Bonus Christmas in the New Year!

Our Christmas celebrations didn't end with the turning of the calendar.  This year my parents and grandma came to our house of January 4th (last month... had to throw that in there because I am now only a month behind on the blog) to celebrate a late Christmas.  

It was actually a unique situation.  Last September at our big adoption ministry fundraiser my parents bid on and won a weekend stay at an area lake house.  My parents were planning to use it sometime this winter, but we didn't think my grandma would be joining them. In December my grandma's beloved cat companion Shadow died which left her incredibly sad, but also free to travel more easily.  

They came for their longest visit ever.  They arrived on Thursday afternoon and left on Monday morning.  They stayed at the lake house four nights!   It was a very fun visit!  

The arrived at our house late Thursday afternoon.  The kids were so excited to see them and shocked to see Great Grandma!  They love my grandma and they especially think she is amazing since she rescued the cats.  We ate dinner shortly after their arrival.  After dinner the kids really wanted to open Christmas presents. 

T: I love LEGO's!!!

That big box by my feet was my very own air fryer!  It is quite an amazing invention!  What the magic eraser is to wall marks, the air fryer is to potatoes!  I just can't believe that I can make fries that taste like a restaurant with no oil!  Amazing and yummy!

We think the cats remembered my grandma.  She sure loved on them! 

M: I am so excited to have a world record book. 

T: I got a cat magazine!

I just love seeing my children love to read. 

T is loving the new magazine and M is hard at work on the LEGO set. 

After opening presents my parents and grandma headed back to the lake.  The kids had school on Friday so we needed to get them to bed. 

Friday: 

My parents and grandma drove to an area town that manufactures some unique things to get a tour.   The tour wasn't as fun as they were hoping, but it gave them something interesting to do during the morning.  

My early morning walk sunrise pic... much prettier in real life!

They came to our house in the afternoon and chatted while we did some food prep.  The kids were excited to have time with them again after school.   They worked a lot on their LEGO sets and M finished his BIG set. After spending the evening at our house we decided that both kids would get to stay overnight at the lake house.  This was the first time that the kids stayed with my parents overnight and overall they did great.  They were in a brand new place with new noises and they all managed well. 

M: We got some joke books from the library.  

T: I have a big LEGO city! 

M: I finished my BIG set!

Grandma couldn't get enough cuddles!

T: I just love to jump on Great Grandma's lap! 

T was obsessed with making little nests for the cats under the table so they could be with us during meals.  It was quite distracting for her, but ironically, the cats loved it and did use their little fort.  T insisted on taking a pic on them sleeping.

T: They are the best cats ever!

Saturday: 

Brandon and I were home alone on Saturday morning.  I got in a walk and got ready for Sunday School and Brandon got some work done.  We headed out to the lake in the late morning and had a yummy taco lunch.  

It got quite warm that afternoon.  It was over fifty degrees!!!  This is before winter really came to our area.  My mom and I walked around a bit outside, but everything was pretty slushy.  The kids each took walks with my dad out onto the lake to check out the ice fishermen.  T was especially interested. Brandon worked on church stuff in one of the rooms and M took a nap for quite a bit of the afternoon.  

Throughout the day we played games and I also read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  The kids loved it and actually the grown ups all got a kick out of it too.  For dinner Brandon went and got some rotisserie chickens so we could have easy meal prep.  

After dinner we finished the book and then the kids watched some crocodile hunter on TV.  They decided that they wanted to stay another night, so we left them there and headed home.  Brandon prepped for Sunday and I deboned the chicken and got some bone broth cooking. 

T: We went and talked to some people we didn't know about fishing. 

T: It was hard to believe I was walking on a lake!  I didn't fall in!

T: I set up a restaurant at the lake house. 

T: Look at all my tasty food. 

T: Grandpa came and ate. 

Hours and hours of laughter and cuddles!

Ending the day with some crocodile hunter. 

Sunday:

It was very quiet here on Sunday morning so I was able to get the chicken soup made before church.  It was fun to have my parents and grandma at church.  After the service we stayed and chatted and Grandma told the cat rescue story to some of my friends.  It was fun to hear her tell it and for my friends to get into it too.  One of my friends later told me that my grandma and I are a lot alike.  What a compliment!  

Sunday was spent at our house and was pretty low key.  T was given a bunch of dress up clothes on Sunday morning so she was excited to try everything on.  My parents realized that they forgot the kids clothes at the lake so they drove back to the lake to get them.  While they were gone the kids and my grandma watched Polar Express.  They all really enjoyed it.  I went for a walk and my dad dropped my mom off part way through so she could walk a bit too.  

M: Grandpa still gives great rides. 

M:  Great Grandma's lap was really full!!

T: This is one of my new dresses!

T: Do you like this one? 

M: I got this new hat!

Sunshine wanted to try on clothes too!

Glued to the screen!

It looks like they are all enjoying the movie!

An evening of games and jokes!

Skip-bo Jr for the win!

M: I read them LOTS of jokes!

We got some great photos before it was time to leave.

So sweet!

My kids are not babies anymore. 

I sure do love this woman!  

We said good bye to my family on Sunday night.  They went back out to the lake and then headed home on Monday morning.  Such a great long weekend visit!