ASAB Visit

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Sarah, Abby and Ben came out to Texas for a visit. They hadn't yet seen our church, our home, or Grammy and Papa's home. We Texans were eager to see their whole family and to celebrate some early holidays with them. Their visit was fast and busy, but we loved the opportunities to spend time with them. Our first chance to see them was over the weekend at Matt and Kim's house for Nathan's 2-year-old birthday party. We especially loved seeing how much little Ben had grown since we had last seen him in June. He definitely is no longer a newborn!

This little guy seemed to want to walk, right alongside all his big cousins!

Aunt Kim planned a very cute and creative music-themed party for Nathan. The kids loved singing various songs, like Old MacDonald Had a Farm-- plugging in whichever animal Aunt Kim held up.

They really got into the freeze dance game. We had some pretty creative dance moves come out in this game!

They even had a mini-concert of songs, led by Grammy, with these musical glasses. Surprisingly, even with all of the loooong delays between most every note, we could still identify the tunes for most of the songs. :)

My personal favorite activity was watching Nathan's Marching Band parade around the cul-de-sac. Each child picked out an instrument and enthusiastically played it while marching in a line led by the birthday boy.

Daddy and Uncle Andrew identified our group with a large sign.

The parade paused a few times to allow the musicians to switch out their instruments and try something new.

It seemed like the kids' favorite activity was doing the karaoke performances. Matt and Kim had set up this cute little stage in their living room. Jaden, Ryan, and Cody had to test it out together first.

Then, each child could select a costume and a song to perform on the stage. A few of them seemed a bit tentative performing by themselves at first but they all warmed up eventually. Their costume choices were hilarious!

Uncle Matt was the only adult who seemed eager to perform. Quite likely, no one went after Matt because his stellar dance and song routine was just too hard to top. :)

We love this little birthday boy, our nephew and godson, and are so thankful that we live close enough to celebrate with him. Happy 2nd birthday, Nathan!!

The next day, our families all got together again, this time at Grammy and Papa's house. The kids played some sort of catch/football/tackle/wrestling/keep-away game in the yard.

I'm not sure if this was a huddle time to plan their next play or if they all noticed something interesting in the neighbor's yard.... :)

Since Andrew and Sarah's family will be celebrating Christmas with Sarah's family this year, we decided that we'd hold the Walquist family Christmas celebration early, during this visit. So, Grammy and Papa had their Christmas tree all ready to go, over a week before Thanksgiving. It made for a lovely backdrop for a grandchild picture.

Abby, Nathan, Ian, Cody, Ben, Ryan, Jaden

The kids, of course, were all very eager to open presents. Ian led his younger siblings and cousins in the big task of gift sorting. Once the piles were all complete, the kiddos just sat in front of their stack of presents, waiting expectantly.

All five of the older kids received a Lego set for part of their gifts. Guess they're all into the same thing this year!

Andrew and Sarah's last day in Texas was Nathan's actual birthday. To celebrate this occasion (and for another excuse to get together before the Arizona family had to take off), we met at a park for some playtime and then went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. The restaurant gives kids free ice cream cones for their birthday and even allows them behind the counter to "make" their own cone. What a treat!

The Chick-fil-A employee allowed each one of Nathan's siblings and cousins to do the same. How fun!

Delicious!

We are so thankful for our Walquist side of the family and were happy to have the whole clan together for an early Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration. Thanks, ASAB, for making the trip out to Texas! We love you guys!