Grandma's Visit

Grandma is Here!

We are so grateful that Grandma came to visit. She came at this time because we asked her to hang with the kids for the weekend while we attend our winter camp for Young Life that we call Polar Bear Weekend. We were able to play all together for the few days before we left (amongst the late YL sign ups and camp preparations) and then she had precious Grandma Time with the kids over the weekend. We had a morning at the Glenwood Hot Springs, played at the parks, took our Christmas card pic, ate lots of yummy food (Grandma spoils us), and just enjoyed having Grandma around. 

 

Late Night Snow Ball Fight

What do you do at 9pm when you 3 year old is still wide awake??? You have a snowball fight of course! After winding down for the night, we noticed how much the snow was accumulating! Grandma said that she wanted to go sit on the porch and watch the snow fall. I suggested that we all join her and prolong bed time a bit (Macy was already asleep). What followed was one rowdy (and loud, sorry to my neighbors) and fantastic time! We played football, threw snowballs, tried to make a snowman, made snow angels, went down the slide....it was awesome! I never want to be so busy or occupied that I miss these moments with my family. 

Thanksgiving Celebration

Grandma taught Macklin about the Pilgrims while she was here and they made precious hats! 

Grandma's Birthday

Due to expensive ticket prices, we did not get to keep Grandma all the way through her birthday, but we still celebrated! Grandma got a new Colorado calendar and a lovely new blue sweater! We sung her  Happy Birthday and eat yummy brownies! We can't wait to see her again over Christmas! 

Thank you so much Kathy! We are so grateful for your love for our children and for your support of our ministry. We appreciate you! 

Grandma & Aunt Beth's Visit

Grandma and her sister Beth came for a visit last week. They were such a blessing to us the entire time that they were here. From the first afternoon they arrived, they helped me prepare for the kids birthday party the next day. I am not sure how I would have accomplished my goals without them. They let me tell them what to do for a full 24 hours and helped us pull off a wonderful party (see party here). Then, when I took off on my overnight track trip, they watched the kids for us so that Justin didn't have to take a day off of work. We also were able to see some Colorado sites with them and enjoy having them here. Please come back again soon! Here are the highlights...(Kathy, let me know if you want me to email any of these).

Picnic and Hike in Glenwood Canyon

 

Playing at Home

Kathy and Beth were able to play at home with the kids (post birthday party). They got to see Macy paint for one of the first times and Macklin coveredhis entire hand! They enjoyed the sand box and eating lunch on the porch! 

 

Celebrating Mother's Day Together 

Justin made a yummy breakfast for all the three moms in the house. After church, we headed out for another hike in the Sylvan Lake area of Eagle.

Macklin on the move!

 

Family Shots

Chaco Family (Grandma has Chaco's too but she took the pic for us, should have had 4 of us)

We live in a beautiful place! 

Silly boy! 

Warrior Paint

Grandma is in Town!

Just realized that my last post of Macklin's bloody nose was still up as the most recent post. Gotta have something a little more fun than that! Grandma is here and we snagged a cute pic with her yesterday. After a long weekend at YL camp and a nap when we got home, we realized we were racing the sun to get a family pic (we wouldn't all be together in day light the rest of the time she was here...thank you daylight savings...). So we got dressed quick. Set up the camera outside. Set the timer. Took one pic....and WA-LA....we got this pic. One and done! I wish all family pictures were this easy! 

Visting Other Friends in the Mid-West

Flashback to June:

We are so blessed to have many friends and family that we were able to see while in the mid-west. It is always so hard to get to everyone and there are always people that I wish we could see and don't get a chance to (the Bergers, Zuke, Christine, Neuhousers, Van and Laine, Tracy (oh wait, you live in WA, still miss you!), Franke, to name a couple). Please forgive us and know that we clearly think of you often!

Here is a quick peak at those we did see!

On our way from the Washington area back into STL, we had to stop by and see the sweet Olivastros! I know I know, we just spent 8 days with them the week before, but it was crucial to say hi again. Look at their cute family on their front porch!

Can you tell I like these pics? Below is the Peak family in their new home in St. Charles. We will miss their apartment as our stopping place in KC, but are happy for their new change to St. Louis.

We got to go to the St. Louis Zoo (another must-hit and another FREE spot in STL).

This is sweet baby Holly all snuggled up in her sling!

The Zoo Crew

For a quick Sunday trip, why not head to Bloomington?

And, when your best friends drive down to see you, there is no way we would miss this!

I was SOOOOO grateful that my girlfriends made the effort to get together. Thank you to the Mavros family for opening their home to us. We had a blast! Love you girls and miss you like crazy!

Mack and Mike

Jeff trying to rally the kids for a group shot.

2 Baker Boys and 3 Mavros kiddos and Mack

On the way to dinner, my Uncle Mark, Aunt Laurie, my cousin Jennifer and her husband Chris met us at a park to say hello. It was short visit, but it was so good to see them and we are blessed that they would make the effort to say hi. Also, we got to meet Macchiato, their new dog (who, by the way, they call Mac!).

Our final stop of the day was to have dinner with Pastor Bryan from the Grace Church, his family, and DOUG AND KRISTIN! We miss the Rowlands a ton as they used to live in Denver but are now in Iowa. God works in awesome ways for this dinner to take place. We were in town from CO and Doug and Kristin had just been in Chicago visiting family. They turned their out and back trip into a triangle trip so that they could see us! We got to meet baby Zander for the first time too! Welcome to parenthood Rowlands!

Mack and Zander were so excited upon their first meeting!

Love this!