A red-shirted day

The time had come. Our vacation visit from Matthew and Christy and Albert had to come to an end. We enjoyed our last day together and made time for things like playing Play Dough and having a game of Scrabble. They sat there and played for a longggg time! Like, an hour or so! Hope was delighted, and Albert was napping, so... there you go!
Hope thought she should hold Joy.
Joy had other ideas.
Matthew decided he would work on updating their website http://www.mcjohnsons.com/ with photos while he was still on vacation time, instead of trying to do it at home in the off-work hours.
Albert sat their like a good boy and watched his Daddy work.
After naps we wanted to get the kids together for some cousin shots.
Hope spotted Albert sitting in his Bumbo and went to play with him.
Meanwhile, Joy was having fun with a laundry basket. I pushed it over to curious Albert, and soon they both had their little hands on it.
Of her own accord, Hope started playing "peek-a-boo" with the babies.
It was priceless.
Thought I'd try for a shot or two of them all together.
Hmmm... smile?
This one makes me laugh! I think the babies had been grabbing at each others hands or torsos or something, and this is their reaction. Smile!!!! Okay then, sing if you prefer, Hope!
Then it wast time to get down to business, which business involved getting Joy not to be so busy for a few minutes!
What follows is a whole bunch of pictures from our photo shoot. Most of them in the same pose, but all the kids have such vivid facial expressions. I didn't want to leave anything out for the family that lives far away, so please bear with me, or skip to the bottom of the post.
My big little girl, and her two favourite babies.

Uh-oh....
....looks like somebody is making a breakaway.
Restored. Doesn't Albert just look exasperated?
There - now he's smilin'!
"Put your hands on their heads, Hope. No, one hand on the head of each baby. There you go!"
Oh my...
...here we go again.
Okay, different pose, and I guess Joy pulled her shoe off. Love the smiles in this shot!

Really?
Wow - Albert's got his hands up! I think Joy was having an influence on him!
Aww. My adorable nephew was looking straight at me. Never mind my girlies... :o)
And this was where things started to digress. Hope decided she should see if the babies liked grass. I decided this was not the greatest idea.
And...
One more quick pose and we were done.
Sweet people. So dear to us. :o)
Albert had been investigating that leaf, but turned his head before I snapped the shot.
"But Uncle Josh, I can't get it when you hold it up that high!"

Saturday morning, after a quick breakfast, we snatched a few minutes for "Auntie Erin and Albert" shots, and then it was off to the airport with the lot of us, to see the Johnson family off for Denver.
Albert was ready for his morning nap...
...but I still got him to smile!
Love that little guy!
He's much stronger in his torso than Joy, or at least he holds himself like he is.
Bye-bye little guy! See you soon, I hope.

Days at home and friends come to call

Tuesday was a day of doing laundry (you shoulda seen the piles of it), bathing the kids, and going grocery shopping. Matthew said he had to come along to see what a Canadian grocery store looked like.Christy reading a story to Hope after her bath.
Snack time in the Bumbos.
It is my opinion that boys drop things a lot less than girls. :o) Albert kept his apple piece securely in hand while Joy dropped her numerous times.
Wednesday morning a guy came to bit of noisy work on the house, so Christy & Albert escaped to a friends house and the girls & I went clothes shopping for them, and watered raspberries and such at a friends house, as we were house/yard sitting that week.
Joy found the sprinkler head most entertaining.
She's just started doing that with her index finger. :o)
Hope thought she should wash the rocks too. :o)
Albert catching 40 winks on the couch after nursing.
This was the evening M&C watched the girls so Josh and I could go out together.
I think they had a good time. At least that's what we heard.
Playing with Hopey's sippie cup.
Eating her favourite food - applesauce.
Must have been going for a snack or something.
Thursday night we were blessed by the much anticipated visit of Nicole (Tuplin) Kumpolt and her family and her sister Heather Tuplin, (long time friends of the Langemanns.)
Nicole's twins are 3 months older than Joy. Nicole's oldest, Lydia, is the one with the baby doll.
The toys were quite popular.
Dear little Albert, the only guy in the bunch!
The Dads having dessert and tea. All the guys got brownie points that night, at least in my estimation. They each had a small child in hand when I served them their dessert and tea, and nothing got spilled!
The blessing of friends.
Meanwhile, the two two-year olds were sitting at the table having hot peppermint tea and ice cream, quite happy with themselves. :o)