A Visit From Grandma and Grandpa Ernst!

Grandma and Grandpa Ernst came to visit the day after Christmas and we got to spend quite a few days with them, which we always love. The kids were delighted beyond words to have access to Grandma and Grandpa on a daily basis for almost an entire week! There were many, MANY games played...a couple favorites (at least for Jake and Lydia) were Battleship and the electronic version of Guess Who, both of which Jake recieved for Christmas from Dan and I. Because it was new, it was a popular choice and G'ma and G'pa were very patient to play it time and time and time and time again! One day while they were here, the weather was unusually warm for a late-December day. We decided to walk to the Greene to show G'ma and G'pa the huge Christmas tree set up. It seemed like deja vu, as Dan and I had done this last year in December of 2007 (see pictures below) on a different warm December day. The other exciting thing was that Jake rode his bike with no training wheels, all the way, with a good amount of confidence. Due to our crazy summer, with my surgery and treatment and recoveries, Jake did not have too many opportunities to get on his bike and practice, so it was fun to see it come to him and the freedom he felt!

About to go walk to the Greene...December 2008


Going to the Greene...December 2007
Lydia...always stylish. December 2007In front of the tree...December 2007. See, no jackets on Jake, Lydia, and Daddy. It was so warm that day.
One year later. December 2008...again, no jackets! It'd be nice to have more days like this. And here is Jake riding away on his bike!

Remember Lydia always having to be stylish... here's proof of that again.




This next set of pictures needs some explainin'. Lydia recieved a bride Barbie doll for Christmas. The same day we opened it, Claire got a hold of it and a Sharpie marker and well, I'm sure you can guess the rest. She decided Barbie needed a little something on her face. Lydia and I were bummed about this, but Grandma had the idea of using nail polish to cover up the black mark on Barbie's cheek. I went up and got the shades that would possibly work. Here is Grandpa performing the 'plastic surgery' (in the middle of a Guess Who game).

Lydia watches intently.

A close up of the procedure.

Lydia loves her Grandpa...

and her oranges too, apprently.

A sideways, "mustard face." (Only a few of you will understand this).

A group shot with Grandma and Grandpa before they head back to Indy.

Hugs!

Kisses!

And some silliness before they go.

Love you guys so much and can't wait to see you again soon!