A new tradition

Whoopsie!  I meant to post these IMMEDIATELY but oh hey, look at me, I didn't.  What's new!?

Four-ish weeks ago, I traveled to Redmond to get my work on and while flying home, waved hello and good-bye to Jon, as he took off for Amsterdam.  My poor little Callum had come down with a pretty bad fever that day, which meant I stayed home the next day caring for him and trying to manage that fever.  It got much worse, before it ever got better, and I found out several days later that he had probably caught and was fighting a case of roseola (because he doesn't catch enough weird diseases as it is!).

All while Jon was sipping on Dutch white beers.

*ahem*

But anyhoo, I wasn't as worried about the fact that Callum had just conquered roseola as I was concerned about how long he'd be contagious.  Since, our good friends Eric and Jill were coming to visit a few days later with Amelia and their little baby boy Trent.  A few rushed calls to the doctor that day and I was relieved to find out all was well, Callum (and the Cables) were out of the woods and in the clear.

The Cables arrived Thursday afternoon and stayed through the weekend.  I took Friday off from work so that we could visit, catch up and let the four kids turn the house upside down and inside out.  We wore them out at Happy Hollow Park where the kids had an absolute blast.

Jon finally got home Saturday afternoon, which happened to also be his birthday, so we had a sitter come by and watch the three older kids while the four adults (plus Trent) went out to a lovely Ethiopian dinner (Eric and Jill had never had Ethiopian food before!) and then came home to enjoy some yummy dessert.  :)

As always, our visit was MUCH too short, and because I was juggling two kiddos on my own for most of the visit, I didn't capture as many fun pics as I would have liked.  However, I did manage to snag a handful of the four kids all together in our front yard, minutes before Eric and Jill loaded the kids up to hit the road for their long drive back home.

We talked about how we'll have to start taking pictures of the kids each year in this very same spot when they visit and, looking back over the pics now, I have to agree.  I'd very much like us to develop that type of tradition.

Because who doesn't want a series of pictures with your older son pretending his hand is a gun, shooting out at you, rather than smiling sweetly at the camera like he's supposed to?

Eric, Jill, loved having you guys as always!  Can't wait to see you again soon.  :)