GRAMMY- The Grand Finale

 When we spotted a little sunshine in the sky, we headed out the door to take Grammy to the

 "Train Park":

Levi took her hand and escorted across this fun bridge:

 

Riley cuddled with me as we watched Grammy & Levi play on the playground:

Then we bought our tickets and boarded the "train"

:)

 Around the park we went:

It was a lot of fun, and we were SO grateful for those few hours of sunlight & the break from the rain!

We had been super excited to bring Grammy here ever since we found out she was coming to stay with us :)

 Grammy volunteered to take care of the kiddos...

 So Craig & I could go on a DATE!!!

 Thanks so much, Grammy.

And then we took a short road trip our language intensive for a week:

 Along the way, Levi had his first "roadside" bathroom opportunity.

He MAY have been a little gun shy & chose to just wait until we made it to the hotel.

However, Craig took quick note of the issue- and lets just say, now Levi LOVES to "water the grass".

 She was such a trooper- cooped up in a hotel room with us, watching the kiddos while we sat in class all day, helping feed, change, playing with the kids, giving baths, & putting them to sleep.

All with a smile on her face.

(Have we mentioned we are QUITE thankful for her?!?!?)

 After the week finished up, we were back home and Levi decided to hone in on some of his climbing skills on the back porch:

And these two were glad to be out of a hotel room and in their own home:

 Riley was showing some serious attempts at crawling- but our favorite was the day she really made her move:

We were just sitting on the bed, chatting, looking at Avon magazines, and sipping on some cold coffee- when all of a sudden, here she comes- made her way over to the book (as you can see) and even made her way to my side where she made several attempts to grab my drink!

Yep- shopping and yummy cold coffee is always a great motivation of a girl, isn't it?

We, unexpectedly, spotted a TON of parrots perched in the tree right behind our house one night:

 It was hard to capture just how MANY of them there were, but we thoroughly enjoyed the chance to see such a pretty sight.

The Lord is sweet :)

I had been waiting for Gail to arrive, so that I could have her with me when I finally picked out and purchased a sewing machine.

She brought some super cute material from America, and some GREAT ideas of things to make.

So we got busy:

Well, some of us did.

The others just sat & looked cute... 

  Or chowed down :)

Gail & I measured, marked, cut, ironed, and sewed away.

We made a pillow case dress for Riley from this owl fabric.

And I took off this old brown pillow covers and we made new pillow covers for the throw pillows in the living room:

 What do ya think?

 I LOVE this fabric.

And here is Riley Jo modeling her new dress:

At our last hotel, before taking Grammy to the airport to head back to her home, Levi seized one more opportunity to "Ride the Tiger" (a game he & Grammy came up with that he THOROUGHLY L.O.V.E.S)

As I've spent the last several days sharing these stories and pictures, it's been a blast re-living the memories...

However, this part is the hardest part to re-live...

The trip to the airport-

The last trip in the car, the last few moments of having Grammy right by our side, the last cuddle, the last smile face to face....

The goodbye.

Even as I write,

I feel the lump rising back up in my throat, and I'm fighting back those tears once again.

It never gets easier.

Grammy/Gail/Mom-

I hope you know just how grateful we are for you willingness to give up your summer, to travel thousands of miles away, to live in a culture that is not your own, to try new things, to deal with monsoon weather, to live with this crew....

and to make memories with us that we will cherish for a LIFETIME.

We look forward to the next time we are together-

and until then we will cling to these precious moments we had with you here.

We LOVE You.

Love,

Craig, Danielle, Levi & Riley Jo