The Thompson's visit (a long post)

We had such a great time with the Thompsons. Gordon and Kathy are two of my favorite people in the world and it was great to have them all to ourselves for a whole week. We hope to get to see them again soon.

We had a very full week, with lots of time for great food and great fellowship. Here are the highlights:

Shawn with the welcome sign we took to the Airport.

SUNDAY: They flew in from Atlanta and we rushed to church. It was important to be there on time because Rob, our Youth Minister, was doing the lesson and used Shawn as a "visual aid". He was speaking about Mary, Jesus' mother, and what an awesome responsibility she had to raise Christ. He took Shawn on stage and was talking about holding Jesus and knowing He created the stars. He pointed to the sky and Shawn followed his movements. He pointed to the crowd on another point and again Shawn followed Rob's movements. It was so funny to watch and everyone thought that we had rehearsed. Unfortunately we were too rushed to get it on video tape. I will try to see if we can get a copy from church.

We went home for a big lunch and for Kathy to feed Shawn his first solid foods. It was quite an experience. I had read that babies can sometimes take a week to get used to the taste of food and may not actually eat the cereal. HA! Not my son, my son ate every last drop of cereal I had prepared. On the second day when Kathy fed him, he fussed when she wasn't feeding him fast enough, and cried when all of the food was gone!

Kathy feeding Shawn his first solid food. He LOVED it! :) Shawn with cereal all over his face. Just precious!
Kathy and I having some fun with Shawn. These are the snowmen that she sent to us in the mail. They are SO cute, they greet you when you walk in the door. Shawn thinks they are great!

That night we watched Polar Express and drank hot chocolate (we did this on more than one night. I love hot chocolate!). What a great end to a wonderful day. :)

Kathy reading to Shawn before bed. She did this each night with him. Shawn sure does love to read! Kathy bought him two huge collections of Disney books. I think we've almost read all of them! :)

MONDAY: We left early on Monday morning to drive to Colorado Springs. My parents, Gordon and Kathy, and Bryan, Shawn and I all went on a tour of the Focus on the Family campus. It was a great tour and is such a wonderful ministry! If you have a minute check out their website to see all of the neat things they have in the works (www.family.org/).

All of us at Focus on the Family (my Dad is taking the pic).

Then we went to my Uncle Bob's house (my Dad's brother) and had a visit with his family. His step-son Robert had fallen on the previous Friday and broken his arm. So my Aunt Jamie and Robert stayed home, but some of the rest of the family joined us for dinner. We went to Red Lobster and had a wonderful meal and a lot of fun telling stories.

TUESDAY: My Mom, Kathy and I were supposed to spend the entire day baking but we got a late start and then had trouble finding some of our ingredients at the store. But Kathy and I had fun spending time together in kitchen. Kathy is a great cook and I love spending time with her in her "element".

Shawn in the middle of the cookies Kathy and I made.

That night we went out for a very fancy (and ultimately very expensive dinner) at Radizios Grill. It is a Brazilian Barbecue restaurant and has very delicious ethnic cuisine. It brought back great memories of my time in Brazil. It was fun to get all dressed up and spend some time downtown. We drove around and looked at all of the fun city lights before dinner. Denver felt so festive that night. Bryan and I at Radizios Grill.

The whole group at Radizios Grill.

WEDNESDAY: Gordon and Kathy, and Bryan, Shawn and I drove to Fort Collins for the day. It is a college town (home to Colorado State University) and only an hour and a half from our house. We had a great lunch at a little sub-shop near campus and spent some time driving around the city. It gave us a great opportunity to talk and catch up with Bryan's parents.

THURSDAY: Gordon and Kathy, and Bryan, Shawn and I spent some time at the Flatiron Crossings mall. It was so crowded but we had fun shopping. We separated and the boys shopped for the girls, and the girls shopped for the guys. Bryan was trying so hard to shop for me and not let me know what he was getting. But we kept running into him around the mall and he was getting so frustrated! HA. Then we stopped for an afternoon coffee at Starbucks on the way home. It was a very enjoyable day.

FRIDAY: We had originally planned to spend Friday in the mountains visiting the little ski town of Breckenridge. But they had had snow earlier in the week, and frankly we were all a little burned out from a busy week. So we spent the day mostly at home, except for a short trip out for last minute shopping. The two Grandmas bought Shawn a very fun gift for Christmas--a 3-in-1 activity center. Gordon spent the latter part of Friday afternoon putting it together--I think it took like 2 hours--thanks again Gordon!! :)

Grandma and Nana with Shawn on his special gift. :)

SATURDAY: We had decided Saturday would be our early Christmas day. So we had one last trip out to buy last minute gifts before we got them all wrapped and under the tree. Then we all sat down for a great big Christmas dinner. It was wonderful to get to have this special meal with Gordon and Kathy. The whole crew at Christmas dinner (my sister and brother on right).

Then we went into the den to open gifts with the Thompsons. It was so special for us and we enjoyed the time together immensely. We also let Shawn try out his new toy. He wasn't quite sure about it at first but now he loves to bounce in it and push the buttons to make it sing.

Bryan with the Florida Gators jersey I bought him for Christmas. GO GATORS!!

Gordon with his "Boys will be Boys" picture frame--with a pic of him and Shawn.

I love this picture! Everyone looks so happy. Here are the Thompsons and my Mom in the background.

SUNDAY: We all got up and ready for church. Bryan was introduced to the congregation in his new role as Media Coordinator (see previous post--"Bryan's last day"). After church we all changed for some family photos. We went to lunch at Johnny Carino's and then headed to the park for our photos. We were all dressed in color coordinating outfits, but it was SO cold that none of us took our coats off (the high was only in the 30s but it felt MUCH colder). We spent about five minutes taking pictures before we all ran back to the warmth of the cars. So, I guess we will have to try again the next time we are all together.

After the photo fiasco, we went to the nearby theater for a matinee movie. We watched National Treasure (a very good movie, I will add). We had such an enjoyable time. Shawn actually slept in my arms through the entire movie. He woke up the last 5 minutes for the final action scene and was very mesmerized.

We spent a quite night at home and Nana and Papa prepared to leave. Our fun week was coming to an end and it was very sad.

MONDAY: The Thompsons left for the airport early Monday morning. It was very hard to see them leave. We had such a great, action-packed week. Maybe next time will be more relaxed!


For the next installment of our Christmas vacation, see "Over the river and through the woods".