Fun weekend

Garry's parents and grandma came to town for a long weekend.  We enjoyed their company!  We haven't seen the Bartles since Tyler's baptism and Grandma Great since Thanksgiving.  They were all enamored with our darling Kate, of course, but had a good time catching up with everyone.

They arrived in the wee hours of Friday morning.  That day was very relaxed.  We hung out at home, watched Zach learn to ride the unicycle from Garry's youth, and played with kids in the back yard.  It was lovely to have lots of helping hands in the house. I took a nap!

That evening we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  About 18 months ago I had a terrible customer service experience there, and after leaving a complaint online, the restaurant manager mailed a letter trying to coax me back.  He offered a complimentary dinner for four, which we finally cashed in with our guests.  Our party of ten ate like kings for $54 (and Grandpa paid!) and had so many leftovers that we used them for dinner on Saturday.

On Saturday I hosted a bridal shower for the daughter of my friend Melissa, so Garry took the kids and his parents to the zoo.  Grandma Great stayed behind with me and was a wonderful help.  Apparently the highlight of the zoo trip was watching two hippos fight.  Everyone talked about that for the rest of the day.

Later that afternoon, the kids briefly played in a fun sprinkler toy that Grandma brought.  It was a cooler and breezy afternoon, though, so that didn't last very long.

On Sunday we all went to church.  We witnessed a miracle when Gavin fell asleep in Grandma's lap.  She had been compressing his finger joints.  He fell asleep with a grin on his face.  

Every night the boys played games with Garry, Grandma, and Grandpa.  I'm not one to enjoy strategy games, but they loved playing Acquire, Citadels, and Chicken Foot.  We also watched the Olympics every night.  We saw the women's gymnastics all-around competition, Michael Phelps' final swimming races, and many exciting track and field events.  My favorite might have been the women's 7000m race.  Garry couldn't tear me away from the TV to go to dinner until I watched those speed demons cross the finish line.

On Sunday night, Garry and his dad gave everyone priesthood blessings. Garry usually does that the night before school starts each year, but we thought it would be nice to include his family in the event.  It was very nice indeed.

All in all, the weekend was delightful.  Thanks for coming, fun grandparents!