Hayes Family Happenings

Here's some of the things our family has been up to in the past month--

I had a lovely Mother's Day, if I can recall.  : )  David gave me this beautiful bouquet of pink roses.  As I've said before, I just love having fresh flowers on my table.  He also wrote me a very sweet and loving card.  I remember how much I enjoyed sacrament meeting that day.  The talks were well prepared and thought-out, and Eli was happily content with playing with an elderly man next to us, so I was actually able to sit, listen, and enjoy the talks.  The mothers at church were given large Symphony chocolate bars, and somehow we ended up with two, which made it all the more fun.  : )  

I am incredibly blessed to be Eli's mother.  He is certainly quite a handful and has every ounce of my stubbornness in him, but there's absolutely nothing that makes me happier than being with him during his good times.  He challenges me and frustrates the HECK out of me, but he strengthens my love, patience, and forgiveness, and makes me strive harder to be a better mother.

David's parents came over on Memorial Day.  David and his dad did a ton of hard yard work that was much-needed.  David's dad really enjoys yard work and is very skilled in it, so he was such a big help.  They cut down and trimmed some trees/bushes, weeded, laid new mulch down, etc.  Grandpa Hayes was also hard at work indoors, as he and Eli created a "bulldozer" game.  Grandpa spent a good deal of time on all fours, with Eli on his back, as he pretended to be a bulldozer.  Eli had the time of his life!  And boy did we wear Grandpa out!

For lunch that day I made my very yummy chicken berry salad.  We LOVE this stuff!  Perfect colors for the holiday, too.  : )

Earlier in June Eli and I met my mom for a trip to the Children's Museum!  My mom purchased a grandparent's pass last year, and we wanted to make sure to fit another trip in before it expires.  We had a great day there, and stayed about 4 hours!  (I could barely walk by the time we left!)  

While visiting Egypt, Eli and Grammie did some cooking.

Eli gave Grammie a ride on the busy Egyptian streets.

Played drums in a little music class!

Driving the choo choo train--

Eli went to Rome and explored the Colosseum on our outdoor lunchbreak.  : )

Rode on a horse that went up and down!  Apparently you aren't supposed to ride the moving animals until age 3.  I can see why, as Eli suddenly grew very nervous and looked about ready to cry!  He was happy again once I stood next to him.

We had a great Father's Day!  I made a yummy french toast breakfast with blueberry topping and powdered sugar.  I also made David a homemade card and bought him some Ghirardelli mint chocolates. I worked on finally getting new pictures printed for his office at work, and also printed and put up new pictures around the house.  We spent the evening at my parent's. My mom made a delicious dinner and gave special goodie bags to all the guys.  David is an excellent dad to Eli.  He is such a kid at heart and loves playing with him and teaching him how to do things.  He's very protective and worry-prone, and always makes sure Eli's safe.  He's been very involved in helping take care of Eli since day one, and I really appreciate that about him.  Eli's pretty fond of his dad and sure loves it when he gets to help him in the yard or garage.  : )

My mom is a high school English teacher, so she's pretty busy during the school year, and has a little extra time for things during the Summer.  (I say 'little' because she packs A LOT into her summers, making them pretty darn busy, too.)  A couple weeks ago she came up to my house and we went shopping for some baby supplies!  We stocked up on diapers and bought lots of different odds and ends of baby necessities.  We of course bought Eli some fun new stuff as well.  My mom was so generous and even bought me some cute July 4th decorations for my house!  We ate a yummy lunch at Panera Bread, and then she helped me get some things set up at home.  She'll be coming up again later this week to paint the nursery and help set up Eli's new room!  I'm so grateful for all her help and decorating skills!

We've spent  most of our Saturday mornings this Spring scoping out garage sales!  We've found several great deals, including baby clothes, dressers, golf clubs, and random toys for Eli.  Eli thinks the garage sales are pretty fun, and for a while thought every garage we passed in our neighborhood that was open meant they were having a garage sale.  : ) 

Last Saturday we spent the day in Greencastle with David's family.  It was a terribly hot and humid day (my feet were immensely swollen), so we busted out the water toys for the kids!  Eli enjoyed playing with his cousin, Grace.  They had fun with the sprinkler, kiddie pool, and even hopped into Grandpa's hot tub!  (It wasn't hot, just like bath water).

Eli took a long time to get accustomed to the hot tub.  Grace was a little fish and dove right in!  

Grandpa H. stayed right with Eli the whole time (which was a long time).  Eventually Eli got all the way in and really had fun playing!  Wish I had brought my swimsuit, too!  : )

That evening for dinner we attended a cook-out held at David's brother Adam's church.  Adam and his family are moving to South Africa at the end of July to be missionaries at a children's home.  Their church hosted a nice dinner for them and their families.  Eli especially enjoyed the dinner because the church's gym had a Little Tikes car for him to play with.  He drove that car the entire hour and a half we were there!  We've seriously got to get him one of his own.

We're looking forward to more fun times with family up ahead, and getting all ready for this baby coming in July!