We Miss You, Grandpa Don!

Last weekend was awesome. Zach's dad (AKA to the kids, Grandpa Don) came to Arizona to visit. He got here Saturday, and stayed until Tuesday. The kids had such a wonderful time with their Grandpa Don. Dane had a million things to show him as soon as he and Zach walked in the door from the airport. "Grandpa Don, look at my robe!" "Grandpa Don, wanna see our bunk beds?" "Grandpa Don, wanna play football with me?" He'd been carrying around the football all day long, just waiting for the chance to play catch with his Grandpa.

Teda was quieter about it, but she had lots of things she wanted to show him. She showed him all around her pink room, and was all about playing football too. And by the way, this girl has an ARM on her! She was throwing that football SO hard. Then when we played baseball, she was hitting like crazy- a girl after my own heart! :)

Jett was really excited to see his Grandpa Don- it took him a little longer to warm up to him than the other kids. He woke up from his nap after he was already here, and well, let's just say he woke up on the wrong side of his bunkbed. :) It didn't take long though before he was playing catch, laughing, and clapping for everyone as they caught the ball. It was such a beautiful sight- to see Zach, his dad, and our babies play catch together in our backyard. I watched as they played, and Don was just taking it all in.

He was all smiles all weekend long. And boy was he a busy Grandpa- he played frisbee, hula hoops, kicked a soccer ball around, pushed kids on the swings (mostly Dane, for like 30 minutes straight), shagged baseballs from Teda and Dane hitting (really well too!), wrestled, fed Deklan, played and played with Deklan- and just was captivated by his smile (he and Deklan really made an awesome connection this trip), read a Bible story before bed to the kids, had taco night, movie nights, church with playtime on the big grassy field afterwards, swam, told jokes at the dinner table, played in the wave pool and went down some big slides at the water park, watched Zach coach his swim team, and even watched Teda swim across the pool for the first time all by herself! The kids had one of the best weekends they've had in a long time, and we are so grateful that he was able to come and visit. There were lots of hugs and lots of smiles. Ok, there were some fits and attitude, as would be expected from 4 kids under the age of 6- but overall, it was an incredible time.

Here are some pictures from the visit, and I plan to put up some great videos I got too. I'll do a post just of the water pictures from the water park and the pool- there are some great ones! We're heading to Prescott for the week, so Zach can speak at a jr. high summer camp (YEA! I'm most looking forward to no dishes all week and no cooking!)- so it will be at least until we're back on the videos.

If you're reading, we miss you and love you, Grandpa Don! And we missed seeing you and love you too, Mimi and Chandler- we'll have to catch you next time! :) xoxoxo

Grandpa Don with his 4 grandbabies

Playing football

Football with Teda

Taco Night! Dane browned the meat, and as it got cooked, he said excitedly, "It's turning into tacos!"

Making dinner- Grandpa helping Jett participate too

Movie night- Deklan kept looking back at Grandpa Don, leaning back into him and just smiling away

Grandpa Don makes some crazy pancake shapes- this was Jett's sea monster

Teda's heart pancake that is pink and purple- she helped him make it, and was so proud

Oh, I can't remember what the shape of this one was for Dane- can you tell I let him pour his own syrup? It's so hard to let go of those things, but he enjoyed it!

Frisbee, football, soccer, and hula hoops after church on the big grassy field. We had hot dogs and cheeseburgers at the grill too

Teda with her Papa and Grandpa Don :)

Dane with Papa and Grandpa Don :)

Jetty with Papa and Grandpa Don- this smile of Jett's was caught by the good old reverse psychology trick that at the moment works almost every time- "Don't look at me Jett, and DONT smile!" Love it.

He's got his Grandpa Don wrapped around his little finger, I'd say! :)

He was making jokes all weekend about how he was going to measure his suitcase to make sure Deklan would fit, so he could take him home to Florida...

Hanging out in my parents backyard for a little BBQ and playtime- from right to left, this is Don, Zach, and my brother in law, Trevor

Deklan before bed, one last cuddle with Grandpa

Zach, Don, and Deklan

1st time being fed by Grandpa- he ate good for him!

open up :)

Playing blocks

Right before he left, both Teda and Dane came outside as they headed for the car for one last picture and hug. Pretty precious, if you ask me. :)

Zach and his wonderful Dad