So here we are at my sister, Katherine's, house near Hillrose, Colorado. As soon as we got there on Friday afternoon, Matthew was ready to play hard with Nick. You can't really see it very well, but Matthew is upside down, and Nick is ready to body-slam him onto the couch. I'm sure that Gabi doesn't quite know what to think or do...
Gabrielle got to open her belated birthday gift from the Thaemert family, and she got a very cute yellow shirt and an adorable pink sundress. I can't wait until they fit this summer!
Nick stealing some time with precious baby Samantha.
What a proud uncle he is!
Nothing like some family time in the evening playing "Singing Star" on their PS2. Girls against boys, and guess who won? I won't brag too much about our wonderful team...okay, so the girls won every challenge but one, but who's counting, right? :)
Gabrielle wanted to "play" with baby Samantha more than once over the weekend. I have been trying to get her to be gentle with her dolls when she plays, and I guess it payed off because she did a fairly good job for being her 1-year-old-self!
Matthew getting a little story time in with Grandma (my mom) before his nap on Saturday. I think that Gabi was a little jealous that it wasn't her sitting there getting read too. One of her favorite things to still do is to look at books or be read to.
I get the chance to "rest" with Samantha in my arms. I wasn't asleep, but was sure comfortable laying on the couch with her!
While Katherine's pantry doors were open Gabrielle took advantage, and out of everything that she could have pulled out, guess what she found? Cheerios--one of her favorite snacks. Too bad she didn't get any of the Honey-Nut flavor though...she's still eating (and enjoying) the plain-old regular kind.
Matthew gets to be the first one to try out his birthday gift from his parents--a new play set in their back yard that the guys constructed Saturday afternoon. Dan's dad (right) is helping to put on some of the finishing touches.
My mom taking the time to hold her new granddaughter.
So we celebrated Matthew's birthday Saturday night since all of the family was around for the weekend (even though his birthday isn't really until May 27th). I think he was trying to be a poster child for the song "It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to". Too precious...perhaps he just didn't want to sit through the length of the birthday song...?
Check out that smile underneath the pacifier. I was almost convinced that we had put her swing away too soon at our own house. But, I think that she was just trying it out, and wanted some attention for herself. Although she did want to get in the swing multiple times, and did stay calm for the few minutes she was in there. Oh, and by the way, check out the cute shoes that I found at Target that actually fit her thick feet (they are like Robeez, but half the price). Yeah! :)
We went outside for a while and played in the "baby" swing that was tied to a tree. Again, I think that we are going to have to find a spot at our house to put one of these for her because she had a blast!
They have a big dog (obviously about the same size as Gabi), and she wasn't intimidated at all. In fact, she was petting Holly nicely and things were going well until....
Holly decided that she was going to give Gabi some "lovin'". I am soooo glad that I caught that moment on camera. I'm glad that it still didn't seem to faze Gabi too much to have a large dog licking her face. How cute! :)
Just havin' some fun outside.
Grandpa's little girl (with my dad) enjoying his
first granddaughter.
My mom stealing a little more time with Samantha...
The "Home Depot" kid's tool set that we gave Matthew for his birthday.
Hopefully now he won't take his dad's tools and try to play with them.
Yeah for birthdays...look at all my cool now toys, clothes, and books!
Grandma getting some Gabi time...looks like it's close to her bedtime! :)
Gabrielle sporting her shades after church on Sunday.
Samantha was dedicated during the service, so we had more to celebrate!
Three generations of "The Girls"!
Back at Dan and Katherine's house Gabrielle starts playing with the construction hat from Matthew's tool set.
Precious picture of Samantha looking at Katherine...
a little mother-daughter-time.
Gabrielle and I checking out the slide...
just to make sure it worked...and it was great! :)
Okay, so we had to try out the swing too...
And, we loved all of our playtime outside!
Matthew learning to share his tools with Gabrielle.
She did the "taste-test" on some of them for him.
The end of our visit...how cute that they were playing nicely together. We left for home on Monday with the intentions of stopping to stay the night in Amarillo again, but we drove all 12 hours on Monday, and were home to sleep in our own beds on Monday night. Thanks to everyone for such a great time and some fabulous new memories together!
Swinging fun!
Here's a picture of my brother, Ryan, and I enjoying a little swinging time when I was about the same age as what Gabrielle is now (check out how much Gabi's smile looks like mine!). Can you imagine that I was actually sitting on a wooden swing, not strapped in or anything? I think that Gabrielle still wiggles too much for me to trust her on a "real" swing yet. 
I got in on the fun too! :)
Nick and Gabi before they took the plunge down the slide.
Gabi trying it by herself...I'm not sure if she's ready for that yet. It was really fast, and she bumped her head a little on the slide while she was going down.
