Outtakes Included

There seemed to be a theme of silly photos during this extended time together--I planned to do a separate post of all of those, but have decided to just keep them in the mix :) Here we are back at the beginning! To kick off the festivities of the week, Grandma J's friend sent us this amazing gift basket with all kinds of sweet and savory treats to keep us in snacks throughout the week. So very thoughtful!

Buck got the Yeti set up outside, but it seemed to be planting trees more than carrying them :)

Gabby came over to accompany us to the airport to collect Grandma J. The flights were a mess and rebooked automatically when the first set canceled unexpectedly. This meant a very late arrival; was it 2 a.m.? Buck's crazy December schedule meant he had to sleep to be ready for big boss walks at work, so Brennen agreed to drive. Staying up that late meant I got a bunch of stuff accomplished that I otherwise wouldn't have had time for. I don't think Brennen slept either. But Chase and Gabby did, until I woke Gabby up to go. We were a merry three, listening to early 2000s pop music and singing along in the car :) A surprising number of planes arrived that late, so we were not alone in the pick-up line; everyone was very happy to see Grandma J, bundled up like a native Californian, come wheeling her bags to the van!

Because of my increased hours at work, I spent quite a bit of the first day logging some of those (actually, I worked quite a bit in the in-betweens and when Caelan and Noah went to enjoy Christmas with his family--Grandma J read a lot of books when I was boring company :) On this evening, the boys set up Ticket to Ride to teach Grandma J, and I couldn't resist their invitation to stop working and join them :) Look at that pretty pink sunset!

We went to bed fairly early that night, because we knew the next morning Noah and Caelan would arrive! They drove through the night to reach us in the wee hours of the next morning. Olive and Daisy didn't know what to do with all this excitement--company galore! After greeting the new arrivals, we all grabbed a few hours of sleep. Gabby arrived later in the morning and the girls went to work helping Grandma J make chocolate caramel brownies! They didn't last long :) Did we end up making a second batch? Hmmm . . . we for sure talked about it!

Buck's walk at work went well, and he arrived home in time to join us for the first part of Grandma J's Christmas gift to us all--a dinner out! Here's outtake number two :)

Dinner was so yummy and festive! We had the only decorated table in the restaurant, which is one of our favorite places to eat--and one of Caelan's requests for their visit back. Oh, and this is the edited version of their picture, I'm not sure if I kept the original. They had a little lady sitting right between them in the background, framed by their faces :) She was the next outtake, but I guess I took her out already, ha.

We chose a Christmas puzzle to start at home (I think, after Caelan worked on ironing on the name tags to the dozen plus hats my bro and sister-in-law ordered for all the cousins on K's side). Below is the treadmill's hiding space I mentioned in the blog after this one :) Almost invisible!

The next morning, we joined the kids at their church. The very ambitious children's church staff loaded the stage with little ones in their jammies--even the two-year-olds! They danced and sang to some Christmas carols; it was adorable! When the service finished up, we wandered over to see Gabby and Chase's brand-new nephew; he's a beautiful baby!

Buck worked his required half day that morning . . . and then was off until after Christmas! The second part of Grandma J's Christmas gift to us all was a Christmas show--dinner and a show, just on different days :) But I'm so glad it worked out, because this is one of my favorites! We planned to watch White Christmas on DVD later that evening, but I think I missed it entirely this year! Maybe I'll go watch today . . . it's still January, after all . . . and we're a bit like Vermont with no snow :)

You may notice in the photo of Buck and me below--we have our own little lady, lol!

After the show, we noticed this festive green couch and pretty tree. It was still near the beginning of the trip, and I figured I was still in my window of asking for group photos. Grandma J was all in . . . but where is everyone else? :)

Here comes, Caelan!!

And Gabby makes three!

And then the whole Crew! Hooray for a theatrical holiday matinee!

We enjoyed Noah's family's soup for dinner and then went back to puzzling. I'm not sure which dog it is below playing peek-a-boo, but I expected this post to be longer--however, it seems I've run out of pictures! I guess the next day is Caelan's birthday, so here we are, all caught up!

Merry Christmas in January! Happy reading :)

Feeling Twenty-two

For Caelan's 22nd birthday, we planned and accomplished a very Caelan day :) It began with the arrival of Gabby bringing a pretty pink gift for her sister (with some help from Caelan's sister-in-law, E, too).

No time to put on the new dress just yet, because we booked coffee flight reservations and were excited to start that adventure! A coffee flight is a cute little board of smaller-than-usual coffees, teas, or hot chocolates, that provides an opportunity to try a bunch of fancy flavors without the excess of caffeine (although, for me, just the couple I tasted was an excess of caffeine :) Even better, they were half off as a 12 days of Christmas special that aligned with Caelan's special day!

P.S. Butter beer isn't actually beer, it's something from the Harry Potter books, I think, maybe? Buck liked the bees knees with the lavender and honey the best, which surprised him!

Wouldn't you know that real nearby there was a plant shop Caelan hadn't been to? What is a Caelan birthday adventure without a plant shop? This one was unique in that it has a potting bar--where you can bring in your plants in need of repotting and pick out all the soils, nutrients, accoutrements, etc. that will be healthiest for the plant. We didn't do that. I'm still just excited I've got a few green things growing; that's all next level stuff for me!

The day was sunny and, well, not "warm," but not unpleasant either! We walked down through the park to show Grandma J the improvements and looked over the ice-filled river on our way past the ice skating rink. Our brunch reservations were set to begin soon, but the fresh air was nice after the coffee excursion--so much caffeine :)

Chase and Brennen joined us for brunch, which ended up being mostly paid for by the gift cards Buck's boss gave him for Christmas--Grandma J picked up the tip, so Buck and I would have a little left over for a date night :) The food was delicious, and Caelan loved the atmosphere of the restaurant. They even gave her a little birthday treat to help celebrate her special day! Graysen was working and we thought he might be joining us when we saw he was nearby on the map, but it turns out his boss was taking him to lunch at the restaurant where we had Nolan's rehearsal dinner; also very cool!

We stopped home for a little while, but still several outings remained! After changing into her Glinda-esque new dress, we ladies headed for the movie theater to see Wicked. We all knew Caelan wanted to see it on her birthday with us, so we all waited. We figured the theater would be pretty empty, because it was released quite awhile ago, but there was a descent-sized crowd of moviegoers there to sing along (quietly) with us :) We thought the movie was visually beautiful and stuck to the play's storyline well. The three hours flew by (no pun intended), but it's hard to believe that was just the first half!

Caelan really wanted to use her Starbucks birthday bonus because it is only available on a person's actual birthday--so we stopped by after the movie to get her a pink drink . . . and since Hobby Lobby isn't too far away . . . :)

Caelan restocked on some yarn she needed to complete some of the many projects she was working on while she was here; she spends a lot of time at Hobby Lobby, I think :) And it was yarn coupon week, so 30% off--deals!

Back at home, Buck ordered gas station pizza (the best) and we all gathered for dinner together. To give our tummies a rest before dessert, Caelan opened gifts--including a treadmill from her brother which had been "hiding" behind the curtain Buck and my bedroom for quite some time. Noah immediately started pondering how they would tote that treadmill home in an already filled-to-capacity car (but they did!)

All the pink candles from all the packages this year went onto Caelan's requested chocolate desert with chocolate gingerbread guys on top :) We spent the rest of the evening finishing up our first Christmas puzzle while listening to Christmas music and enjoying the Christmas tree lights. I'm not sure if Noah was punting the puzzle to Brennen, but whatever they were doing, it made for a fun picture!

I think Caelan's birthday turned out to be a fun celebration of all the things she enjoys--granted, we didn't get to the piercings . . . but there's always next year ;)