Visit from the Aunts and Backyard Fun

As I was getting all the photos transferred, I realized I haven't even blogged about Rosi and Sandy's visit at the beginning of June.  We had a great week and just spent a lot of time together around the house, plus I got to make some appointments for myself which was nice - it's never easy to drag the kids along to the chiropractor!

Some random shots of us playing outside!

The kids and their great aunts

The beginning of their visit was really strange weather.  We were playing in the backyard and I was wearing a hoodie...crazy for June!  Rose and Sandy aren't in any of these pictures, but I love all these snapshots of Riley...this girl and her crazy hair make me smile!

Phew!  Feels good to blog again....Gotta document this cuteness somewhere. ;)

Welcome to Arkansas...

....Let me show you to our tornado safety zone!  :)  Rose and Sandy came to visit for 6 days, and we had some of the worst weather we've had since we've lived here while they were visiting.  So much so, that we spent a lot of time in our hallway, keeping safe from threatening tornadoes.  But, we luckily dodged all the bad storms and enjoyed our visit.  We went out to eat, visiting Yum Yos (a couple times), did some shopping, and spent a lot of time just hanging out at home.  Gavin, of course, showed them all about being a 3 year old boy - they played a lot of cars and trains while they were here!

Thank you, Mimi and Rosi!

Just before we loaded up the car to take mom and Rosi to the Ft. Smith airport, we snapped a few pictures in front of the fireplace. Thank you both for all you did to help us get our new house ready to live in. I've said it so many times, but we appreciate all you did so much! We're so lucky to have such a great family who supports us.

Pictures from this weekend

While the family was here, we didn't take many pictures! Hard to believe, huh? Mom left her camera in Ohio, and I just didn't take many. I wish I'd taken the video camera out and recorded some of Gavin playing with his aunt and uncle. He had so much fun with them, especially with the grocery cart!


Gavin's in a "cheese" phase....he holds everything up to his face and says "Cheese!" like it's a camera.

Briana is going to hate me for putting this picture on here, but I had to! Look at her hair! Isn't it gorgeous? :)

Another "cheese" shot....this time using the button to turn on our Christmas lights.

Silly, grandma! She kept stuffing newspaper up my shirt and I kept trying to get it out. We were being so silly!

Before leaving for the mall, Gavin needed a snack....and this is how he decided to eat it. Looks comfy, huh? :)

And a group shot, take around 7am on Monday morning before they took off. They all look so tired! :)

Love you guys! We had a lot of fun :) Thanks for visiting!

Miss them already

This was the first year we'd be spending the holidays without our families in Ohio. I was sad that we wouldn't be with all our relatives, but stayed positive and looked forward to new traditions as a family of 3. On Thanksgiving morning, Jarrod and I were busy in the kitchen. I made Mom's pea salad and Grandma's cole slaw, because Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without them. (And, I must say...they turned out really well!) Jarrod made a new mac and cheese recipe, which also was delicious. Then, we headed to John and Erin's for Thanksgiving dinner with some of our Sam's family. Fried turkey and all the fixings. It was a nice day....not the same, but nice.

I was excited about my mom, Rosi, and the kids coming to visit. A few days before Thanksgiving, they decided to drive up for the weekend. They ended up leaving on Thursday night, with the intentions of staying over someone. Well, that didn't happen. When Jarrod left for work at 2:45am (gotta love Black Friday!) I texted mom and told her to call me when they woke up so I knew where they were. She texted me right back and said she was at Walmart! :) They stopped in Buffalo and she shopped for a while, then around 5am they got to our place. My mom is crazy....but I guess you do crazy things for your kids!

We had a great weekend. Didn't do much....hung out at home, did some shopping, went out to lunch. But it was nice to spend time with them, and I loved seeing Gavin interact with the kids. It was so cute to hear him running around saying, "Ana....Yler!" (His version of Briana and Tyler) Mom gave him one of his Christmas gifts early. A grocery cart. She found it here, and they wouldn't have had room for it in their car, so she let him keep it now. He loves it! Shirley, on the other hand, hates that he tries to run her over with it. We played Whoonu with the kids, and mom, Jarrod, and I played Rummy last night. We watched Christmas Vacation and just enjoyed time together. It would have been even better if Dad and Megan could have come, too. I missed them, but I guess they'll have to come for the next visit.

I'll upload pictures soon. They all just got on the road, and I have to get ready. Danielle's watching Gavin for a couple hours so I can run some errands. We're supposed to get snow tomorrow. Looks like winter has arrived!

Vacation, Part 1

Jarrod's last vacation of the year was this past week, and we filled those 9 days as full as we could! He worked until 1 on Friday, then we caught a 5:00 flight home to Cincinnati. It was so nice to spend time at my parents' house and with Jarrod's family. We were there until Tuesday, and my only regret is that we didn't have a car to make a trip up to Dayton to see our friends. I would have loved to have visited Shaw and saw all the kids. But, with all the illnesses going around, maybe it is best that we didn't! Here are a lot of pictures from the Cincy visit in no particular order.

Nothing better than grandma love early in the morning...again, Gavin has red eyes. Devil child! Hanging with my Uncle Tyler before he leaves for school

My Aunt Briana is hilarious!

Helping Grandma with the laundry

Grandpa reading me a book

I'll read this one on my own!

Ok, I guess Uncle Ty and Aunt Bri can help me.

Here, Maddie...take your bone!

My sisters are so beautiful!

Gavin playing with Aunt Rosi and Aunt Sandy

He loved playing under the table

My grandmas are crazy! They were trying to get me to jump off the dining room table!

Maddie is my new best friend. Shirley never lets me do this!

While we were in Cincinnati, we of course had to eat Skyline (more than once) and Larosa's. We even made it to Pomodori's for lunch on Monday and had Chick-Fil-A in the airport before we left. Pretty sad when you visit home and spend most of the time at restaurants! We had fun with Travis and Ashley, hanging out at their place. Uncle Travis taught Gavin a new trick...

Well, he says he didn't teach him that...but he spent 5 minutes alone with Gavin and this is what he does 2 minutes later...you do the math! :) Just kidding, Trav.

We had a big family dinner while we were home since we're not going to make it home for Thanksgiving. I was so thankful that we could do that. I think that was my favorite part of the trip. All of us together, eating and watching football... Fun times!

More vacation pictures and stories coming tomorrow!