Grandparents visit, Christmas decorating, Christmas Festival and more!

As I shared in the previous post, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Judy came to our house on a Thursday for M's Christmas program and stayed all the way until Monday morning.  It was so special for them to be at our house during the Christmas season.  It was also helpful for them to shuttle the kids to swimming and Home Depot while we decorated the church for Christmas.  

T was having her last day of "Camper of the Week" so she invited Grandpa Tom and Grandma Judy to eat lunch with her.  They stuck around to eat lunch with M too.  Camper of the week side note: Earlier in the week I went in to read the class a book, Brandon ate lunch with M and T, T brought in three items so share about, she made a poster, and we wrote her a letter for the teacher to read about why she is special.  It was quite a production and a lot of work to do after we got home from Thanksgiving travels, but we got it done.  This year the school has a camping theme which is the reason it is "camper" of the week rather than student or star of the week. Anyway, the kids were both thrilled to have grandparents eating lunch with them.  

Friday also happened to be Tom's Birthday!  The kids were eager to tell all of their friends about this special day during lunch time. T also made several presents for him and hid them around the house.  More on that later!

The kids have back to back lunches so Tom and Judy got to hang out in the cafeteria for quite a while. 

T: The perfect lunch dates!

M: I loved my lunch dates too!

The kids always come home from school hungry.  Potato chips with avocado oil and a new recipe of banana bread for the win!

M and T: We love being read to!

After dinner T was very eager to hide gifts for Grandpa to find.  She spent many hours making them and wrapping them.  She has such a generous heart and really makes Birthdays fun!

T: First Grandpa had to search for his gifts. 

T: I made him lots of fun gifts!

Silly Pose!

T: I gave him a big fan. 

T: This is a fan on a tube!

M started to feel pretty jealous so I sent him to the kitchen to write a letter to Grandpa Tom.  He worked hard on it and presented it to Grandpa.

M: I think he liked my Birthday note!

After the kids go to bed Judy often rubs Brandon's shoulders like she did when he was young.  Because he had a knot in the lower back she needed him to be up higher.  I couldn't resist taking a picture.

A child never outgrows his mother's lap! 

The kids woke up way too early on Saturday morning.  They were just so eager to share the day with the grandparents that they couldn't sleep. T was up so early that she and Grandpa took a little snooze before everyone else was awake.

T: I was pretty cozy on Grandpa's lap. 

Books and cuddles are the best. 

The kids are getting big!

After books and cuddles it was time for them to go to swimming lessons.  There was some protesting for sure, but they went.  They are each getting to be much better swimmers.  While Tom and Judy and the kids were at lessons, Brandon and I were busy getting the church decorated for Christmas.

T: I can swim on my own a little bit. 

M: I can float like this all day!

Since it was the first Saturday of the month the kids headed to Home Depot after lessons and showers.  They got to make gingerbread houses.  They turned out great!

Ready to work!

Hammering never gets old. 

M: I like to take my time painting. 

T: My gingerbread house is so fancy!

Meanwhile back at church Charissa and I were putting the finishing touches on the trees.  We have such a great team of people who help us each year.  I think everyone involved loves the process and we have taken an event that used to take all day and turned it into a two hour project!

We decided to double up the ribbon. 

The afternoon was filled with me cooking and Tom and Judy alternating naps and childcare while Brandon was at church. We were all very excited for the parade and fireworks.  The weather was lovely which is hard to believe since we seem to be stuck in a very cold spell right now.  The weather was so lovely that we decided to go downtown a bit early.  They have real reindeer and a scavenger hunt.  We didn't know about the hunt until it was too late.  If the weather is nice next year, we will be down there even earlier.

The kids and the grownups were pretty interested in the deer.  We got to check out the antlers as well.

The man was pretending to ask Santa if T had been a good girl while she was setting the record straight on the whole Santa thing... sigh. 

M: I got to touch them. 

M: That is a real reindeer behind me. 

This little guy has such small antlers they looked like breadsticks. 

The sidewalks were packed before the parade!

Of course there was a tree lighting!

We didn't take an pictures during the parade, but it was a super fun Christmas parade that lasted about 45 minutes and supplied us with LOTS of candy!  Wow!  After the parade it was time for the fireworks!

A wonderful way to end the night!

Even though Tom and Judy were at our house all day on Sunday, we only have one more photo.  Judy got sick in the night with what we thought was a stomach flu, but what ended up being the start of a nasty and long lasting bug.  Judy wasn't able to join us for church and then just rested most of the day.  We took her over to church on Sunday night so she could see the decorations.  She and T played the piano a bit, but she tired quickly so we headed home.   Judy is so good with T.  T gets to play real songs as Judy points to the next note.  It is amazing how much her playing actually sounds like a song.

T: Grandma helped me play a Christmas song even though she was sick. 

Tom and Judy left shortly after the kids went to school.  Judy slept the whole way home and they made it home in record time.  It took her over a week to heal, and sadly she wasn't the only one in the family to get sick.  Another post about the flu will be coming soon. 

Even though there time here ended with sickness, we are so very thankful that they were able to come to M's program and do some of our favorite Christmas activities with us!