Visit from Dad, Mom, and Janna

At the beginning of June we were lucky to have Mom, Dad, and Janna join us for a week.  Most of Dad's visit was spent working around the house...I hope that won't be the case in any future visit!  But the work he did is absolutely wonderful and much appreciated.

He gutted out our entire mud room and left us with: closets properly framed, put up new (and in-tact) paneling, installed a gorgeous ceiling, trimmed everything up perfectly, and pulled wires through the wall that previously were just exposed conduit.  We now get to paint and do a few finishing touches, so pictures of our new mud room will be revealed upon completion. :)

Other projects Dad accomplished included: installing better air in- and out-take pipes to our heater so during bitter winters the air intake doesn't freeze over, installing a bathroom pedestal sink, patching up areas of dry wall, fitting vent covers, trimming a pesky gap in our basement where the ceiling and wall met, and installing a check-valve in our floor drain.  Did I mention Dad was busy?

We made him stop one afternoon so we could treat the family to lunch at Texas De Brazil, a Brazilian Steakhouse.  We ate a lot of yummy food (aka meat) and walked away with full and happy tummies.  (Don't worry, they had a pretty fantastic salad bar that Janna was able to enjoy!)

While they were here I got to celebrate my 35th birthday.  What a treat it was to be surrounded by more family!  Mom made yummy taco salad for dinner--my favorite!  We all gobbled that down and then I had to head out to help run a mutual activity at church.  When I got back, Hylie was in bed, but we went ahead and had some delicious strawberry shortcake for dessert.

That night we all sat down to watch my favorite chick-flick: "While You Were Sleeping".  I can't tell you how much I love that movie and now I love it even more because later that week, Geoff took the day off so he could take me to different sites of Chicago where the movie was filmed!  Aaah!  I was giddy about this adventure for weeks when Geoff told me his plan.  It was such a wonderful trip--thanks to Mom and Dad for watching Hylie so we could enjoy our time downtown.  Warning: next post is going to be pretty cheesy!

Hylie had a lot of fun with Grandma.  On Sunday afternoon, Hylie snuggled up next to Grandma and listened to her read story after story.  After the family left on Monday, Hylie heard the door open when Geoff came home from work.  Normally, when Geoff comes home I ask Hylie, "Guess who's here?"  This time, instead of saying "Daddy", she said "Grandma?"  We all miss them so and are looking forward to seeing them in July!