Visits from Loved Ones

This week was filled with visits from family members we didn't get to see over Christmas.  Which was really exciting for my kids - I think the novelty of staying home with mom has worn off.

My cousin Malinda and her daughter Alli came to Lubbock on Tuesday and brought my grandma with them.  We were so excited to see them!!!  Each year my wonderful, talented, loving (I could go on and on) grandma makes Christmas presents for each of her 17 great-grandchildren.  Yes, makes them!  This year she did fleece blankets for all the kids - did I mention there are 17 of them? 

Jackson is excited about his Cars blanket!



Can you tell how much she loves it?  We tried to get Kendall to pose with her Princess blanket, but she was afraid we were going to take it away from her so this is the best we got!

 

Jackson and Memaw - she also made them these cute candy cane "Rudolphs".




Jackson, Memaw and Kendall

  

I narrowly saved this "Rudolph" from being eaten so I could get a picture.  Cute, simple idea!



Aunt Kay sent gifts for the kids with Malinda.  Kendall loves her new puzzle!  Thanks, Aunt Kay!

We may have done a little bit of shopping while they we here - okay, we did a LOT of shopping!  Alli loves things that have peace signs or zebra print - she's my kind of girl!!! 




Jackson, Kendall and Alli - can you guess which store?



Not sure why my kids love to have their picture at Target - but they do!

Alli was so good with Kendall!  She entertained her, played with her, carried her around and read "Wocket in my Pocket" to her about a million times!  She's such a great cousin!

Jackson said to Alli, "Yeah, be glad you don't have a sister!"  This is funny because while Alli doesn't have a sister, she does have not one, but two little brothers!

Alli, Malinda and Grandma had to leave on Wednesday to get Alli home for basketball practice.  We were really sad to see them go!

Wednesday night we headed out to watch Zach's cousin from Spearman, Cody, play in the Caprock Ambucs Basketball Tournament.  I made Kendall take a late nap because the game was at 9:00 that night.  Jackson was super excited to be going to a game at his bedtime!

We got to see a lot of Zach's extended family at the game.  It was good to visit with the Bentons and the Martins.  Jackson talked up poor Julie the entire game!  I had accidentally left my camera at home charging, so I did not get any pictures.  Boo :(    I told Zach how sad I was about this when we got home and Jackson informed me that he had taken some pictures with his DSi.  While these are not great, I promised him I would include them.


I think he was attempting an action shot, but was too late.

 

Blurry, but Spearman is in purple.  I think that's Cody up front, but I'm not entirely sure!  I think it's kind of ironic that Spearman came all the way to Lubbock to play...Borger.  They lost, but Cody played hard. We were glad we got to see him play.


Thursday night, another one of Zach's cousins, Bray, came over for supper.  He brought presents from Charolette and his family for the kids (did I mention my kids are really spoiled?).  Charolette is Zach's mom niece.  I could try to explain exactly what she would be to Zach, but simply put - she's a lot like Zach's aunt.  She has two daughters (One of which we got to see at the aforementioned bball game).  Charolette and her whole family have always been so sweet to Zach and our family.  Charolette checked in and took care of Yvetta a LOT when she still lived in Spearman.

Anyways, back to Bray...He and his roommate, Nathan, came over for supper Thursday night.  It was really good to see him.  He and his roommate were so courteous and well-mannered, I had to remind myself that they were college students!  Again, not sure why I didn't get any pictures!  They brought Jackson a Hot Wheels trick track which the kids have been playing with non-stop!  I felt bad for Bray's roommate because Kendall took a major liking to him and would not leave him alone!  We had a great time visiting with Bray - I know Zach really enjoyed it!

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, safe and blessed New Year!!!  I can't believe it is almost 2011!  That sounds like a year straight out of a Jetsons' cartoon.

Verse of the day - "We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Blessings,
Kelli