Big week

My mom and dad came for a short visit last week for a couple reasons.  Mom came to my bible study last time she was here and they were talking about the Christmas dinner at our church and she thought it sounded like fun.  I got online about a month ago just to see what airfare was and it was $100 round trip, so they booked their flights.  Dad's reason for coming wasn't nearly as fun....he and Ryan jack hammered and sawed concrete to get the house ready for the plumber.  

Monday was a busy day...Ainsley lost her other front tooth that morning, so she is now toothless up top :o).  Ryan picked up mom and dad from the airport and later that day, Reggie had his orthodontist appt. and he finally gave the o.k. to get his braces off!  We were all super excited!  Then Ainsley went to gymnastics and Reggie went swimming.

No teeth...

 Before..

The Christmas dinner that night was awesome, as usual.  Women decorate tables in whatever theme they want and some were pretty amazing.  It was fun to wander around and look at all the tables.  We had a nice dinner and then listened to our speaker, Lisa Harper.  I heard her a couple years ago and her message was completely different and totally amazing.  What a great reminder of how we are to share our life stories with each other to show how God has worked in and through us.  Talking about the amazing things he has done in our lives in the most powerful testimony!  It was really nice to be with mom and do a girl thing.

Tuesday, Ryan and dad got busy with the demo work and made great progress.  

That night we went to Deacon Dave's to check out the crazy amount of lights he puts on his house.  He's been doing it for years and has a crew to help him put up over 345,000 lights, create scenes and backdrops.  On the way there, we stopped to look at a house we found a couple weeks ago that is crazy decorated for Christmas and when we stopped and looked a little closer, we noticed Santa out on the lawn.  He came over to the car and gave the kids candy canes.  Strange as that was, it put a smile on my face :o).  

Wed. night we watched Reggie swim and I'm not sure what he ate for dinner, but he was a different kid.  Racing all over, doing all the strokes right, even the butterfly.  That night my stomach wasn't feeling so well and it only got worse.  Unfortunately, it was one of those bugs where you want to throw up, but never do.  

Didn't eat or do much the next day, which meant everyone else was on duty.  It was good mom and dad were around because mom went and volunteered in Ainsley's classroom and then took Reggie to get his nighttime retainer.  Ainsley was very happy to have grandma at school :o).  That night was Red Robin.  Bad timing for me, but at least I was feeling a little better.  It isn't quite the same when you go out to dinner and watch everyone else eat.  I did have steak fries, probably too many, but I was o.k.  Mom and Reggie had their Birthday burgers and ice cream and all was well :o).  It has been awhile since we have gotten to celebrate with mom, so it was a special treat to have them here this time of year.