Whirlwind

Whirlwind...that's exactly what this weekend was. And then after the whirlwind...comatose. It started Friday night, date night. I picked the kids up from babysitting group at 9:30 p.m. and got home with them at 10:00. Michael's dad had flown into town for the weekend. It's the first time he's been here since we moved here in 1999 and we haven't seen him since we were in Utah at the end of 2005. So, it was a pretty big deal. Evan was really excited to have him here and he stayed at our house that night. That meant that Evan didn't get to sleep until MIDNIGHT. Anyone out there think that's okay for a 3-year-old??? Me either! Well, he slept all the way until 7:30 a.m. (real great...7 1/2 hours of sleep. Not even enough for an adult!) Saturday we got to enjoy some time with him in the morning and Michael took an hour or so making a very fancy breakfast of omlettes and potato pancakes. Yum! Then all of the familiy went to lunch at Burgerville so he could try that out. Then we jetted to OMSI for their Chinese dinosaur exhibit, seeing as how he is the "DINODOC" (as his license plate reads) and all. We all really enjoyed the dinosaurs and it was fun to be there with someone who could appreciate it on such a deeper level than even we could.

Evan & Michael running along the dinosaur tracks

This is what happens to your child when he only gets 7 1/2 hours of sleep!

My favorite dinosaur...with a really flat head

From there (I'm realizing right now that this is probably going to be pretty boring for most people to read. However, I'm sure I will want to remember all of this sometime so I proceed...) we went to Michael's brother's house for our nephew's birthday party. Then we had to scoot out of that early to make it to my grandpa's 88th birthday party by 6 p.m. That was really fun because some family had flown all the way from Georgia and my grandpa's little 91-year-old sister was there, too. Plus many others. My grandpa and grandma prepared a dance for us and they proved they can still cut a rug as well as they ever could. Michael cracked everyone up when at the end of the dance he rushed over to Grandpa to take his pulse and proclaimed him still ticking. Ha! Many, many members of the family typed up memories we have of him and my sister compiled them into a book. I'm sure that is something he will treasure for a very long time. So, we got home from that around 9:30 and got kids to bed around 10:30. Eek! That was one very long and busy day!

I love the smiles on both of their faces. They had a great time dancing and we had a great time watching! I must admit that I was secretly worried that it might be the death of Grandpa, though. :-)

My grandpa talking with his 91-year-old sister. Isn't she cute with her very cool coat? I mean, her coat is cooler than mine! She's one hip lady.

Reading the special book of memories

Sunday we went to church, of course. But then we also had to go to Michael's brother's ward, as his dad was ordaining his brother Matt to an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. That was his whole purpose for flying out here. After the ordination, we took some family pictures and then Grandpa Bybee had to skedaddle to catch his plane. When I went to bed last night, I felt like I was slowly slipping into a coma. Finally able to rest after one crazy weekend. It was great to get to visit with family members who we do not regularly see, though.

Grandpa Bybee with all of the grandkids. Is it even humanly possible to get that many kids looking cute at the same time? This is actually the best one! The rest had someone picking a nose, sliding off a lap, screaming, or making faces. Ha!

Bybee dad and siblings (minus one sister) putting on a face for the picture

And showing their true characters