Holiday with the Pierson's

We were very lucky to have some of my family come visit us over the holidays. My parents, my sister Kiki and her boyfriend Nick drove down New Years Eve from Wisconsin and were able to stay a couple days. How lucky were we! They got here around 7:30pm on New Years Eve, and the kids were ecstatic! Thinking they wouldn't get into town until later, we had planned on not letting the kids stay up, but my family's early arrival was definitely worth keeping them past their bedtime (afterall, it was New Years Eve, right?). With all the driving they had done (and with us just being parents of three), we barely made it to midnight (Sad? Yes. I'm okay with sleeping though).

We like to take our guests to our favorite park, so Friday morning we all walked down the street and had a lot of fun running around for a while. The boys got to play a little football (as Brooklyn and Jeremiah attempted to catch up with them!) and the girls...well...didn't.


We got a few looks from other parents there (whose children were bundled in winter coats, hats, and scarves), but mostly directed at my sister, haha! A true Wisconsin resident who showed up at the park wearing capri sweats, a t-shirt, and flip flops (with her other half wearing shorts and a t-shirt). Hilarious. There was rare a moment that Savannah was not in someones arms. What a loved little girl! All the kids were so loved (and spoiled with way too many gifts!) over the weekend. It just felt so refreshing having family in town. And what a drive for them! After the kids went to bed that night, the adults played The Name Game. Oh my word, I don't remember the last time I've laughed so hard. In fact, I've never seen so many people laughing so hard for so long...ever! Tears (and possibly a mouthful of my water...sorry Mike) everywhere. Saturday morning, I had a piano student, so everyone else went back to the park for part of the morning. Apparently it was a bit chillier out that day. Fortunately, Mike had brought blankets in the stroller and Brooklyn got to wear grandma's coat (so cute!). Kiki brought back all these really adorable pictures and videos of everyone all bundled up. She was able to capture the cutest little story-teller talking about her favorite princess...Ariel. In Auntie Jenna's words, "she's in love with love" already.

I also heard some stories of how the weather created a not-so-happy Jeremiah, but my family jumped at the opportunity for snuggles in the park :-). Sigh...someday we'll see them more often. For now, we like being the hosts for winter 'vacationers'. Thanks for making the trip down, guys! We love you!