The past week we have been in Heaven (or at least a preview of Heaven) with Hiram's mom and dad here at our house. Since we live so far away and they are very busy it is a real treat to get them for a couple days but this year we hit the jackpot and got a whole 7 days! It was phenomenal! Here is the run down:
Saturday December 18th
We thought that they wouldn't arrive until Sunday afternoon but at 8:45pm we got a call from mom letting us know that dad was feeling good and was thinking about driving late and arriving at our house at 2am. Of course we said that it would be great and got their bed up and ready for their arrival. We stayed up working on Saturday chores while we waited for them to show up. Even if we didn't have chores to do we wouldn't have been able to sleep we were so excited! Hooray for dad and his last night driving skills! He drove all the way from Loveland, CO to our home in Carmel, IN in one day!
Sunday December 19th
Instead of having a Christmas music program on Christmas our bishop decided to have a testimony style meeting on Christmas and have the music program the week before. This worked out perfectly for Hiram. Hiram loves to sing. He love his dad. He love to hear his dad sing. So when we got to sit in the choir with his dad right next to him he was in heaven. It was a special treat he did not expect and it meant the world to him that his dad drove 18 hours and over 1100 miles to be there with him. I had a special treat as well. I got to sit next to mom all three hours of church. As I think about it, that might have been one of the first times we sat together for
Relief Society. After church we came home and relaxed. Mom and Dad took a couple naps while Hiram and I made dinner. We had saved a ham that we bought a while ago for when they came to visit. I am proud to admit that 5 lb ham cost us only $5. I love it when grocery stores overstock for the holidays and drop their prices! We also had a mandarin orange jello salad, fresh baked rolls, mashed potatoes, and veggies. It was very yummy and enjoyed almost all week as leftovers. After dinner we read some books with the boys then put them to bed. Reading books was really a staple for the week. Joey and mom were a good match. Mom likes to read books and Joey like to have book read to him.
Monday December 20th
We did our best to keep the week very relaxing. We know that mom and dad are go go go all year round and wanted this to be a vacation for them and not just a visit. In the morning we took our time eating breakfast then dad went out back and played with the boys on the swing set. They had a grand time. We had nice weather for a few days they were here but I am sure that even with our rainy cold days it was still warmer than Rexburg. Those boys sure love playing with their grandpa! We also went grocery shopping so that we had lots of yummy food as week to eat together. James ate like a maniac! He had one of those HUGE costco slices of pizza and every sample we walked by. I was shocked! Joey fell asleep in the cart and we lied him down in the cart. I was once again shocked as he slept in the basket while we walked up and down the last few eisles. When we got home I lied him down in his bed and he slept a few more hours.
That night after Hiram came home we quickly ate dinner and then bundled up and went caroling for FHE. We didn't have any treats to give away but we had a great time. It wasn't a typical caroling in the snow and the weather wasn't the same as the nice sunny morning we had outside on the swing set but it was fun to go from house to house singing Joy to the World and Silent night with Ginny and the Starnes. Everyone had a great attitude despite the light drizzly rain. Joey even chimed in every time we sang the second to last "Sleep in Heavenly Peace" in Silent Night. I only heard him do it for the last house but mom told me he did it every time. TOO CUTE! When we caroled to Bishop's house they invited us in to decorate sugar cookies. They already had 2 other families in there so it was pretty fun to chat and visit for a few minutes. (The cookies were pretty good too) We didn't stay long because Cherie and I wanted to hit up a few sisters that we visit teach. It was fun to drive from house to house following each other and gave Hiram some time to talk to mom and dad one on one since it was a bit of a drive from one place to the next. After all the singing and standing in the rain we came home for some Tim Tam Slams. Those have to be the best dessert of all time! The boys really loved them too but we only gave them the cookie and chocolate milk in a sippy. Giving them mugs of hot chocolate would only be asking for a mess to clean up and tear to dry.
Hiram is done making the monkey bread. Its time for bed... I don't want Santa to skip over our house! I promise to finish the formatting and typing tomorrow after dinner. Here are all the pictures of our great week of fun!
After seeing a picture of the now infamous mom who took her 6 years old daughter tanning I realized that she isn't alone in her unique look. She has a partner. However, this guy has been encased in an icecap in the Alps for the past 5,300 years. So here is my advice to our nations favorite New Jersey tanning mom: next time your daughter asks to go tanning tell her that she can't and show her pictures of this guy! Ironically I think he has nicer skin. 
