GRANDMA GUSHING....

Well it's close to 3 on Thursday afternoon and Mel and her family are safely back home.  Guess the drive home went just as well as the drive out, and we are all very grateful it went soo well.  I have been busy most of the day vacuuming and getting things back to normal, though I did stop for a while and go have lunch with my sister Diane.  It's ALWAYS good to sit and visit with her.  Soo many things went well on this visit I can't possibly list them all.  But it was just a GOOD visit all around.  The boys always sleep soo well when they are here which is just such a break for everyone.  My kids would NEVER sleep when they weren't in their own beds it seems, so I am glad Melody doesn't have to deal with that particular dilemma.  They went and visited with Mike's family and some of their friends, and Melody and Mike even enjoyed a date night one of the nights as well.  Grandma and Grandpa gladly babysat while they went out to dinner, and enjoyed some time in the spa.  We all went to a gorgeous outdoor mall on Tues and did a little shopping and had lunch out and let the boys ride around on the train that was there.  We got Sam his first hair cut.  Yes, you heard that right, lol. Even though his hair is just barely coming in it was all uneven and just needed to be shaped up some.  It is soo white in places it is hard to see, but there is still LOTS of hair just finally coming in.  Goodness, I thought his mama was slow getting her hair, but Sam has everyone beat, haha.  The hair cut really did help, and Grandma thought he did very well on it.  Sorry, but I could just gush on and on and ON about how sweet they both were, and how loving, and how I enjoyed them both to pieces, and how Sam is all potty trained now and the trip didn't even throw him off (NO accidents!) how he can sing all the words to Jesus loves me and sing and do all the motions to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.  And how Luke is always happy and crawling everywhere and pulling himself up and would sleep peacefully on Grandma.  Or maybe about how GORGEOUS his eyes are as they are a beautiful shade of hazel with the longest, thickest black eyelashes you've ever seen.  And then he smiles with those deep dimples and adorable grin and you are simply "toast" to whatever it is he is wanting, lol.   I am proud of the job my daughter is doing with them, and soo happy they have a daddy who is active, involved, and whom they both openingly adore.  It is going to be REALLY hard (I won't lie!) to wait until the end of May to see them again on Luke's first birthday.  But Lord willing we are planning on going out there for that. Meanwhile I am going through my usual "post Melody trip slumps", and freely admitting it is a lot harder now when she takes those two little ones with her.  But how grateful I am that I do get to see them as often as I do, and that it has been frequent enough that Sam has formed a REAL bond with both of us.   I have not done much visiting but I will get around hopefully to everyone in the next couple of days.  I have missed you, but I know of course you all understand this grandma's heart.  I didn't get a lot of pictures as holding babies and working cameras is harder than I thought, but I did get a few, and stole borrowed a few from Mel as well.  Hope you all have a wonderful week-end!  I am thinking we are just going to R E L A X!!  haha  Blessings to you all, Debbie

STOLE SOME OF THESE PICS FROM MELODY....SHE HAD ONE OF THE TABLES, SO THOUGHT I'D SHARE

SHE HAD A BETTER ONE OF THE DESSERT TABLE TOO

SAM LOVED GOING DOWN TO THE LAKE AND SEEING THE DUCKS AND TURTLES WITH GRANDPA

KIND OF BLURRY BUT I THOUGHT I DID PRETTY GOOD JUST GETTING THEM TO BOTH LOOK AT THE SAME TIME, LOL

ONE OF MELODY'S BEST FRIENDS FROM HIGH SCHOOL MARRIED MIKE'S FIRST COUSIN AND ALSO LIVES OUT IN TEXAS.  SHE WAS IN CALIFORNIA VISITING HER PARENTS AS WELL SO THAT THEY COULD THROW HER A LITTLE "SPRINKLE".  SHE IS EXPECTING HER THIRD BABY...A GIRL AFTER HAVING TWO BOYS.  SHE IS SOO HAPPY.  

LUKE AND HIS DADDY MIKE ON THE TRAIN...NOTICE HE IS WEARING HIS "TA DA" ONESIE GRANDMA MADE HIM!

WATCHING TOY STORY WITH GRANDPA

SWEET LUKE NAPPING ON GRANDMA....IS THERE ANYTHING SWEETER THAN A SLEEPING BABY?

LOTS OF READING WENT ON....I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW WELL LUKE WOULD SIT FOR THIS

SAM ON THE TRAIN

LUKE AND HIS FAVORITE PASTIME...CHEWING, LOL

SAM WANTED "CHIPS" FOR LUNCH SO WE WENT TO A LOCAL MEXICAN RESTAURANT FOR LUNCH

HIS STANDARD LUNCH....P-NUT BUTTER AND JELLY AND STRAWBERRIES, AND OF COURSE LOTS OF MILK!

PLAYING WITH THE BUBBLE GUN GRANDPA BOUGHT HIM

THIS IS HOW SAM ROLLS!

TEVELDE FAM ON THE TRAIN

VINNY AND LUKE SAY HELLO

SHARING REALLY WELL, LOL

LOVE THIS!

VINNY AND LUKE...HOW BLESSED AM I??