4th of July Weekend...

First Katelyn called and asked if we were free over the 4th of July. Well, of course we'll be free. This was about a month or more before the 4th. She and Drew managed to combine days work was closed for them with a vacation day or two and planned to come to Kentucky on Friday, June 30th and return to Michigan Tuesday, July 4th. My grid was preparing in my brain and purchases were made for more seating on the deck because...others decided they would come also.

The Marx family offered to have the Ropers come to their home first in LaGrange and spend Friday night with them. Drew has wanted to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum and Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort. Andie's suggestion to Katelyn was to have them come and spend the night so that Raelyn was comfortable with them. Then they would watch Raelyn and bring her to Sadieville with them on Saturday, giving Drew and Katelyn much appreciated time to themselves on Saturday. I mean really, what parents of a toddler don't love it when someone says we'll take her and you two go and have fun like you did before the lovely little nugget entered your lives. So that was their plan and that is what they did. I did get this great picture from the Marx family outing Saturday to a park near them before heading to Sadieville. How great is this...my grand and great grandmonsters on the back of a turtle!!! I was over the moon happy with this picture.

So, by Saturday afternoon we had the Ropers (Katelyn, Drew and Raelyn) and the Marx family (Michael, Andie, Hayden and Bailey) in Sadieville. The grid was ready and on the fridge. And we were ready to just enjoy family for a couple of days. The center of everyone's attention would be Raelyn. The Mini's adore this little cousin and everything she does is fantastic in their eyes. Raelyn loved exploring and playing with new things. We just had to remember to keep the door to the basement closed. She can do stairs but we just didn't want the worry. 

Some of the cutest moments to me were Raelyn with Claude. She really loves her daddy best and other men must take it very slow for her to warm up to them. We kept remembering Miss Bailey at this age where the only one she wanted was Mommy. When in Michigan the last time, Claude made Raelyn a little toy chest. He painted it a bright red and decorated it with wood objects. He loved that she loved it but it didn't cause her to want to sit on his lap and play with him. I do believe his great-Grampa heart was a bit broken. This time he waited for her to come to him. She did on several occasions and they had precious moments together. Those pictures are some of my very favorites.

These are picture from Saturday, July 1st:

Raelyn loved buckling and unbuckling the seat belt on my old high chair. Great time to include great-Grampa Claude.

Raelyn does not like anything in her hair or on her head. However, I have a box full of barrettes from the dollar store. We brought those out and several times she sat and played with them and let others fill her hair with them. When she was finished playing though, they had to come out of her hair. She also does not like clothes either. 

Bailey felt the need to bake. I was prepared. I had four cookie mixes (they make fewer cookies to be consumed and I like that). Bailey picked the flavor she wanted and set to work. Please note the huge cookie at the edge of the cookies sheet. This is the mark of an ADHD kid who truly loves to experiment once she know how something works. She just always tries to see what else something can do. 

And Hayden was a resident 'find-an-answer-to-any-question'. He has learned to ask his phone a question and the female voice 'helps-him-with-that'. This is just great for the kid who loves technology.

We enjoyed Navajo Tacos for dinner. Claude and I first had these at Wing Ding (the national rally for Gold Wing Road Riders Association) in Billings, Montana many years ago. I simply bought the frozen dinner rolls that you let rise and then bake. I let them thaw and then rolled each roll out into a thin circle. This is fried on both side forming a tortilla of sorts. You leave it flat and top it with taco like things. We had refried beans as the the first item, then lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, sour cream and taco sauce. Each person made their with the things they liked best. Everyone loved this and it was really quick and easy.

Saturday night we had our first catastrophe. Claude went out to get the smoker ready to put the brisket on for Sunday's dinner. It had been marinating in the rub all day Saturday to prepare it. The problem came when he plugged in his electric smoker. Lots of light and smoke told him this was not going to work. The heating coil on one half completely burn out and the other coil was not good. No smoking of the brisket Saturday night.

Sunday morning Claude needed to go to Pioneer Ward to train the Ward Council on the new Self-reliance program. Katelyn borrowed a dress from me and went with the Grampa. After they finished that, they went to the Lowe's by the stake center arriving when it opened. Claude purchased a new smoker that is nicer than the one that broke. They came home and got it up and running and tempered. We would flip the grid meals and have BBQ chicken with Papa on Sunday. Brisket would be Monday's big meal. Yippee!! This is the real reason our children and grandmonsters come. They want Claude's brisket. It is that good.

Nissa and Todd left Muskegon early Sunday morning for Sadieville. They arrived in the afternoon and would stay till Tuesday morning. This was their week of vacation and their plan had been to go to a place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Todd had never seen before. I truly thought he had been to every square inch of the UP but apparently not. They opted to come to Kentucky for a brief visit and then go back up to the UP for a shortened visit there. As good fortune would have it, when they got home to Muskegon, they found out Todd won tickets to a race and they spent their Saturday at the races. They ended up with a very full vacation week.

Michael had to go back to LaGrange Sunday afternoon as he had to work on Monday. He was going to take his week off to go on a scouting trip with Hayden. So he really needed to work on Monday. He left before the brisket was ready but we promised him we would send home brisket for him. We did save a nice piece that would feed their family a meal and sent that home with Andie and the kids on Wednesday.

Here are some pictures from Sunday, July 2nd:

This is how I take care of great-grandmonsters.  

We set up the wading pool and Michael snuck out to spray Bailey down.  

Here we have Todd, Katelyn, Andie, Papa, Nissa, Hayden, Michael and back around to Drew.  

Drew spent his birthday, Friday, June 30th, driving his family to Kentucky. Katelyn's birthday was Thursday, July 13th. So we took a moment Sunday to sing Happy Birthday to both of them. They got their Girl Scout cookies and the six Star Wars movies. Drew had not seen any of them and Katelyn loves them. I chose this picture because Drew is looking at the camera and smiling. He has the nicest smile. A handsome young grand-son-in-law. 

Okay, this just cracks me up. Hayden seems amazed at Raelyn chewing her big toe. I guess he really doesn't remember doing this himself.  

Raelyn watching kitty videos on Todd's cell phone. The Ropers have a cat named Felix whom Raelyn loves and he would rather not have her love him. He is good with her but tries to keep his distance as much as possible. After Dad, I do believe kitty may have been Raelyn's second word. She does love kitties and Todd and Hayden kept her happy on many occasions with videos of cats on their phone or with all the multitudinous pictures of Pip and Percy that Hayden has on his phone.

Papa loved being with family. He so enjoys watching the little ones move and play and carry on. Reminds me of Claude's grandmother, Ruby Christensen. She would tell me and others, "Don't pick up the babies, I just want to watch them play." You really appreciate movement so much more when mobility is not your friend.

Monday, the brisket went into the new tempered smoker.  And Nissa and I headed to Georgetown to buy Papa some groceries and check on him. Our next chore was to pick up sparklers for that evening. Then back to the house to play with family. 

Here are pictures from Monday, July 3rd:

Bailey felt a pressing need to wear one of Claude's t-shirts. We found this long sleeved one and she wore it the rest of their visit. She is inside the long-sleeved t-shirt. 

On the other side of the living room was Hayden in a fortress he made for himself of sofa pillows. He can curl up in the littlest balls and you really wouldn't know he was there, except, I know my Hayden and new he was tucked in there with his cell phone. 

I made Raelyn this little dress and bloomers. There is a cute hat made out of the same fabric as well.  

When Katelyn lived with us one summer, Claude taught her how to drive the tractor. He would cut the really steep slopes and along the edge of the creek. Then Katelyn would finish the rest. She loves driving the tractor. This time they pulled the wagon and drove the tractor Sunday and Monday. I picked this picture because Raelyn just snuggles into Hayden's lap, he puts his cheek on the top of her head and they both totally enjoy being pulled around in the trailer by Katelyn. Nice. 

Bailey is not as fond of tractor rides. She went back in the house and came out sporting these socks. She would run around and the capes on the back of these Superwoman socks flew in the breeze. That's our girl! Please note her nice french braid. She had her Aunt Nissa do that for her. She is so very tender headed and never flinched once while Nissa brush her hair and braided it for her.

Katelyn is making SURE Raelyn learns about the tractor. 

I keep all these kids toys. Sometimes, I think I should give them away. Then there are moments like these when you know why you keep them around. Raelyn loves rocking horses. Bailey would put a leash around its neck and pull it around or pretend he was a reindeer. 

It finally got late enough for us to play with sparklers.

Hayden and Andie putting Harry Potter inspired spells on each other! 

Hayden and Bailey each had a little burn on their feet. I had a tub of water to put the sparklers in after they quit sparkling. Turns out it is very good for feet with a little burn on them. Next time they agreed they would wear shoes...who would have thought???

Claude set the standard this visit for minimal or no devices. We were so good until Raelyn was in bed Monday night. Then we had 'adult swim' and out came our devices.  

Tuesday, July 4th. Independence Day. And the family would begin to declare their Independence from Sadieville once again. The Tyler's left by 8am.  The Ropers left in the early afternoon. Andie decided to hang around until Wednesday late morning before she and the Mini's left.

I do have these cute pictures from Tuesday:

Andie called this Raelyn's plumber pose. She is such a cute little nugget. 

When the Marx left, I found this Baileyfied bottle of water. The kid is over-the-top with her antics. It is always fun to see what she has left of her Baileyisms after she goes home.

It was a great visit. Loved having family around for a few days.