some of our favorite visitors.

My parents and my little brother Brady came to visit over the last week. We don't exactly have the best accommodations, but we cleanup up our unfinished basement, blew up the air mattress, and washed our extra sheets in preparation for their arrival.

We had a fun week. We toured campus, eating lunch and hitting the bookstore. We went to the park and walked the trail. We went shopping. I went on a few runs with my dad. I wish we lived in the same neighborhood, so we could run together all the time (as long as he was willing to NOT go at 5 am). We played a lot. Carly would go down to the basement while my mom did her hair and play "rock star", which involved both of them sing loudly while the hair dryer was on. The day after they left I told her she could still be a rock star, but she hung her head and said, "I only like being a rock star with Mimi." It was especially fun to have uncle Brady make his first visit to Michigan, though I'm thinking the current uber-cranky John we've got going on might have convinced him to think twice before ever having kids. Luckily, Quinn makes a much better impression.

They were here on Carly's birthday, which was so much fun, and merits a post of its very own. And my mom and I went to the Backstreet Boys concert with my sister-in-law Jenny, which also deserves a post of its own, it was so freaking amazing. We went to the zoo on their final morning in the Mitten. We have had some cool, Fall-like weather lately and it has been so perfect. It was the most beautiful morning at the zoo. John pretty much only speaks in growls and roars, so he had fun seeing the tigers and lions up close. For months all summer long Carly has been asking to ride on the camel. Every time I told her she could after her birthday, when she was 4. As luck would have it, it was 3 days after her birthday and it was time for mom to follow through on her word. She was so cute up on that camel, with the twins watching intently. On the way out of the zoo, Mimi asked what Carly's favorite part was: "The part when I got to ride the camel!" Of course.

And then it was over, and we looked like this (don't mind the giant marker stain; we're artists around here):

Thank heavens we already have airplane tickets for our Oregon Coast rendezvous at Thanksgiving. It makes a goodbye just a little easier.

We are coming up on our 3 year anniversary here in the Mitten, 5 years away from "the west". In all this time we have been able to see my parents more than I could have expected. They have been incredibly generous, making it possibly for us to come to Idaho many times, and since the twins have been around, being willing to make the sacrifices required for them to come here. Even my mom has "overcome" her fear of flying with the help of a prescription drug or two, though stories of Mimi quite literally "flying high" are the best. At the same time, I'm so grateful for modern technology, text messages and smart phones and FaceTime, things that make the thousands of miles between us seem not quite so far.

We are so blessed to have such good families. I'm so grateful that all three of my kids know and love their grandparents, and are hopelessly and horribly spoiled with love. Loving people so much that we cry as we watch them drive away? That's a pretty good problem to have.