Summer Visitors for Lucas

We have had a wonderful summer filled with visits from family that live too far away and that we don't get to see often enough. My mom was the first to arrive, trying to time her visit so that she would be here for the arrival of our little Lucas. She came from June 19th to the 28th and was able to help me tremendously with my final uncomfortable days of pregnancy. On the night of the 24th when my labor finally kicked in, she was there for me through every moment until our sweet little boy made his appearance. Here are a few moments from her trip.

She took this the day before I went into labor - everyone was in disbelief about how big and out front Lucas was!

At the hospital - June 25th at about 2 a.m. Mom and I are trying to decide who Lucas looked like. We decided that he looks like Lucas!

This is later that day when Mom and Kenyon brought the boys over to the hospital to meet their new brother. Grandma couldn't wait to get her hands on this sweet boy.

During Mom's visit, my brother Jeff and his wife Andrea and their new baby Eva were visiting Andrea's family in Bozeman, MT (they live in Minnesota). They drove down to see us for 5 days in the hopes of meeting their new nephew also, but they left on the morning of the 24th and I went into labor that night. It was so fun to get to know my sweet neice though and the boys really enjoyed their new cousin. We had a great time and are looking forward to seeing them again in December.

Here is the new family at the park - during the few seconds that Uncle Jeff WASN'T playing with his nephews.

Here's me with Eva - trying to convince Lucas
to come out and meet her!

Here is a very recent picture of Eva at 4 months old!
Such a happy girl!!!

We had a two week break between when my mom left and when Kenyon's parents arrived from Pennsylvania for eight days. The boys call them "Hunca Munca and Pop Pop". Hunca and Pop Pop arrived with lots of fun things planned and had a very full trip here - they went bike riding, gardened together, went to Grand Teton National Park, had a bug hunt and cooked a meal together - just to name a few things. Here are a few highlights from their visit.

This is a shot from a bike ride - the metal circle is a piece of art
from the Olympics.

Here is Hunca and Pop Pop on a hike in Jackson Hole, WY. Kenyon and his parents took Brendan and Cameron on a quick overnight to see the Tetons and I stayed home with Andrew and Lucas.

Here's Kenyon with his mom and the boys in Grand Teton National Park.

This is Pop Pop teaching Cameron how to fish up in the Uinta Mountains just about 30 minutes from our house. We drove up there for an afternoon and the boys had a blast catching nothing and getting wet and dirty!

Another two weeks on our own and then Kenyon had to end his six week parental leave and go back to work - boo hoo!!! To help me adjust to caring for four children without him, my sister (my "sister-wife") and her two daughters came to visit for ten days. We went camping, hiking, shopping, walking, swimming and just hung out a lot (which we don't get to do since she lives in Illinois).

Amy was our camp chef. Here she is making Huevos Rancheros for breakfast - YUM!!!

Amy took this picture while we were camping. Amelia is on the left and Lauren is on the right. We were having "Mexican Hot Dogs" because I forgot to bring the ketchup and mustard, so we had salsa on them!

Here's the gang on the day we shopped on Main Street. Luckily, this is the only bear we saw on our trip.

Lucas got lots of time with his "Aunt Ah-maymee" as the boys call her.

We said a sad goodbye to Amy and the girls, but the very next day, we said an excited hello to my Aunt Mary Lou or "Aunt Louie" as all the great neices and nephews call her. We had not seen Mary Lou since Andrew was about six months old, so we were so excited that she took the time and made the effort to come from Atlanta for eight days. The boys all fell in love with her and made great memories with her. She also treated Lucas (o.k. mom) to a shopping spree at Macy's for some new clothes for him (he could easily be the KING of hand-me-downs, but isn't).

Here is how Lucas spent much of the week. Life is rough when you're a baby!!

Here's Louie with her boys... this was the last day before we
left for the airport :-(

I'm told that my dad and Angie are coming sometime in September to meet Lucas and visit with the boys, so I reserve the right to add some more visitors to the list. Thank you to everyone who made the trip out here - we had a wonderful summer and are thankful for each one of you.