Great-Grammy and Great-Granddad!

After Nana and Papop left, Grammy and Grandad came for their annual grandchildren/great-grandchildren trip through Virginia and Pennsylvania. :) Gracie was thrilled to meet so many new family members in one week and believe me, Evelyn LOVED the attention. ;) Evie was so excited she was at the door ready to greet them when they arrived. :)
Grammy and Granddad brought Evie a bag of presents which included the tea set that Grammy always kept at her house to have tea parties with me growing up! We've had tea parties every day since and it's so fun using the tea set that has so many memories with it!
They also brought Evie her first box of markers (and the scented kind at that!!). So much for doing anything else during their visit! ;) Evelyn LOVE LOVE LOVEs her markers and we play with them every day (we'd do it all day every day if it was up to her :)). As you can see, it's how we spent several hours of Grammy and Granddad's visit as well. All this coloring though has resulted in Evie learning all her colors in 1 week with brown being her favorite... hmmm...
Gracie wanting to join the fun...

A rare coloring break to read :)
Don't worry, there was lots of Gracie bonding as well. As you see, Granddad had the magic touch!
We had lovely weather so we spent one morning at the beach...
And an afternoon walking in CW. We were there just in time to hear the fifes and drums!
Evie was very intrigued by the violin, but this was as close as she would get. :p
After a lovely dinner and quick trip to Yankee Candle, Grammy and Granddad were on the road again. Thanks for coming to visit us!! Can't wait until next fall's annual trip! :)

Visit from Mississippi!

The other week both my sets of grandparents were able to visit in the same week! We loved having both of them come and meet Grace and see our new home! Both visits were quick, but so wonderful! :)
Nana and Papop came for three days to meet Gracie and see Evie (oh and Nathan and me too ;)). They said they were afraid that if they didn't come now, she would be walking and Evie would be in school before they got to see them again! :) Evelyn was *thrilled* with Papop and Nana Ruth and has been pretending to go to "Sippi" to visit them ever since they left.
Gracie loved meeting them!

Evie investigating her "presents" that they brought. She loves her new cradle! (it was supposed to be for Gracie, but they can share :)).
And playing the piano that Nana and Papop sent us (wearing her bear coat, of course!)
While the visit was short, we packed as much as we possibly could, beginning with the Beatles Concert (see previous post :)). Saturday we headed to the farmer's market; Evelyn loved being the tour guide.

It was such a lovely morning so we strolled through CW for a while as well. Evie never gets tired of watching the horses and carriages come and go. :)
We had one grey day during the visit so Evelyn took that opportunity to take Nana and Papop to her favorite indoor attraction - Yankee Candle. :p She never gets tired of their kids sections.
"Come on, Nana Ruth, let's go!"

Playing with the wind-up toys - if you look closely you can see that the dog is mid flip. :)
Even Gracie loves this place! (or maybe she's just overwhelmed??)
Taking a break from all the excitement:

Monday we took the ferry over the Chippokes State Park. I thinking feeding the seagulls on the ferry was the highlight, although the animals and tractors at the park were pretty exciting as well. :)
Besides these trips, we just enjoyed playing games, going to dinner (with Nathan's folks too!), going for walks and just hanging out.     
Come and visit us again from Sippi soon, Nana Ruth and Papop!

For Carolyn :)

This post is for Evelyn's friend, Carolyn. :) Carolyn lives in Alaska and Evie actually hasn't ever met her, but they keep in touch through Grandma and Grandpa Mortier. :) Carolyn, Evelyn and Grace loved meeting your sisters and spending time with them when they came to visit Grandpa and Grandma in August. We thought you might like to these few pictures of when we went to the VA Living Museum. :)

Evelyn and Grace can't wait to meet you one of these days, Carolyn!! :) We hope you can be part of the next group to visit Virginia! :)