A Grandpa and Grammy Visit

We were counting down the days for Grandpa and Grammy Staheli to come visit us in August.  The morning we drove up to Denver to meet them, Ross and Ruby were ecstatic!

On our way!

When we got there we settled in to the hotel a little bit, and then went for a quick lunch, before Steve and I got to go do a session at the Temple which was lovely.  I love the Temple.  There's so much peace and clarity there and a closeness to God.  It was wonderful to share that with Steve there.

Ross attempted swimming with Grandpa, but the water was FREEZING, and Ruby relaxed with Grammy since she didn't want to swim.  Afterwards we went to a favorite - The Cheesecake Factory - didn't think twice - ordered the Chicken Bellagio and Avocado Egg Rolls, and had a delicious dinner! After we got back and put the kids to bed, Grams and Gramps let Steve and I sneak over to watch the new Mission Impossible movie - epic.  Steve was so excited - like a kid on Christmas - it was hilarious!

Cheesecake Factory!  More bread!!

Grandpa looks pretty satisfied here...so does Rowland! :)

We love Cheesecake Factory!

We HAD to take a peek in the American Girl store since I LIVED for the American Girls catalog every month as a kid.  It was pretty incredible - there's even a salon in the back there to do hairstyles on your doll.  AMAZING.

LOVING story time

Reunited and it feels so good!

A happy baby ready for bed.

The kids actually slept pretty well again!  Score!

This is a terrible picture - we look like exhausted parents (it's true), but we were too excited to have a movie date!

The next morning we took the kids to the movie theater across the street to see the Shaun the Sheep movie which was cute - the kids liked it and the tickets were cheap for the matinee show.  Then we went to Costco (of course) grabbed lunch and shopped before my parents took the kids home while Steve and I stopped at IKea to look for a porch swing (which they didn't have) but I got some new dishes and a good handful of other things!  But poor Steve got lost in all the hubbub.  Seeing how you have to walk through the maze to find the exit (all lined with wonderful things to buy mind you) he had to drag his poor wife along who wanted to browse every nook and cranny and spend all his money. ;)  

We had Grammy and Gramps the rest of the weekend and a few extra days.  We took them to our favorite steakhouse around here - The Triple T which was delightful once again, and enjoyed visiting, playing games, playing in our kiddie pool and sprinkler (we got all dressed and headed to the pool just to find they had closed it for the summer! Boo!), went to the library, and the park.  It was a ton of fun. 

Loving Grammy and the park.

Rock climbing

"What can I get for you this evening?  We have milk with a side of mushy peas, milk with a side of mushy carrots, or milk a la carte."  He folded his hands this way and it was too cute!

Peek-a-boo!

Playing toys at the library.

Grammy is the best!

This is a great picture!  Rowland is looking so much more like Steve too.  I love it!

Chubs

I made this DIY patriotic wreath and LOVED how it turned out.

On Sunday Ross gave his first talk in Primary and did SUCH a great job.  I just held up his poster and pointed to the pictures and he talked about them.  We were SO proud.  He's such a bright, sweet boy, who knows SO much about the gospel and Jesus.  I can't believe how much my little boy is growing up.  

So sweet and a wonderful talk for Primary!

Of course it all came and went too fast.  And now we're back to counting down days to see them again. :)  It was a GREAT visit and so fun to see our family.  Love you Grandpa and Grammy Staheli!    

Pretty much how we all felt when Grammy and Grandpa left.  Haha.

Trying on Some New Shoes

So we've tried out a few things lately...

Mom's shoes are pretty fun...

Big kid swings at the park are pretty fun.

Big kid beds...too much fun.

Where's Ruby?...Trying to hide from her bed.

Trying out some bandaids (first time Ross has decided a band aid might HELP an owie) Also - I LOVE his little hands - they are still so sweet to me. :)

And we tried out some new piano lessons from Mommy!  Learning hand shapes and numbering fingers right now.  He did pretty well! :)

 Asking Ruby is she would like to have a piano lesson...in chronological order...

Ruby...can I teach you a piano lesson?

Nooooo!!

Well...let me show you how these white things work, mom.

And you can stretch and reach over here too.

She may be a concert pianist yet if mom doesn't interfere! ;)

I was trying to catch Ruby stacking these blocks at a gym good-bye party for one of our friends...she looked EXACTLY like Gus from Cinderella trying to stack the corn kernels.  It was hilarious!

We were super bummed, because Ross and Jamie (who has moved to Alaska now) played SO well at this party.  They had a Romp Around class that they NEVER really played at together all winter long, and now that we've made a good friend, he's moved to Alaska of course!  It was a really fun party nonetheless. :)

And this guy is trying out being 6 months - cutie. :)

This face cracks me up!

And I always want to kiss this face!

And sibling love is like no other.  They all adore each other and I just love it.

 

Baca County Fair!

We decided to go down to Springfield for the County Fair.  It was pretty fun.  Small town celebrations are pretty awesome and fun!  We went to the parade which was short and sweet and included some cool tractors and a whole bunch of firetrucks and ambulances to Ross's delight.  Ruby said she saw Elsa a whole bunch (all the royalty winners riding on top of cars).  Ross was concerned for the safety of the girls riding on top of the cars and wondered where their seatbelts were. ;)

After the parade we headed to the fairgrounds (we were already dripping in sweat) and looked around for a while.  I bought some pretty sweat crocheted hats for a rockin' deal, and we looked at all the 4-H animals that Ross and Ruby also got to pet.  

Ruby is our designated dandelion picker

Another perk of small town celebrations - we got FREE BBQ...and I mean GOOD BBQ.  It was delicious and a perfect lunch!  
 

Steve had to take this pic since he calls his dad Pappy ;) Also their BBQ is DELICIOUS!

Steve's co-worker Lisa let the kids pet their goats and sheep. :)

Ross charmed his way in to getting two tractors at the hospital booth.

After eating we headed to the turtle races.  Down here there are a TON of turtles all around that the kids all catch.  So for the fair their race them before letting them go back to the wild again.  Ross and Ruby were quite pleased with them.  It was pretty fun.
 

Waiting for turtles

And they're off!

We peeked in at a tractor pull, but decided we'd rather do the little rides they had set up for the kids (that must have been around since the 50's).  Ross and Rubes LOVED it.  Rowland did really well until he got hungry or tired, but was still a good sport.
 

Love these two buddies :)

Afterwards we went to Steve's hospital so some of the nurses and patients Steve works with could see our kids (which they LOVED).  It was fun to see so many people who know and love Stephen.  Really though, what's not to love? :)

Before heading home we stopped at their stellar park to play for a while and then got home fried, tired, and thirsty.  It was a fabulous day!  County Fairs are pretty darn fun. :)