Belated Blessings

AS a young family we try to see both families around the holidays, we see one before or after and the other the day of... so this year we visited with my family on Christmas Day and planned to visit with Brian's parents the week after.

Well, that's when the snow and the stomach virus' hit!! We planned to leave after it all cleared up but it seemed like no 24 hour period went by that someone wasn't dealing with some symptom of the virus... and then we worried about getting Grandma sick right before her back surgery :(

So we stayed away :(

On Wednesday, Brian and Anna took a train to visit with Grandma and Granddaddy... to check on Grandma, make her smile and to help Granddaddy.They had a blast on the train and I know Anna loved all the adult attention:) And Grandma and Granddaddy seemed really glad to have them for the few days:)

And Brian and Anna brought back Grandma and Granddaddy's Christmas presents for Chris, Lydia, Nate and I:) I hadn't told the younger kids since I wasn't sure what they were going to be able to travel back with:) But they brought back all sorts of treasures that the kids LOVED digging into:)

SO here are the pics for Grandma and Granddaddy to enjoy... so that they can see the kids as they opened their belated Christmas blessings from Grandma and Granddaddy:)

Nate trying to climb into the pile of gifts

They both got some much needed underwear;)
Chris was soo excited about his b/c they were Spiderman....

This was his reaction when he realized it was underwear;) LOL!!

Lydia really putting an outfit together:)
Her new Sunday dress with her new hoodie and rainboots;)
Quite the ensemble!

Nate's outfit fit perfectly:) He wore it to church on Sunday:)

Chris received some more "real" tools:)
He brought his real wrench to both Sunday services... to show all the guys:) LOL!!
And the kids LOVED the marking "tape" ... they made a huge train with the whole roll! LOL!! Who knew it would be soo much fun!

We are soo blessed with parents that give soo much to us and the kids! We really appreciate all their gifts and time and prayers:) We are soo blessed by them!!

And in this case, thank you soo much to Grandma and Granddaddy... we hated not to be with you during this last holiday season. But we praise God for your health and will continue to pray for complete healing! The kids loved the gifts:) They are wearing the clothes and the boots like crazy! And we've even played plenty of games of Connect 4:)I'm sure the kids will want to challenge you the next time we see you:)