The McKeans Come

The McKeans (and a few Sherwoods)

My entire family plus Nona were able to come down for the weekend of Kai's blessing. Mike's parents had just returned from Colorado so they didn't come back but we felt their love and support. This was the first time since my mom's cancer diagnosis that we were all together. Everyone else had been home at Christmas, but I was too close to my due date to travel. We made the most of being together by taking family pictures, celebrating Jeremiah, (my nephew's), 2nd birthday and of course Kai's blessing.

Nona and Kai getting in a little snuggle time.

Our Eternal Family of 5

Annabelle, a cute and sassy big sis 

Asa, a little unsure

Kai, snugged up & sleeping

The original plan was for some family members to share a hotel and some to sleep here. As the special weekend got closer and closer everyone said that they would rather sleep at our house. No one wanted to miss out on the fun! So we slept all 14 of us at our house and it was fun, so long as privacy wasn't a priority.
With Jeremiah and Asa both loving trains we had to take a trip to Desert Breeze park. They have a carousel and a train to ride. It was the perfect thing for little boys!

Don't be fooled by their expressions, they really liked it.

Trudy made the train pieces of cake at home and then frosted them here. As you can tell, Jeremiah was thrilled! 

It was really fun to see Jeremiah and Asa together. They are only 4 months apart in age and I am hoping that they will be good buddies. Every now and then we'd catch them doing something silly like this and we'd laugh.

My mom stuck around for the rest of the week after everyone else had to head home. We didn't actually take any pictures of her stay, the kids had colds, so she just helped me take care of them. We made chicken noodle soup, lots of smoothies and went for long walks in the neighborhood each afternoon for fresh air. I kinda wished we had been able to do some fun things but maybe a low key week (while keeping Annabelle home from school) was just was we needed. I just wish we hadn't sent her home with our sickie germs.

Nona & a Flower Bed

At the end of March we were spoiled to have Nona, my grandma, come visit us. She is busy with her own work and responsibilities at home and we were thrilled that she was going to make it out this spring. She made the ultimate sacrifice by hanging out in the Denver airport during a blizzard for a day and a half just to fly here. She said people were crying, babies were restless, it started to smell, but she eventually got on a flight and made it. Thank goodness!

Nona is turning a young 70 years old this year and is so young at heart. She has a healthy laugh. She is never to proud to have fun and as a result kids and sometimes other adults are encouraged to join in. One example is when we went to the neighborhood park. I have definitely become the mom that sits and watches. Playgrounds are for the kids to get their energy out while mom watches from a relaxing distance. Right? Not when Nona is in town. She was chasing Annabelle up and down, yelling for me to bring Asa up to her so that she could take him down the slide . . . add some bubble blowing and it turned into an afternoon of real togetherness.

Another major highlight of the trip was visiting the zoo. We went last year and this year was to be no exception. We pet the manta rays, rode camels, pet the goats, looked at animals of course, road the train, enjoyed a picnic. It was a jam packed day, followed by pizza, a movie and some deep sleeping.

We were also able to go to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. It is a big outdoor production portraying the life of Christ. It is great to watch and really helped Annabelle to recognize why we celebrate Easter. The costumes were fantastic. We couldn't resist chasing down this guy afterward!

Nona and I usually put her energy to good use while she is in town and so our project for this trip was to brighten up a spot in my backyard. We spent some time picking out flowers and employed Mike in carrying heavy bags of soil. Here is a little photo journal of the whole event:

This is what he had to work with.

Here are the flowers a little more upclose and personal.

This is how Anna feels about gardening. Really, she asks to pull weeds on a regular basis.
And this is really how Asa feels about gardening.

Cute, huh? Well it brightens up my little view.

Thanks for a great visit Nona! Happy Birthday and we'll have you back anytime :)