Nonie & Pop Pop Come to Town...

Nonie & Pop Pop were in town this week for a visit. The whole fam went back to Elk Grove for the Fourth of July. We saw some great fireworks, went to a parade and had fun visiting with Uncle Jay, Aunt Diane, Shannon, Matt & GiGi. Joel loved the fireworks...but was too tired to make it all the way through to the end. He fell asleep in my lap to the hypnotizing sound of M-80's cracking in the sky...Unbelievable!

Gracie was mesmorized by the lights and didn't mind the sound at all. She was a trooper and made it through to the end. It was so fun to have TWO kids with us this year. The parade in the morning was a huge hit. We are used to the smaller parades up here in Kalamazoo, so Joel was loving it. I'm not exaggerating when I say that his bag of candy weighed at LEAST five pounds. It helped that he had cousin Shannon with him to teach him how to get the goodies (and we chose a prime location with little competition for tootsie rolls and peppermints!).

Curt, Grace & I headed back a little early and Joel got some one-on-one time with Nonie & Pop Pop. I thought he would be sobbing...but he barely mentioned us! I was glad to have a little solo time with Grace. She doesn't always get all the attention. Once it was just the two of us, she decided that she wanted to show off and start rolling around like crazy. Front to back, back to front, scooting across her mat...she does it all now. What an all-star!

As a side note, while my parents were in Chicago with Joel, they were driving around one of our Jeeps and heard a funny sound. They happened to be at my Uncle Bill & Aunt Dawn's house visiting (my uncle is a car GURU!). They had my Uncle Bill to take a look at the car. He showed my dad the rear wheel where all four lugnuts were ONE TURN away from coming off!! (We JUST picked up the jeep before heading out of town because the rear brakes were getting done. It looks like one of the tires didn't have the bolts completely tightened!) This was after we had been driving the car from Michigan to Chicago...all over town...in and out of the city...going 70 miles an hour! The tire was literally minutes from coming completely off. If my parents had gotten back on the highway, the car could have easily flipped! I'm so thankful that the Lord protected my parents and Joel from a bad accident! Thank you Lord!

Back in Michigan, we had a great time visiting with Nonie & Pop Pop. Joel and Grace got lots of love and Curt and I were able to get a night out for golf and dinner. It was great. It was sad to see them leave this morning, but we are excited that they will be back in August for a Marriage Advance at our church.
While Nonie & Pop Pop were here, Joel & I made some cupcakes as a special treat. THIS is why we don't make cupcakes more often...

While I was making dinner and returning a phone call...my little man got his step stool and helped himself to a little pre-dinner snack! Times THREE! The good news is, he was going for five cupcakes, so I did make it in time to stop him from getting the last two!

We hope that everyone had a spectacular Fourth of July!