure do not deserve it!)--a serger! We went to work on some fun projects... a t-shirt quilt from a pile of old shirts that Tyler was giving away, and a knit top for Annie:

We used the pattern sized for a 3 year old, but it turned out big enough for Whitney to wear! We'll just pretend that it was supposed to be 3/4 sleeved, right? :) I had no idea what a difference a serger makes. Those projects went so quickly and neatly with that thing! It's definitely a fun new toy.

Thanks for coming in town, Grandma Nelson!

And at the beginning of this month, my dad came in town with his friend, Ann. They were only here for a weekend, but we still had a great time visiting with them. We had a pizza/movie night/early Christmas with Grandpa on Friday night:

The kids were in heaven with all their loot!

The next day we took them over to the farm/trains. Since Tyler was at work, I was especially grateful for my dad and Ann's help with my kiddos!

That night we decorated gingerbread houses and my kids could hardly contain themselves with the candy. Within seconds of placing candy on the house, they would pick off the same piece they had just placed and pop it in their mouths. We've got to work on our patience, that's for sure.

I think it's safe to say that our Grandparents rock!