A Grand Visit

We made it through our first round of house guests with flying colors! Grammy and Buddy flew in Thursday and we've really enjoyed having them around and introducing them to Sasha - it's so crazy to think that last week 3/4 of our parents hadn't yet met this little one who is such a huge part of our lives!

We were interested to see what Sasha thought about having folks outside of the five of us in our house. She started out pretty reserved, but soon opened up to the grandparents and I think she really liked having two more big people to cajole into reading her books and pouring her cups of water that she had no intention of drinking (ah, the never-ending fun of toddler games).

Of course, Sam and Ben were thrilled to have Grammy and Buddy visit. Grammy's wrist was feeling good enough to participate in a few games of Wiggly Bridge, their favorite game involving complicated passwords and crossing Grammy's legs that form a bridge from the guest bed to the desk. Grammy broke her wrist while watching the boys during the first part of our adventure in Kazakhstan and only just got her final cast off after surgery, so we're glad that her wrist was strong enough for a little Wiggly Bridge. She had plenty of energy for as much side-by-side Sudoku as Ben could handle, however :)

Sam enjoyed challenging Buddy to game after game of Khet, a laser chess game that he just loves. Buddy contends that his losses were caused by Sam stacking the board in his favor. The rest of us aren't so sure. I mean, check out the look of intense concentration on Sam's face! He could burn a laser hole in the board through sheer mindpower!

And you'll be happy to know that our tree, which was at a 45-degree angle to the ground after a late-April snowstorm, is now far straighter. Steve and Dad spent several hours winching it back up and tying it in place. Not a fun job, but I am sure grateful that the tree could be rescued. Plus it was fun watching them climb around like monkeys.

Buddy flew back to Maryland this morning and Grammy will stay in town a few more days to take care of the boys while we're in Salt Lake for Sasha's surgery (thank you, Mom!). The next time you read a Morningstar blog posting, our little girl will no longer have a cleft palate! We'll keep you posted on her surgery and recovery and we certainly appreciate your prayers and well wishes for our baby girl.