Update--The Past 2 1/2 Weeks

We have had a super busy last few weeks. The weekend of the 10th & 11th Dave had drill down by Madison so he spent the weekend with his parents. Me and the kids spent the weekend at Great-Grandpa Gary and Great-Grandma Shirley's house. While we were there we picked up the pottery wheel that I bought for a fantastic deal with some of my birthday and Christmas money. Check it out!!! I now have a pottery wheel and kiln. Hopefully this summer when we move I will have an area to make a studio. That is the only component that I need. I was able to get this awesome wheel because Dave's uncle and cousin were awesome enough to pick it up for me. So when we picked it up on the 10th, we also got a chance to visit all of them.


Here is Alaina playing with Aunt Jean.

Leo did awesome playing, but enjoyed the dog toys more than the kid toys.
We also got a chance to see my Aunt Mary, and cousins Grace, Sophie, and Kelli, as well as her fiance Bryan. It was awesome to see them all again. We tried to get together over Christmas but couldn't because of illness.

On Saturday night we saw Great-Grandpa Don and Great-Grandma Jan. It was great to see them and they were a wonderful help watching the kids while I took a relaxing shower.

On Sunday we had the great opportunity to see my cousin Amy who just happened to be visiting the area. She lives in California and she had never met Leo and hadn't seen Alaina since she was 10 months old. When we met up, we also saw Great-Grandpa Don and Great-Grandma Jan as well as my other Aunt Mary and my cousin Emily. We met up with them late morning and then went out to Dave's parent's house to pick up Dave. We were back to Grandpa Gary and Grandma Shirley's house by 3:30ish. We then hung out there for the rest of the night. My Aunt Kathi stopped over for a while to see the kids. It was a really relaxing afternoon.

Here is a picture of Great-Grandma Shirley reading to Alaina:
Then on Monday we flew out to South Carolina to visit Grandpa Keith, Grandma Jane, Aunt Haley, Uncle Zach, new baby cousin Pearson, and Aunt Betsy. The kids did great on the flights. Here is a picture from when we arrived at the airport:
Alaina holding Pearson for the first time. She fed him several bottles over the course of the week.
Haley and Pearson spent the night out at Grandpa and Grandma's house for that first night. It was so fun to see her!! I we even met up a couple of times for midnight feedings :) At midnight I mixed up Pearson crying for one of my kids and wound up giving him his midnight meal.
Leo took to Grandma pretty quickly. She got a lot of snuggle time in with him.

Dad, Haley, Betsy, and me all went out hunting together. It is the first time that we have all had the chance to get out together. We went on a dove hunt. I actually got a dove. They are small and fly really really fast so I was super excited.
I got a guitar for Christmas from Mom and Dad. (Thank you!!!) Betsy brought back her guitar and music from college and Dad got out his guitar and we all got to play together. Given, it was more of Dad and Betsy playing and me trying to catch up, but I'll get there...
Alaina and Brett (the dog) got along really well. He even gave her kisses and he never gives kisses.






Leo slept well in his pack-and-play.
It took a few days, but Leo warmed up to Grandpa.
We had a great week. Dave got a router bit set from Mom and Dad to go with his new router tool from his parents. He also got the opportunity to go golfing in January. An opportunity that he will never pass up. Alaina went horseback riding with Grandpa. Both of the kids loved feeding and petting the horses. We were going to have a family picture taken while we were there, but unfortunately we all got sick so it didn't work out. Even though we all got sick, it was still a fun time. I don't know if I have ever had such a relaxing vacation. While I was on vacation the battery in my camera died so I only have pictures of the first half. I will post more pictures when I get them from other people's cameras.