A visit from Grandpa and Nana

Bryan's parents came for a visit the last week of February. We were happy to have them meet Ivy and Maya and really appreciated all of their help. Nana did a lot of baby holding and Grandpa stayed busy finding things to fix around the house (he hung blinds in El's room, secured our sliding glass doors, recovered my piano bench, cleaned up the hard drive on my computer, cleaned and oiled some of Bryan's tools, replaced the handle on our screen door, fixed the doorbell, fixed the bouncy chair, etc.). I tell ya' -- the man doesn't sit well. He likes to stay busy, and we can't complain. We sure appreciated all his "fiddling."

Here is pic of Nana and the big girls. (At least Eleanore would like to think she is one of the big girls...she basically idolizes Jordan and Audrey. Lucky for her the girls are so nice to her and they usually let her tag along with them.) We are lucky to live so close to Rob's family. His kids are like siblings for Eleanore (they fight and love like siblings...it is actually kind of funny), and Rob and Catherine are so nice to my kids. Seriously, I think Catherine is probably the nicest aunt that ever lived. She gives Eleanore so much attention and is so patient, even though she is very busy with own four children. Also I must say, Rob and Bryan really are the best of friends. I love seeing how close they are even though there is eight years between them. We love you guys!

While Nana and Grandpa were here we really just hung out. We ate fondue one night, cooked in the fire pit another, the guys went fishing a couple of times (and let Eleanore tag along) and we all went to a flea market one day.

Bryan, Rob and their Dad also spent some time in a make-shift wood shop (Rob's garage) building two beds. You see, Catherine recently discovered a blog call knockoffwood.blogspot.com that offers FREE plans for furniture projects similar to what Pottery Barn sells. Perfect for people like me who have Pottery Barn taste, a Target budget and a husband with skills.

In two afternoons the guys built a farmhouse bed for us and one for Rob's oldest daughter Audrey. I think they turned out beautifully (these photos are actually of Audrey's bed (ours is pretty much the same, just a king instead of a queen...I didn't get many pics from the week so I hacked all of these from Catherine's blog :). Our bed still needs to be painted and moved to our house. I'll get a pic when we get it all set up.

We appreciated the visit and loved spending time together with Grandpa and Nana and Rob and Catherine's family. Fun memories were made. The only downer: of course the week by went way too fast.