My mom braved the 100+ weather down here to visit us for a whole week! We LOVED having her here. I especially enjoyed having a shopping partner and just someone to hang out with again. It can get pretty lonely here especially when I'm used to just jumping in the car and heading to my mom's house whenever I want. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've shopped alone in the past six years. Having her here nearly felt like we were in Caldwell again. She made Arizona feel bearable! We spent every waking moment together. The kids were so excited to have her come. On one particular car ride Kindly was sitting in the back of the van and announced, "Grandma, I love you!"
And when my mom first got here Wisdom was just waking up from a nap. When he saw that his Grandma was here he jumped out of my arms and ran to her, wrapped his arms around her neck and didn't let go for about 5 minutes. I think he's missed his grandma. He asked throughout the week about Grandpa too. He kept saying "Gannpa, four-we-were." Asking for a 4-wheeler ride from Grandpa. There are so many things I miss about home. One of them being my kids getting to be around family all of the time. I mean, what do you do with your Sunday evenings when you don't have family to go visit or callings to fill them up?
We started a new tradition called "Treat Sunday" for our kids. Each Sunday one of us gets to choose a treat to make that day. The kids tell me earlier in the week so I can buy all the ingredients then on Sunday afternoon we make it together and then eat it all up! It has really helped make Sundays a little more fun and also helped them not crawl by so slowly (since we get out of church at 11:00 am).
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Passion grossing my mom out with a lizard
she caught in our backyard! |
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| A teeny tiny lizard Pash found on another occasion. |
So back to my mom's visit. We spent most of the days shopping, eating lunch out, cooking dinner at home, swimming in the backyard, staying cool in the house, and just being together. I got my mom all to myself while the kids were at school (I guess I had to share her with Wisdom a little bit), then they got her when they came home. The girls did have a 1/2 day on Monday and we pulled them out early from school on Friday so they could spend some extra time with Grandma too. We enjoyed showing my mom around town and the girls loved showing her their school. The week flew by way too quickly but we loved every second of it.
I asked Wisdom the other day where Grandma was. Using his quietest voice (almost like he didn't want to say it) he said, "Gannma go bye bye." It made my heart melt. Thank you mom for coming. Please come again soon. We miss you!
2 comments:
What a sweet post! Your kids have the biggest grins in these pictures with their Grandma (your mom does too!) :) I think from being single for so long, and even now with us living away from family, I can count on one hand the number of times I HAVEN'T gone shopping alone, lol :) Actually, it's always a stress releaser for me, to go wander around a store by myself, even if I don't buy anything. I guess it just helps me have some quiet time, regroup, and be distracted by all the bright, pretty things ;) We've had a really hard time (well, me mainly), with how lonely it can get not having family around, or really good friends...which is probably why we are trying to get a job near family now ;) I can imagine is even harder if you are accustomed to having family close by. I know for us, it just takes a while to start making friends close enough to do that with. As a single, it always took 6 months, I"m starting to realize as a married person it takes 9 months-year to make really good friends in a new ward, but that's just me I think! It definitely makes you jump at the opportunity to make new friends, put a lot of effort into maintaining the friendship and building it. Wish we were in Phoenix when you guys were there, we really loved that place!
I love Passion's zeal for the lizzards :) Have you guys tried the Night Hike at the Botanical Gardens yet? It's not a hike up a mountain, but all the kids take flashlights and go through some trails at the gardens. They have little educational booths set up in various places for the kids to make a craft, learn about dessert animals, learn about the native Americans that use to live there, etc. I think all 3 of your kiddos would love it, it's really popular with parents I know, and I liked it even as an adult. It's right by the zoo.
Keep posting, I love seeing the udpates :)
PS--that post was Beth. Rob would NOT say it is a stress releaser to wander around a store. He would most likely say it is the opposite of stress releasing, probably stress building ;)
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