Grandma's Visit

We were lucky enough to have Eric's mom come visit us for Thanksgiving and then stay with us until after Henrik's birth. It was so nice to have her here to take care of the girls when we were in the hospital! We tried to squeeze in as much fun as we could before (and after) Henrik arrived.

Grandma's first night here the girls had a birthday party to go to for a neighbor friend. I loved watching Eric's mom interact with the kids and settle right in with all our friends there. She was such a good sport about coming and going according to our schedule, just wanting to help out where we needed her. (She even helped Eric and me out in Nursery at Church on Sunday.)

The night before Thanksgiving we went to see "Tangled" in 3D and LOVED it! (It was so fun that Zachary Levi was one of the voices; we were finishing the third season of "Chuck" all weekend!) Grandma bought a big bucket of popcorn to share, which made the movie all the more fun. Then we tried out a new restaurant called "Piada," Italian street food. There Grandma treated us to Italian sodas. Everything was so yummy!

On Thanksgiving we tried some new things that will probably become traditions: we cut up the turkey Tyler-Florence-style before roasting it.

And we made Lion House rolls. (We even watched the YouTube video on how to flip them in the air to roll them up!)

Grandma brought Thanksgiving Bingo for the kids to play while we were waiting for dinner.

We also kept a past tradition and made chocolate pecan pie. (I love sitting down in the evenings after Thanksgiving to eat leftover pie, or pull the cold turkey out of the fridge to make a sandwich for lunch. It's almost the best part of Thanksgiving.)

Later on we made cookie turkeys as our second dessert.

After doing minimal Black Friday shopping, we spent the day after Thanksgiving getting the Christmas tree up and preparing for the next holiday!

Eric had the girls help him make homemade noodles for dinner.

The next night we went to Wildlights at the zoo. The girls had been waiting and waiting to ride on the carousel and the train.

It was freezing, but definitely worth the trip. We tried to stay warm inside the aquarium and the indoor Asia exhibits before sitting outside for the animal show and watching the light show over the lake.

We ended the evening visiting the goats and warming up again in Habitat Hollow before I waddled my way to the van and we had a fun dinner at Wendy's before going home.

Monday after Thanksgiving was my last day of teaching before having the baby. While I was gone, everyone else got to go to Graeter's Ice Cream where the kids played and Grandma got to try their chocolate coconut almond chip ice cream. I was sad I missed it, but had a good last day at work.

My mother-in-law and I got to attend a Relief Society activity together Tuesday night while Eric helped out in the nursery. We had a wonderful talk by the former temple matron about the doctrines of temple worship, then we did a small quilling project and enjoyed some fall treats. I was glad to have Eric's mom there with me, and it was a nice evening with the sisters in the ward.

The night before Henrik's arrival, we got to visit the Franklin Park Conservatory.

We were mesmerized by the rotating fairy tale mountain just inside the entrance.

We loved seeing the professional Currier and Ives gingerbread houses, as well as all the amateur ones.

And, of course, we swooned over the towers of poinsettias.

While I was in the hospital, I heard about the fun Jolie had with Grandma after preschool. They did fun things only Grandmas do like go to the corner pharmacy for drinks and snacks, or snuggle under a blanket together at home to watch a movie. Both girls really enjoyed having Grandma drop them off and pick them up at school or the bus stop. What a treat for our kids! Jolie learned how to snap while Grandma was here, too. She loved coming up to everyone and saying, "Hear!" and then snapping at their ear.

Everyone also got to go to the ward Christmas party together. I missed hearing Mierae sing with the Primary, but I was glad she got to perform for Grandma in my absence.

In Grandma's last few days after Henrik came home, the girls made gingerbread houses, and everyone but Henrik and me took a trip to Trader Joe's to get some snacks, holiday goodies and a bag for Grandma to take back home to Utah.

The night before she left, we all played games together and then Grandma presented the girls with these adorable Christmas pillowcases she had sewn a few days earlier as Christmas gifts.

The morning Grandma left, Jolie was up in the middle of the night, never to go back to sleep, and Henrik had been fussy and wouldn't go back to sleep. So at 6:00 am, two of the three grandkids got to take Grandma to the airport. It was sad to see her go, but she had lots of things waiting for her back home.

Thank you for coming, Grandma! We love and miss you!