WOW! What a weekend!

My daughter and her family came to visit us from Tucson this Friday which turned out to be the beginning of a wonderful weekend. After all the hugs and kisses, we all settled in to watch my grandson play with his trains (I keep two sets at my house) and watch my granddaughter walk around nonstop going from one interesting item (toilet paper) to another (pots, pans, spatulas). The family was here to have their Christmas picture taken at a studio in Chandler, and to play a game of indoor simulated golf (that was for my daughter and son-in-law).

My husband and I accompanied everyone to the photo studio and we had a ball laughing and trying to pose the two kids for a decent picture. My grandson (almost 4) and my granddaughter (13 months) were troopers except that Lily was too curious about everything to sit still longer than a nano-second!

~~~This is just one photo of the two of them together~~~

I like the way Brandt is watching over his sister

Lily, of course, had to be entertained by all sorts of craziness going on off camera. This is just one of many pretty photos of baby Lily as she laughs at all of us.

Brandt is growing up so fast! He is such a delight who never misses a beat in communicating with adults. His humor and understanding of his environment are astounding for someone who isn't quite 4 years old yet.
After the photo shoot, we all went to dinner at Rigatony's in Tempe. The salad and warm seasoned bread are to die for. Of course the main entrees are delicious, too. The two kids were really tired by this time, but they still managed to hold it together for the most part.



The next morning my grandson was up at 5 AM and came into our bedroom saying, "It's so dark in here!" I mentioned something about turning the light on which was a mistake because he woke up the two dogs and my husband and that pretty much started our day. I got up and started getting ready to go to my garage sales (my Saturday morning ritual) while my son-in-law and husband drank coffee and decided on a breakfast menu. When I returned from my excursions, (another train in tow!) my kitchen was clean (compliments of my son-in-law) and the rest my house was in disarray (compliments of my grandchildren). My grandson was so thrilled to see the train that all he could say over and over again was ...."this is so cool!" After my daughter and son-in-law left for the golf game, we watched the kids. Brandt played with his train for hours and we hardly knew he was here, while Lily took every ounce of energy we had because she was here, there and everywhere. My house is not baby-proof so we feel like we have to be extra diligent in watching the kids. When we babysit at my daughter's house, we feel more at ease because they don't have a pool and their house has toddler precautions everywhere. I admire my daughter and son-in-law for keeping up with the children and I also realize the purpose of menopause....it's God's way of keeping women from having children that could easily make each day feel like a marathon run!
All in all, we had a wonderful time and we look forward to our visit in Tucson for Thanksgiving.