SURPRISE!!!!

So Thursday night Mark came home just as I was getting Pierce out of the bath and he was carrying a beautiful baby girl. He said "Honey - look what I found on our doorstep." It was Addilyn Crocker!!! I just about died when I realized that Gretchen had flown in with Addie to spend six days at our house! Mark, Gretchen, and Matt have been working on it for months. It was the best surprise ever!!!! It was SO GREAT to see Gretch, catch up, get to know baby Addilyn, show Gretch around town, and introduce her to some of our new friends. It was truly surreal, having her here, and it felt just like old times. I know I was spoiled by having her here for so long but it feels like it was just a blink! I am already looking forward to going back to Denver in December!

Tristan recognized "Mrs. G" immediately - when he saw her he broke out into a HUGE smile! It was like no time had passed at all. That was really heartwarming to see :)

When Gretchen & Addie left this morning, Matt, Elie, Tristan, and I got on the web cam and visited a bit. Tristan and Elie talked about what they ate for breakfast and how they both like to play in the sand but are a little scared of big waves at the beach. It was really cute!

While Gretch was here we tried to get out and do some fun stuff but mostly we just caught up on everything that's been going on. I had a lot of Gretchen time to catch up on! Plus it's just HARD to coordinate around three baby's nap times! Oh and also Gretchen's bag NEVER CAME so she had exactly one outfit for her and Addilyn for the whole week. So we did make it out to some local haunts - you know, the Wal Mart and Target :) - for some things like clean underwear and a toothbrush. Supposedly her bag will be waiting for her at the Denver airport... :/ !!!

We did do some BBQ (of course) - and actually cooked a LOT, taking advantage of one of Gretchen's biggest talents :) ! We went to the lake and played and also ate at a restaurant downtown.

For those of you who haven't met her, Gretchen is a preschool teacher with ENDLESS TODDLER ENERGY. She has all SORTS of ideas for wonderful creative play and I wrote a bunch down. We already have some new playdoh tools, some plain colored stickers that T can sort into colors and different animals, some new paints, construction paper, and lots of games and ideas for things to do. We've already tried a bunch out and it has been AWESOME to have some new things to do! This morning I asked Tristan how he got so smart and he said "Mrs. G." :) !

So of course we took a TON of pictures. I think we have over 200 from both our cameras! I put together some of my favorites in a slideshow. Enjoy! :)