...And then Grandma came for a few days too!

During Joe's second week here, we were blessed to have Mom Langemann join us for a crazy busy week. 

She watched the girls one day for us so Josh and I could go to my midwife appointment and run some much needed errands together. Mom had a yummy supper cooking for everyone when we got home, and even surprised me by baking Gluten Free chocolate zucchini muffins, which everyone thought tasted amazing!

The next day, my amazing Mother-in-Law helped me cook up a storm, and prepare meals for two families. Then, she blessed everyone here at our house by ordering pizza for supper, as there wasn't too much extra from all our cooking, and we were too pooped to make anything for ourselves. Pizza tasted great. We ate on styro plates, and went straight from the dinner table to the couches to finish watching a movie we had started when Joe first got here. :o) We indulged in some homemade ice cream, and then cleaned up everything while Josh put the girls to bed. :o)

Hope had fun being by Grandma's side as much as possible.

Ah, Joy... wonder what you have in mind?

Having a picnic with Uncle Joe on the new deck on his last day here. Grandma was away visiting friends, so that's why she's not in this picture.

With the end in sight, and warm temperatures outside, Joe took a break midday and when I went downstairs to change the laundry loads I noticed this beaming smile coming from his room, face-timing with Rachel. :o)

He was good enough to let me take his picture. :o) Thanks, bro! Can't wait for your wedding in just a few weeks!

The last board being screwed into place.

Joe and Lorrie left at a leisurely hour on Saturday morning to make the easy drive to Swift Current, where her parents live. Joy was "helping" me make their lunch for the road.

Last minutes with Grandma while the guys settled up receipts and got the van packed.

The girls were completely fascinated by a little video of their cousin Albert. They watched it over and over and over and over again on Grandma's itouch - so much so that she had to ask Uncle Joe about a van charger so she could use it while they drove, as the girls did a good job of draining the battery. ;o)

Joy kept saying "baby, baby!" The movie was of Albert, just moments after birth, crying away as the medical people checked him over. :o) For some reason, the girls couldn't get enough of it.
It's funny - when Joy wants to watch something on my new iphone she points to it and says "baby, baby!"

Finally - Joy's much cried for turn to have the itouch to herself.

So thankful for these two people!

And these two too!

This was an attempt at a goodbye shot of Uncle Joe and the girls, but it took a bit to catch Joy and get her inclined towards the idea.

As you can see, she was a little mad - she really wanted to hold on to that orange rake she was holding. :o)

Come on Joy....

Well, we'll call it good.

But then Uncle Joe started tickling her. :o)

They got along good, those two!

Bye-bye hug for Grandma. It's so cute how Joy gives hugs, wrapping her short little arms tight around you.

And one for Uncle Joe too.

My man and his Momma. :o) Love this picture of them. :o)

We are blessed.

Joe, thank you so much for coming all this distance and taking all this time to create a perfect deck for our backyard. We were grateful to have one last visit with you as "just Joe" and can't wait till you come in your forever changed state with your soon-to-be-bride!
Mom, thank you for coming and blessing us through your hard work and availability and peaceful spirit. You're one of the most amazing women I know, and I will always think that. :o)

...To build us a deck

With the deck being demolished and a virtual mud hole right outside our back door due to all the rain that fell Joe's first week here, it was necessary to occupy the children indoors. 

We pulled out the Play Dough a few times, and when Joy played with it, but that wasn't all she did. :o) She came up with her own little delight, by fitting herself into the Play Dough tub.

And she was quite happy with herself about it too. :o)

Making "cookies."

A new colour - blue. Fun. :o) .

Notice the blue dot on her head, and blue around her mouth... still hasn't been convinced that Play Dough really isn't for eating. :o)

Happy Hopey. See her handprints on the window behind her? She loved standing on the chair and watching Uncle Joe through the window.

Deck gone. Some landscape fabric laid, and the first framing boards in place

Texting someone at the end of the work day.... :o)

A very pooped Joy-Belle, hanging out on the futon for a few minutes before bedtime.

She arranged herself like this - pillow underneath, and looked as comfy as can be.

Now that looks like progress, eh? :o)

Joe helping out with evening dishes, with Joy by his side.

They were a good pair. :o) 

Uncle Joe comes to our house

The basement no sooner got it's gutting job completed than we had a most charming visitor come to stay with us - Uncle Joe! 

And with him came these adorable dresses for the girls made by the sister of his fiance, Rachel.

It was bedtime when they opened the package, but we slipped their dresses on over top of their pajamas, since they were so eager to get into them, and they wore them for a few minutes while brushing their teeth.

Uncle Joe came to build us a new deck, but it rained the first couple days he was here, so after the materials were ordered, he had some spare time in which he discovered this fun little thing called "Face Time" on his itouch, and spent many happy moments "face timing" with his beloved Rachel who was back in Denver.

He was a good sport, and let Hopey in on the fun too, though she tired of it much quicker than he. :o)

Gazing at the mess he just made for himself to clean up! While the top boards were rotting, the boards used in the framing were actually still mostly good, and he was able to re-use a bunch of them!

Feeling all special in her dress, and having Mommy-time while Hopey was away at a preschool class at church.

At the end of the week, we got to go and see the little ones and what they had been learning.

Hope kept her eyes on her teacher and her little face was lit up like a Christmas tree.

She was soooo happy!

I think she enjoyed it immensely. :o)

The knee zig-zag thing was a little confusing. ;o)

Beautiful twirl from a beautiful heart. :o)

The finale of the recital was an obstacle course where the kids went through tunnels and crawled through a few hoola-hoops. Joy saw that being set up and was very hard to keep on my lap. I managed to contain her by saying that maybe after the big kids were done she could go through. Hopey came and joined us after her turn was done and heard me tell that to Joy. I didn't realize the maze was going to be picked up so quickly, and all of a sudden I heard Hope crying, with Joy joining in. Hope was saying, "No, I don't want them to take it down - Joy didn't get a turn. Joy needs a turn." It quickly drew my attention back to what was happening, as I had been visiting with the lady next to me. Sure enough, more than half the maze was picked up already. I saw one tunnel still set up with a little girl still in it, so I quickly asked Hope if she would like to take Joy over there so she could go through. This was how they did it. :o) Gulp. So glad they love each other (and show it most of the time!)
At home Hope has recently been caught crying saying "But... I need my sister wiff me. I need a sister to do it wiff me," as independent Joy often tires of whatever they are playing far sooner than Hope does and walks off in search of some other form of fun. :o) 

Hope was delighted to have another lap available after meal times, as both girls notice the large baby bump that fills a good portion of Mommy's lap these days. She very kindly asked Uncle Joe if she could sit on his "yap" and brought a toy to play with while there. I missed it, but Joe made this cute little formation with the words "I love you" and/or "Joe loves Rachel," of course thinking of his fiance. :o)

Meanwhile, Daddy was trying to keep Joy busy with some Duplo blocks, so as to preserve Hopey's game with Uncle Joe.

"Crashhhhhh! Whoa!" The best part - of course!

Hope can often be heard asking "Can you show me how to do it?" Having Uncle Joe's construction eye and mind available for her frequent question was most appreciated, as I find I often run out of ideas if I don't think ahead. :o)

Doesn't that just say J-O-Y? :o)