More Visits from Grandparents!

My parents came to town for a long weekend a couple of weeks ago. Although they were originally scheduled to land around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and leave around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, their outbound flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems so they ended up rescheduling everything at the last minute and flying out of a different airport. Sadly this cut the trip a little shorter as they didn't arrive until midnight on Wednesday and they had to leave at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, but we still had a great three full days together.

My parents with Alexis, Jack, and Faith (left to right) the night before they left

My mom reading to Jack, Alexis, and Faith (left to right). Faith does not want to sit back in her Rock n Play anymore so it's time to transition them to eating on the floor.

My dad and I made the mistake of looking above the kitchen cabinets and realizing how full of grease and grime they were, so we spent a few hours scraping them off with metal brushes and Magic Erasers. They are now pretty clean so I should probably put some newspaper down for easy cleaning in the future!

Before. After looks immaculate :).

My dad thinks this is fun but the excitement wore off pretty quickly for me.

My dad also spent some time working on our yard, which is not my or Micah's specialty. Thankfully my dad really enjoys yard work and he says he'll return every March to get everything trimmed and ready to go for the summer! Our grass has some weeds and crabgrass so he worked on that, but the biggest job was definitely trimming our very overgrown bushes in the front yard. I didn't get a before pic but the bush directly in front of the house was totally blocking the front window so trimming it definitely lets more light in the living room. He also reworked the layout of the rocks in the front yard as they were a mess (Yes, I know an all rock yard sounds strange to our friends and family in Michigan but this is normal in the desert!). Maybe next year we'll plant some flowers, but for now I think we'll stick to the basics since we've never been responsible for a yard before.

My parents love to decorate their own home and they do a really good job, so I was excited to have them here to help me with our living room. My dad hung a lot of our frames and my mom helped me shop for some decorations. Although we still need a couple of things like a chair and some new pillows for the couch, so far I think it looks great and I can't wait for things to slow down a little so Micah and I can actually spend some time in there reading and such.

Our living room - no toys :). There will be a baby gate blocking off this room and the stairs so we don't have to worry about it being baby proof.

My parents also helped me put up the tree decals in the girls room and in Jack's room. The first one took some time, but my mom and I finished the second one in only 45 minutes! I feel like they look super cute and they brought more color into the room without having to paint.

Putting up the girls tree

Jack looking at his new tree

Alexis and Faith (l to r) with their tree

I also found a spot for the pinwheels that used to be above our changing table...above the cribs!

Although the majority of our time was spent doing things around the house, we did get out one afternoon for a quick trip to the zoo. And when I say quick I mean we were there for about an hour! I wanted to wait until after the afternoon nap since that is when the babes are awake the longest, but I was surprised to learn that the zoo closes at 5:00! Luckily the zoo was not strict about closing time as we actually were there past 5:00 along with many other zoo guests, but it turned out to be a bad time for a zoo visit as most animals were no where to be seen. Since our main objective was to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather, we still had a great time.

Faith is in my arms, and Jack and Lexi are in the stroller. The people watching was just as much fun as the animals for these social butterflies!

Jack and Lexi

Faith looking at the flamingos with Grandma

My parents left early Sunday morning and Micah's mom arrived Monday afternoon for a visit. Micah's dad had forgotten his tool belt when he was here last, so it was the perfect excuse for Karen to come back! This time instead of doing stuff around the house constantly I took advantage of the babysitter and went out and did errands several days in a row. Micah and I actually left the house together in the evening three nights in a row without kids (twice to run errands and once to go to the climbing gym)!

Faith is ready for Costco!

Jack and Faith riding around in the cart at Costco

Grammy with Alexis, Jack, and Faith (left to right)

Surprisingly, we don't have any family or friends scheduled to visit until July which is strange after many months of visitors. Now we are actually planning a few trips of our own which is exciting and scary to think about with three babes. In two weeks we are headed to Denver to visit Micah's sister and her family. Micah's parents will meet us there as well and it will be the first time Micah's sister's family will meet our trio. We are excited for all of the cousins to meet, but it might be a crazy weekend with six kids 4 and under in one house ;).

In less than a month we are flying to Michigan to visit family. Micah's mom is driving down to ABQ so she will be with us for all of the flights, which is a huge stress reliever. The babes and I (and Karen) will be there for 2.5 weeks, but Micah will only be there for a weekend as he will be climbing in Yosemite during that time. Micah is flying back to Michigan the day we leave so that he can help us with the babes on the flights, which may sound a little nuts but is probably necessary. I'm really looking forward to seeing friends and family in Michigan and bringing the babes to some of my favorite spots in my hometown!