Grandma and Papa "Charming" visit...

and now it's back to reality.

Grandma Ochs and Papa Snack (my parents) were up to visit for an extended weekend over Veteran's Day. We felt soooo blessed with them being here. Since moving up to New Hampshire and especially after having our kids, we have learned to cherish and treasure our times with our families and try to take advantage of every moment and to make the most memories as possible for our kids to look back on. Just their physical presence in our home means so much to us, and they help us soooo much just by being here. (Although I must say, we really put my parents to work when they were up here this time - sorry, Dad and Mom - so much for relaxation!)

During their visit, Ivy somehow got her Papa to play dolls with her. I have no idea how as I have no recollection of my Dad EVER playing dolls with me, my sisters, or any of Ivy's other girl cousins. During this time of play, Ivy dubbed Papa with a new nickname..."Papa Charming"! :-)

Clearly, you can tell that Papa hasn't ever played with dolls before! :-)



Aren't they so cute playing together? What great memories to look back on!

Now, enough with the dolls! Let's WRESTLE!

Well, Grandma and Papa's visit wasn't all fun and games...They also helped us with a few projects around the house. We are truly grateful and appreciative for the willingness and happiness they have to help us out. And, we THANK YOU (Grandma and Papa / Mom and Dad) SO MUCH for ALL of your help! One project was the lovely work of RAKING!

Although I was a little late getting a picture of all of us raking almost the ENTIRE yard, I did manage to capture Papa and Ivy picking up the leaves from our hard work...

A few other projects included installing the rest of the child safety latches into our upstairs bathrooms, hanging hooks for towels to dry into the bathrooms, and hanging hooks into our laundry area and coat closet to get things more organized around here which definitely makes me one happy girl! :-) Completing the hanging projects was a HUMUNGOUS help to us as Nathan and I have learned that, although we are a great team and work really well together to accomplish a lot, we cannot hang things together and remain married!

Thank you, once again, Dad and Mom for ALL of your help and for the enjoyable and memorable visit!

(P.S. Sorry, Grandma, I realized I didn't get ANY pictures of you on this trip!)