Family Visits

Family visits always do so much for us.  It's a change from routine, projects get worked on/completed, I get a bit of a break from kiddos, and we laugh...LOTS!  It's good for the soul.

Uncle Aaron and Auntie Stacey were here last weekend for a couple days and we had so much fun.  After some very intense weeks around here and lots of sickness, it was wonderful to have a change of pace and just enjoy family.

They arrived Saturday evening after driving here from Colorado, and went straight to bed since they had driven straight through.  Sunday we relaxed and went out to Don and Sally's to let Albarka run by the river, and we got some fresh air and visited for a while.

Uncle Aaron's rough housing is always a favorite for Brandon.

Auntie Stacey was quite successful in teaching Micah how to throw rocks into the river.

Brandon was quite enamored with how far Uncle Aaron could throw a stick!

Bryan got a little four-wheeling time which is always fun for him.

The sunset was gorgeous through the trees.

Monday was work day.  I had asked Aaron if he'd be willing to help me clean out the backyard since Bryan and I just hadn't had the time, or physical strength from being sick, to get it done.  What a big job!!  After getting all that cleaned out, Aaron had brought some special fertilizer for my garden so we worked that and some horse poop into it.  He taught me lots about how to prepare the soil, plant seeds and watering.  Maybe something will actually grow in my garden next year....

A picture that captures many memories of growing up together.  Aaron was always examining/using
little critters--here he's comparing three different types of worms.

He cleaned out the whole diseased compost area behind our shed and I raked up all the left-over leaves in the back yard.
We loaded Don's 20 ft trailer FULL.  It took us a good hour to scoop/push it all out again.

Auntie Stacey watched kids all day so I could work outside.  It was such a treat for all of us. 
The boys got lots of attention and I could work uninterrupted.

Tuesday was play and relax day.  In the morning Aaron and Stacey went to have coffee with an aunt in town and after nap time, we all headed out to Birch Bay.  It was cooolllllddddd!

Aaron took great pleasure in seeing Albarka's reaction to salt water--something she'd never been introduced to before.

In typical fashion, he found something that worked great as a whip.

Auntie Stacey is a great teacher!  She had Brandon hitting a baseball properly by the
time the afternoon was through. 

They practiced on rocks first!  :)

 After playing out at Birch Bay we headed back home to get cleaned and packed up.  Aaron and Stacey took us for a special treat of dinner out and then they headed down to Olympia area to spend a couple days with her parents.  We had a couple days of attention detox, but Brandon is getting better at handling that, too. 

Thanks, Aaron and Stacey, for a wonderful visit!