Grandma & Grandpa Stevens Visit

During the third week of May, we had a visit from some of our most very favorite people, Grandma and Grandpa Stevens! They flew out to do some sight-seeing and spend some time with us. The kids were so excited! They had been asking every.single.day. for over a month when grandma and grandpa would be coming. We loved every minute of their stay! Of course, a big part of their time was holding and loving baby Courtney. It always amazes me how tiny newborn babies seem to already be familiar with family members- Courtney seemed to have a special affection for both Grandma and Grandpa and loved to be held and rocked. Of course, all the kids feel that way. Luckily for them, Grandma and Grandpa are so happy to be with them, play with them, read to them, and just love them. I just can't say enough how much we love them and loved having them with us. 

 Emily can often be found snuggled up on Grandpa's lap. This girl is definitely a Grandpa's girl!

Of course, Emily also loves any chance to have her nails painted by Grandma. They had fun getting ready together in the mornings. 

We were able to go and do lots of things together, but there was plenty of time for napping, rocking, and relaxing too.

One of the things the boys love most is that Grandma is always up for games. I don't know how many hours we spent playing games together. The favorites of this week included Yahtzee, Uno, and Ticket to Ride.

Grandpa also made time to take each boy on a special outing. It was usually out to run an errand for mom, or pick something up that we needed, but all the kids were so excited when it was their turn to make a trip with Grandpa. They usually ended up with some fun little treat to bring back.

Mom and Dad made it out right during the middle of our baseball season, so we had the chance to go to quite a few baseball games. They got to watch all three boys play. We did manage to have a couple nights with pretty rainy weather, so the games were cancelled, but we were fine with that. We made it to the movies and enjoyed some relaxing game nights at home instead. The boys did love having an extra big cheering section when they played though!

One morning, Caleb had a special "Publisher's Party" in his class at school. Each child had written and illustrated a story, and had the chance to share their books with the parents and families of all the students. This is the first time we've ever had someone other than our immediate family member at a school activity, and Caleb was thrilled to show Grandma and Grandpa around his classroom, and introduce them to all his friends. It was so fun to have them there and it was nice to see all the hard work of these cute 1st graders.

And more baseball... One thing is for sure- whoever wasn't playing in the game at the moment had a lot of fun sitting with Grandma & Grandpa! There were a couple of pretty chilly games, and sitting on Grandma's lap with a warm blanket was the best!

One night after our games, we decided to take Grandma and Grandpa to Culver's for dinner. It's a really fun burger joint that has fantastic burgers, fries, and shakes. We don't go very often, but this seemed like a pretty good excuse. We all enjoyed the hot food after sitting out in the cold weather. We were laughing a little how Grandpa managed to end up at the table by himself with the four youngest kids, including the newborn baby. I promise we didn't make him sit the whole meal that way! He sure is a great sport though, and it's not hard to see why all the kids clamor over who gets to sit by him!

 Courtney was happy to be held by Grandma, Grandpa and Mom. She's a pretty easy going little girl who just loves to be held and loved.

 On one of the last afternoons, we decided to go to a movie together. We saw OZ at the dollar theater, then took Grandma and Grandpa to Jeff's hospital to see where he worked and meet the office staff. It was fun to introduce them to everyone.

We absolutely loved having Grandma and Grandpa with us. They really are some of our very most favorite people to be with. The only thing that would have made this trip even better was if they had been able to stay longer. It's always hard to say goodbye when it's time for them to leave. Luckily, we knew we would be seeing them again in a couple months at the family reunion, but there were still a few tears when we had to tell them goodbye. We were so grateful they made the trip out, and loved every minute of having them with us. We sure love our Grandma & Grandpa Stevens!