Thanks Chuck...

My brother Chuck used his frequent flier miles to fly my parents out here! This was the first time since Jake was born that both Mom and Dad were able to come to our place for a visit. (They have been on missions for our church.) AND this was the first visit we could really play, I wasn't recovering from having a baby or surgery.

The kids and I had fun picking them up at the airport and got all kinds of looks and remarks thanks to our big welcome sign! Dad and Mom came with a suitcase full of  lots of fun treats: pounds of BYU Bookstore candy, granola, home made jams and jellies. Aimee sent them with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory goodies and lots of helpful lesson plans/activities for homeschooling Tess. 

We had a great time together and as always time went by too fast. Here is what we did--

Wednesday: Pumpkin Carving

This picture depicts a very "Tess" moment. I told Dan and Tess I wanted to take a picture of them with their carved pumpkin. Dan immediately slipped and fell on the floor to which Tess, very naturally, fell down to join him for the picture...funny thoughtful girl.

We ate our traditional "fractured tacos" for dinner that night and watched The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with good'ol Bing!

Thursday: Trip into D.C.

The weather was perfect, the colors were beautiful, and the kids did great. We took our time walking down the Mall. We spent time at the Lincoln Memorial, WWII and Vietnam Memorial. 

Dad spent a year in Vietnam as a Platoon Leader. He had about 25 men in his platoon, 4 of which died and are a part of the memorial.  One night Dad and his platoon were trapped in a fire fight in a rice patty. This was the night my Mom woke up with the feeling Dad was in trouble.  She spent most of the night on her knees praying for him. Here are some of the men from dad's platoon who's names were on the wall.

John M Bellamy 

He died that night after being shot.  Dad and another soldier dragged him across the field to safety, his wife was expecting their first child.

Jerry M Daily 

A RTO (radio telephone operator) who was also killed that night.

Edward E. King

A Corporal who died that night.

Fred Bailey

Was a squad leader who was wounded that night and spent 2 weeks in a hospital. He felt that he needed to be with his squad rather than go home. The very day he returned he was killed by a booby-trap!

I am so grateful to the men and women who have lost their lives for our freedom and safety. I am so proud of my Dad and Mom. I am grateful for the patriotism they have passed on to me.

 This picture depicts Abby perfectly: always on the run with someone trying to catch her!

Then we headed to the Capitol and saw the Senate in session. It was a beautiful room but I was really surprised at the lack of Senators present...Get to work, guys!!!!

 After the Senate we met up with my friend Cara for a personal tour of the Capitol building. Thanks to Cara the kids got to ride out of the Capitol building on a little train, their little legs were pretty tired and this was just what they needed! 

We ate at FIVE GUYS on our way home. It was fun day. 

Friday we spent some time visiting with Samantha Lee and Victoria Carlson, friends from growing up. It was fun to catch-up with them and eat!  Dad really enjoyed our drive over to Virginia, as I knew he would. Dan and I have spent a lot of time house hunting on that side of the river...

Tess loved having Grandma braid her hair.

Jake had TWO baseball games while Grandma and Grandpa were here. He loved having so many cheerleaders.

 Little boys playing baseball is really entertaining! We especially enjoyed how all the boys would run after the ball, luckily there were no head on collisions.

On Saturday Dan took Dad and Jake to Gettysburg. The plan was for all of us to go but my headache put a stop to that. It actually was really nice to have time with Mom and the girls. I think the boys really enjoyed their afternoon together too, I know Jake did!  Then Sunday was the Primary Sacrament Program. Jake and Tess worked hard to memorize their parts and did a great job. It was fun having Grandma and Grandpa in the congregation! 

Dad drove down to southern Virginia on Monday and visited with a really good friend, Don Hanchett. 

While he was gone Mom, the kids and I made sugar cookies and then for FHE we went Ding Dong Ditching! So fun!! 

On Tuesday we headed back to Gravers Farm, in Mt. Airy. I saved going to the pumpkin patch for Mom and Dad's visit. It took three tries due to rainy weather but the third time was a HUGE success. The weather was perfect, the view was GORGEOUS, and we ALL played hard for 2 solid hours!

I had a blast on this pillow bounce...we sooo need a trampoline!

Jacob led us through the big corn maze and loved making all the decisions!

 He did every maze they had wearing a huge grin of accomplishment at each exit.!

I was not a bit surprised to see my very independent Abby love this slide. She did it all on her own,  over and over! 

 Jacob was hilarious on this slide. He sang happily and loudly all the way down every time!

 Abby loved seeing all the animals and touching most of them. I could just imagine the donkey below waving right back at her!

Abby loved being with her Grandpa, I think the feeling was mutual!! 

One morning mom spotted Abby cuddled up next to Dad as he was reading his scriptures.

It was really fun watching Jake, Tess, and Abby have undivided attention from their Grandparents. Mom helped me can apple sauce with the canner she bought for us a couple weeks ago. The kids played lots of UNO with Grandma and Grandpa.  I loved having all the help! I really appreciated not having to take all three kids to and from school each day. I don't think I did the dishes once and Dan and I really enjoyed just sitting and talking with them at night, or watching the movie Centennial!

After taking them to the airport, as I sat in 2 hours of traffic on my way back from Dullus, I was grateful to have a fabulous reason to be returning out to Utah in December...when Tate will be sealed to his my brother and sister-in-law!  I'll be seeing my parents again soon!