A Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's House

We headed West for a week to spend time with the Stahl family. Hannah got confirmed and we wanted to be there to support her on that great step in her life. It was a fun time celebrating and getting family time!

Our highlights were...

Animal Time

The animals are one of their favorite things about G and G's farm. They were ecstatic to find out that there was a new batch of kittens for them to cuddle. Lorelei helped name them too. Makin thought they stuck their claws in him a little too much so didn't spend as much time with them. They always love their time with sweet Oreo. They also got to meet a few more animals at Aunt Sarah's house. They have sheep, pigs and bucket calves. The kids got to feed the bucket calves which was quite a memory for them. And yes, Lorelei is in roller skates. She loves those things.

Frog Hunting

Even though it was way too cold my my taste, it was the warmest day we would have. Hannah and Karter invited the kids to go frog hunting. They just got a lot of rain, so the puddle was very enticing. They mostly just had a mud fight and lots of laughs. :)

Confirmation Day

It was a great time celebrating Hannah confirming her faith. We celebrated with a small group lunch after church. I loved her special Bible from Grandma! :) Side note - my kids actually ended up sitting through THREE confirmations over the last month. They are building up that sitting quiet stamina! :)

(I should also mention here that Sarah, Hannah and Karter left for a trip for DI competition in Tennessee shortly after this. This is why they aren't in any pictures for the rest of the visit. Jeanette also watched Brooklyn, so we got more time with her than usual. It was great for L and M to get a chance to be the older kids!)

Trampoline Time

This is another favorite for the kids at G and G's place. This time I didn't get as many pictures, though. Brad, Grandpa, Karter and Makin went golfing one day, so L stayed home and jumped on the tramp with the sprinkler, so that is why she gets the spotlight this time. :) There was lots of jumping by all throughout the week. Makin loved throwing balls out to any adult who was standing outside the trampoline. The bounce adds a whole new fun to playing catch. :) Brooklyn liked Ring Around The Rosie. :)

Tride-and-True Favorites

Some of their other favorites include...the swing-set (more specifically, hitting the ball with the seesaw part of it), kid's pool, ping pong (lots of laughs), tractor, chalk, the wii, big gator, little gator and trikes. Another great memory from this visit that I don't have a picture of is the kids playing in the wheat. They decided to play hide-n-seek. Lorelei would run out into the wheat as far as she could while Makin counted, as soon as he was done she just dropped down and he couldn't find her at all. It was so fun to watch!!!

Brad's Office Away From Home

He goes from a basement with no light to nothing but windows. Thanks for loaning out your sun-room Grandma!

Wacky Weather

Some of the pictures are a bit misleading...the weather was mostly chilly and just got cooler as the week went on. We had both rain and snow. :)

May 19th Snowflakes

9:45 AM Ice Cream

Because she is Grandma, so she can do that sort of thing. :) They enjoyed ice cream treats at the Sundry.

Book Time

Apparently the nearly 20 Berenstain Bears books in Grandma's collection aren't enough...so we went to the town library and found more! :) They checked out 24 books and had such a fun time reading some we had never heard before. :) It was our first visit to the children's section and we were impressed! Lorelei also showed Grandpa her picture book from school. Grandma is always in charge of bedtime stories.

Duckpin Bowling

It has become a regular event for our visits and continues to be one of Makin's absolute favorite parts. We didn't get to stay as long as usual, but they loved bowling again. :) Even though it is his favorite, he isn't pictured because he is constantly in motion so its very hard to get a good picture of him here!

Helping Set Pins

Wrestling With Grandpa

They just love it. :)

Ending With A Tent

Grandma broke out the tent as Brad and I packed up to leave. She let them empty out her entire Tupperware cabinet to boot. This was one of their favorites from the trip as well. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!