The White House: A Visit from Grandpa and Grammy and a Happy New Year!

Since Steve couldn't take the time off, we had the pleasure of my parents making the mecca out to see us for New Year's! (And to put my dad to work - he's a great dad!)

Ross and Ruby were ELATED and LOVE their Grandpa and Grammy, and demanded to play with them every waking moment.

My dad came and started finishing my walk in closet - which is no easy feat with the slanted ceiling, poor finish work from the last people that worked on it. He mudded and sanded and mudded and sanded and then we painted and he installed some fabulous shelving that he designed with me. I LOVE it!! It took practically the entire week he was here though. That - and he helped me paint my family room wall as well as a handful of other odd jobs we had no idea how to do - like fixing door knobs and locks. He sure is handy and amazing!

This is the closest I could find to a before picture - just two clothes racks and a once mudded room.

Promptly after taking this picture, Ross said to me, "Mom, can you get out of here? We're trying to work." Humph! ;)

Grandpa showing him the ropes.

Ruby kept "accidentally" painting Ross instead of the wall...

Ross decided to get creative with his painting skills...

Here's the after so far :) Still a few things to do, but it looks AMAZING!

Here's a pic of what the rest of the room used to look like. This is a project for another time - just awkward to work with for sure.

My new green wall!

Still have a few finishing touches and spots to fill with decor, but I love it. :) With the dark wood it reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream which is hilarious!

My mom and I headed to Springfield for a Dr. visit for my foot (nerve pain) and checked out the store down there called The Crazy Iguana where I got another pair of these awesome knitted socks Steve had gotten me for Christmas and a nice red pot for outside my house. We went to the Longhorn Steakhouse for lunch and then headed on home with tired out kiddos.

Always more of a party heading out with the crew when my mom's around!

Saying "hey" to Santa after our lunch.

We had pretty much second Christmas that night since my parents saved their presents for when they came. The kids got some new jammies, slippers, Ross got a truck you can use a drill to put together and take apart. Rowland got some toy eggs, and Ruby got a beautiful Snow White dress up. They also each got some cute fleece blankets too. We got my parents a frame for a painting of the temple they were married in, a new calendar for the year complete with grandkid pictures, and The Christmas Story Yahtzee game which was hilarious since my family LOVES that movie. :)

"Aww yeah - this is the good stuff." "I've got Grammy right where I want her." ;)

A SWEET Spiderman hat Ross LOVES.

Cute kitty hat

Matching brothers :) ADORABLE!

My dad did some sanding and - wow - that is no small task - for real. Here's the proof...

The things my dad does for me...love this man!

The kids got spoiled with going to play at McDonald's including ice cream cones. Ruby definitely loved hers.

We took down Christmas together, played games, and when it came time to paint my family room wall, my mom was amazing and took the kids to play again at the McDonald's playland (since there's NO where else to go when it's freezing outside).

NOT excited about taking down Christmas decorations.

Playing with the new toys. :)

Naps were optional most of the time grandparents were here...so sometimes this happened.

Who knew something so spicy could be inside such a sweet face like that. ;)

Every night Steve and I pretty much played games with my parents from 5 Crowns to Yahtzee to Farkle to Bubble Talk. It's always especially hilarious playing with my mom because she gets tired and laughs like crazy!

Playing Bubble Talk, my dad wasn't really in to it - he was losing for the first half of the game...and then out of nowhere he started winning, and then at the end when we were all literally neck and neck and any of us had it - he went ahead and won!! Now it's his favorite game. ;) Just kidding - but it was quite the event!

I also had to go to the church to help set up some of the new theme for the year, so my mom came and entertained the kids. They brought their scooters and I found them in the cultural hall riding them in the dark (their wheels light up when they ride) which I thought was pretty daring and then chasing shadows with my mom's phone light. Haha!

Playing with Grandma Claudia's present - we had some SWEET puppet shows.

This is a Pocahontas face. Hahahaha!

Smiling AND looking. This NEVER happens with Ruby. Grandpa must have the magic touch!

Love it!!

She is SO beautiful!

And those thirty seconds of smiling are now over. :)

He sure loves his Grammy. :)

It's always fun to play in a box!

Rowly needed to be involved. :)

We celebrated New Year's a little early - like 8:30 with the kids. We made a yummy turkey dinner, had a glow in the dark dance party (which was a HUGE hit with the kids) complete with music, and games, and then we rang in the new year before heading to bed. Super fun (and smart).

This one was too funny not to include.

Our glow stick dance party. It was epic!

We included songs such as Immortal by Fall Out Boys, When Can I See You Again by Owl City, Ghostbusters, and a bunch of 70's stuff my mom had on her phone. ;)

This girl didn't even wait for the countdown before chugging the sparkling cider!

Cheers! (Ross may have had too much cider) ;)

Happy New Year!

We BBQed on Sunday after church and some naps (my mom and I watched Once I Was a Beehive which was cheesy and cute), and then it felt like they should stay another week to just relax and hang out with us...

These two sure like being together! :)

Bike Riding!

It finally warmed up one of the days they were here.

Cute little monster. :)

And just like that, their visit was over. We were all pretty sad about it, but our kids were the saddest. Watching Grandpa and Grammy leave was the worst! But we sure loved having them come stay. Family is just - the best!