lucky us- recoveries and visitors

e's had a couple of injuries lately.  he had been running and when he fell/crashed into the sidewalk, he got a piece of glass in his elbow.  we didn't realize there was a foreign body and ended up having to have a surgeon get it out. he was a great patient both while getting that first stitch put in and removed a week later.

he also had a mishap at the kids gym and had a swollen eye for a few days.

we attended the school musical :)

Visitors!
Now that Grandma and Grandpa are retired, they can take long road trips without much planning.  We loved that they came up to see us last weekend.  They ran into weather on the way to Seattle, forcing them to stop 1) when 80% of Oregon Hwy 84 was closed and then the next day 2) when Snoqualmie was closed.

Cousin D was great to drive down for Sunday dinner.  we couldn't have made the soup if grandma hadn't helped us finally locate our last few pots and pans in one of the garage boxes!

We got D on the road before the snow came.  We totally lucked out with winter weather timing.  how fun that we had a snow day and got to stay home with grandparents!  

grandpa got tired of photos.  but i kept taking them.  ok. so we made a ton of progress sorting my stuff. phew.  what a major task. 

grandma and grandpa were so helpful with making our home more homey.  they taught me how to polish doors, banisters, wall part of the stairs (called wall stringer per google images), closets, and even my piano.  everything looks so rich and clean!  not like old weathered dried out wood anymore.  no more paint spots and glitter nail polish.  Old English furniture polish is amazing.  also, the grandparents infusion of energy was amazing. 

They drove a long way - 2x in less than a week, and worked hard while they were here.  thank goodness for a day of rest.  

they fixed two kitchen cupboard problem areas, improving them 100%: one with adhesive and the other that used to have other cabinets attached to it.  scraping, sanding, and painting.

Grandpa took multiple Safeway and home depot trips. he spent time with E, doing reading and math homework, and also playing Uno.  he helped sort e's book and find new homes for some that he has outgrown.  He also stepped up to the barber role, giving e's hair a little trim.

Gpa loaded up his big truck and we took old things to the transfer station.  we've got a start on getting the garage organized now.  Gpa also brought many bags of gravel and filled in the alley potholes.  now our ride in and out is a little less bumpy.

Gpa helped fulfill one of e's valentine's holiday wishes of making sugar cookies. what a treat.
now that the front room was cleared of the majority of my boxes, they helped arrange furniture, fill the bookshelf, move up the couch and create a nice sitting area in front of the fireplace!
the visit was over too quickly.  at least they got on the road before the next snowstorm, and had above freezing temperatures for driving back.