Uncle Daniel was here

My little brother Daniel came and spent a weekend in February with us.  He might have been expecting a nice, relaxing break from busy student life.  But we put him right to work!


He tended Sara so I could take David and Mary to The Lego Movie (loved it!), went with Mary to her special Valentines father-daughter ballet class (and was a good sport when Mary broke down because she missed her dad), shoveled the driveway after yet another snowstorm, took David to Tae Kwon Do, tagged along on a last minute trip to Air Force museum, took Sara to Elder's Quorum with him, joined us on our first visit to Skyline Chili, and recreated Sochi with David and Mary.  He let Mary wake him up early every morning, played Skylanders with David, and made friends with Sara.  The kids had a wonderful time with him!

And I did too.  I love catching up with my baby brother.  He is someone you can hang out with for hours just talking.  I am happy for the exciting things unfolding in his life.

I am truly grateful he took the time to come see us.  It was really a blessing.

If you haven't already seen these pictures on Flickr, take a look ...

Olympic fever

David and Mary are loving the Olympics.

Sunday after church Sara and I went upstairs to take a much-needed nap.  I turned on the Olympics for David and Mary.  When Sara and I came back downstairs two hours later, I found the family room turned into a giant bobsled run/speed skating track/biathlon course.  They had gone Olympic-crafting nuts, and it was AWESOME.

Look what they made ...

David made this bobsled.

I love it!  So so so much!

David is also the one who made the bobsled track.  It was out of pillows and baskets and trays.  But I made him clean it up before I ever took a picture.  His Lego guys had a great time on it before Mean Mom came along.

Mary made a bobsled too.

Yay for bobsledding girls!

And these are Mary's speed skaters.

And let's not forget a custom, decorative gun for competing in the biathlon.

Care to venture a guess as to which three events were on TV Sunday afternoon?

David and Mary are so much fun.  (And they seem to be the most fun and the most creative when I am out of the picture snoozing away.  Hmmmm...perhaps I should write a book about being a better parent through taking naps.)

Anyway, the Olympic fever continues with late bedtimes and video clips at breakfast.  And it's about to get more intense because Uncle Daniel THE #1 Olympic fanatic will be here this weekend.  Hooray!

P.S.  David and Mary don't remember their very first Olympics.  But I do, as it had me reflecting on my Olympic dreams.