Visitors from the East

On March 3rd we had some fabulous guests arrive... Jeff's parents and Aunt and Uncle, Sandy and Pete Mang. The trip was a gift from the Mang kids to their parents after the passing of Grandma Mertie. Aunt Sandy was asked where she would want to go and she picked Seattle to come and visit us. I think that means we're her favorites... or just the ones she hasn't seen in a while. They had never met Kaden before which tells you it's been far too long since we've seen them. It was Uncle Pete's first time on an airplane and he LOVED it...just like a kid looking out the window trying to guess what everything was down below. For 10 days we had a super duper time together. Jeff was able to be a bit flexible with work in order to take some time to enjoy his family and see some sights. They went all over the place being tourists in addition to being homework helpers and kitchen helpers. It really was a gift to us too being with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Pete for that long. They are such good people. They were all ours for 10 days. They left us (I'll speak for myself), ME wanting to be a better person because of their love of life, positive outlook and great sense of humor. Thanks for picking us for a get-away and thanks Grammy and Poppy for tagging along! We loved having you!

A trip to snowy Snoqualmie Pass. Lunch at XXX. Because of the name we had never been there before afraid of what they might be selling. But thanks to many referrals they went and LOVED the ambiance reliving the good ol' days... and their huge root beer floats.
Cute Sisters.

The traditional Space Needle pose.

So on Friday night the High Priests of our ward were having a Salmon Bake Social. What better for the Mormons than to bring 4 rowdy Catholics. Oh my! They were the hit of the whole party. Both ladies were volunteered to play a part in some "readings" for entertainment... And they were pretty rambunctious in the "jelly bean mingle." (We had a small bag of jelly beans and had to go around trading with others to get a bag of 1 color of jelly beans. Great idea for ice breaker games if needed.) The food was great and the company was crazy.

The dark spot in the whole week was the sickness that befell part of the household. Ady started off and missed 2 days of school. Kaden was hit pretty bad. Then Poppy was knocked over so hard with the "yuckies" that he found his way to the Urgent Care and given medication and lots of tissues. Jeff felt left out and joined the group of sickos too.

Poor little Kaden was such a cute, sick boy.

Pete was a crazy reader... reading an entire book in 1 day. Aunt Sandy couldn't believe it. She kept checking in on him to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep... he was just realizing that he liked to read. They were an example of togetherness... doesn't matter what you do as long as you are sitting together. We think it was nice and relaxing for them to be here.

We had to ride the ferry boat across to Bainbridge Island to show them... you guessed it... Mora's Ice Cream. Yum! Grammy helped Ady with homework on the ferry.

Poppy had a birthday while he was here. We didn't want him blowing out the candles and spreading yuckies on the entire birthday cake so we cut out a big piece for the candle blowing moment and then he could eat that piece all himself.

We tried to get pictures of the kids with Grammy and Poppy but couldn't get everyone at the same time. Ady and Emmy were first.

Maryn

Emmy and Kaden

Having family come and visit is never any work... just fun and togetherness. Even if it means squishing 6 adults and 4 children in a minivan in order to get on the fairy it's nothing but FUN. (We had some looks as we all climbed out of the minivan of people who thought we were practicing to be in the circus.)

Everyone was all so much help and so much fun... it was just a big treat for us to be together. THANKS for coming!