Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit last weekend. Although their visit was way to short, I was able to take a few pictures. Here's Luke with his famous eyes-closed smile.
Grandpa and Breezy snuggle after playing our new HSM2 DVD game (thanks Polly!). Grandma and Grandpa did exceptionally well seeing how neither of them had ever seen the entire movie. They are good guessers!
Can you tell I have given up on trying to get Luke to keep his eyes open?

He LOVES grandma and insisted that she be his shadow and go wherever he wanted her to go while she was here. She's an amazing grandma - it's no wonder he adores her!

The Luke

This is Luke's signature dance move. He has been doing it since he started walking and anytime there is music playing (and sometimes when there's not), he'll bust out this move. It's kind of the Statue of Liberty/"Stop...in the Name of Love" while spinning.

Busted!

When all is quiet and Luke's nowhere in sight, that can only mean one thing. Someone left the bathroom door unlocked and the seat up.Luke think's he's pretty cute. But catching him smiling for a picture these days is hilarious. When he sees the camera, he closes his eyes (flash anticipation) and then gives a huge smile. I must have taken a dozen shots of him and could not get one with his eyes open. Busted again! Thankfully it's the pantry, not the toilet today. This guy can sniff out sugar even when it's hidden behind closed doors.

Wait, I want to pose for the picture...let me just close my eyes...

Luke, this bench is for toys, not boys! Nikki, recognize the toys under the bench? Looks like something had to get tossed out to make room for Luke!Busted again?? Looks like Luke's off the wagon (or is it on the wagon - I need to get my sayings straight). It's so bad he's digging through the trash to support his habit. Either that or he's taken on Great Grandma J's thriftiness. Hey, there was some still left in the bottom of the can. Despite all the trouble, Luke is a really good boy. He reads volumes everyday.
And even folds his arms to pray. Now if we could only figure out how to teach him to close his eyes during the prayer! We love love love you Luke!!!

Broken!

So, it turns out that little encounter Breanna had with the tree was more than just a bruiser. After the miracle "Slurpee" cure, Breanna watched a movie, relaxed on the couch and said her arm was sore. We gave sympathy, lots of love, then hauled her off to a BBQ at a friend's house. Breanna played dress-up, chased the boys around the backyard and was pretty much her usual self. She was favoring her sore arm though. Maybe a sprain, we thought. That night I decided to give her some Tylenol (how thoughtful of me!). I sent her to school the next day with a note for her teacher to excuse Bree from any strenuous activities. Her teacher e-mailed me later and told me Breanna didn't complain about her arm the whole day.

As Jer and I chatted during the day though, we decided we should probably take her in just to make sure. Ends up she broke the tip of her Ulna, on the inside of the wrist. Right arm, naturally. We couldn't get into the orthopedic surgeon until Wed morning, but thankfully he said the break wasn't on the growth plate and in 6 short weeks, she'll have her arm back, good as new. You should have seen the ear to ear grin on her face when they put the pink cast on. Better than Disneyland. I took this picture before sending her off to school and the cast is now practically purple with all the autographs she got on it.

Whatever you do, don't mess with Bree....she's one tough cookie!

Labor Day

Our very generous, fun friends let us tag along and ride quads with them this morning. We had a really great time. The kids were in heaven. It was beautiful weather and just a great day altogether!Luke and Jake with matching expressions! They must think alike. We tried to get Luke to smile, but he was too busy trying to figure out what was going on.

Dad and Jake get ready to take off. Cute Georgia and Breanna. Let's Go!!
Lukie was makin' the moves on Ava. Can't blame him, she's pretty cute! She was such a good baby, too! She just relaxed and enjoyed the hum of the bikes.
As much as Luke liked looking at Ava, that didn't last long. Even Ava can't compete with dirt. He was eating it by the handfuls and making some rather delicious mud pies. Breanna and I found the coolest hills. We are novice riders, so to us, it felt like we were on a roller coaster ride. When we got back from our ride, Sarah said she could see us going over the hills and we were so high it looked like we were above the trees. We got to watch Sarah and Georgia then Jake and Dad go and it did look really cool to see them up so high!
Here are Breanna, Jake and Luke after a great morning of riding! After we took this picture, Breanna went off for one last ride. She took a little detour though and ended up crashing into a tree. Jake came running, shouting, "Emergency!" Dad was already there helping Breanna and James helped get the quad away from the tree. Breanna was pretty shook up. I guess she was cruising along and looked back for just a second and the next thing she knew - "Hello Tree!" She has a few scratches and a very sore arm, but she is recovering nicely. Slurpees from Circle K do wonders for sore arms.

We had such a great time!! Thanks friends!!!