Grammy, Papa and GG

We've had another family visit come and go. It is so fun to have family visit since we live so far away... I'm just hoping that some day my brother will decide that we are worthy for a visit!!! (Love you D)
Grammy, Papa and GG came to visit. This time Papa Choo Choo had to stay home... not only to take care of the cat, but to prepare for retirement! He is planning on officially "retiring" (he retired from the railroad, hence the name Choo Choo, several years ago) from being a taxi driver in January. Grandma is a little nervous about her allowance, but I'm sure she'll be fine (its actually Grandpa I worry about... he technically wont be retiring since he'll have Grandma to keep him occupied!!)! We had another fun visit. First off, they weren't getting into town until around 9 pm. Our kids usually go to bed between 7:30 and 8, so it was a challenge finding things for them to do to keep them up and not let on that they were getting to stay up. The reason for this is that they were coming a day early! SO, at about 7:00 Kailey asked if they could take a bath,. I agreed, knowing full well that once they were in there they would lose all track of time... which they did. About 1/2 hour later they asked if they could have the tub crayons, to which I agreed, again. Now Canyon wanted in too... SCORE, all 3 of them occupied (mind you, CJ is in Denver for a treatment). Another 1/2 hour passes and I hear "Mooooooom, can we get a wash cloth or something!".... ????? hmmmmmm, whats going on... I go into the bathroom to see every line of the back splash filled in with RED tub crayon! OH MAN! The plus side to this is that it will keep them very busy until our company shows up. After about 15 minutes I walked in and still saw...

Notice anyone missing???? Oh yes, Canyon... totally innocent!

Just as they were finishing as much as I could let them suffer, they were drying off when Grammy, Papa, and GG showed up and surprised them in the bathroom. They couldn't have been more excited.
The only down part to the whole visit was that Krissy had a... little gland issue (I wont go into detail). Mom called when they were on their way here and asked if I'd schedule a vet appointment, and found one that would take her the next morning... anyway, when they got here I insisted her "issue" be covered... she wasn't very happy

One of the reasons I don't want a pet!

The women got to spend a day out shopping (Tai Pan, Quilted Bear, IKEA, dinner at Ruby Tuesdays... YUM!!!!!... and a stop off at Kohls where we found a fabulous sale!!), and the best part of that is that I get very spoiled when Mom and Grandma are around!! (Thank you again!!!) Ashlyn got to join us this time, and really didn't show how tired she was until the NEXT day! We'll see if she comes along next time.
I even got to go work out every morning which I loved!!!
Then Daddy and Papa took the kids to..... the pumpkin patch!!!!! (NOTHING like Greenbluff, but they don't know that!!)

Isnt Kailey's expression PERFECT!!!

We also enjoyed our first Thanksgiving of the year, and some very nice family time together. We sure miss you all!!!

Now we're just hoping for a visit from the rest of the Larson's in November... and whoever else wants to visit any other time!!!

Ashlyn's birthday party

Its funny because every year I do a party... and every year I wonder what the heck I was thinking!! Fortunately this year, though, wasn't so bad. Ashlyn had 5 friends over (of which only 1 RSVP'd because I know the mom and come to find out had forgotten to put the RSVP phone number on the invitations! YEAH me!). Two had to leave right after dinner and presents (we made our own mini pizzas... no pictures... YEAH me, again! It was really fun though. Definitely will do that again!) Then we played a game, and one more friend had to leave. Then the remaining 3 girls (counting Ashlyn) had a dance-off! (Kailey and Canyon were just enjoying being part of the big girls fun! It was so cute!!! They all did great, and again... no pictures! UGH!!
After the dancing... we ate cake!!!


We can always count on Miranda to start the food-on-the-face game!!!




Yes, she is now smearing it on... then wondered why some got on her shirt!! Silly girl! Its funny how at 10 it is such a thrill to have food on your face. I guess that's not just at 10, I just wonder at what age it stops?!?! I guess time will tell!

Then they painted fingernails until it was time to go. A good, fun time!
Hope you had a memorable 10th birthday Ash!