Grandma and Grandpa come to visit!

We had much anticipated visitors a couple weekends ago: Grandma & Grandpa!

Having them here in our world was WONDERFUL. 

They drove her from Utah with their trailer. They surprised us on General Conference Sunday morning while we were still in our jammies and I was up to my elbows making cinnamon rolls. We thought they'd be there later that evening but to watch their truck roll up in front of our house was so exciting! 

We spent the day watching conference together, showing them around our place, eating too many cinnamon rolls, and just generally being so excited they were here.

Grandma and Grandpa brought some exciting presents along too so that added to the excitement as well!

 Can you tell Nathan is pleased with this new work apron Grandma made? And the neat hammer that came in the pocket?

 Heidi getting ready to model her cute apron. And I need to get a picture of all of us because my mom made all of us the cutest customized aprons! 

 Their timing was perfect because they were able to see Trent on Sunday which was great since he is a little rare around these parts lately. 

Monday we hung around the house..Grandma and I brainstorming on some sewing projects, Grandpa catching up on some office work, and then that afternoon Grandpa sent the girls off on a bit of a shopping trip while he played with the kids. 

Tuesday we headed out of town to tour Claiborne Farm where Secretariat and many other horses have lived. It was a gorgeous drive out there and this farm was beautiful.

One of the grooms gave us the tour or the breeding area, the stallion stable, and the horse cemetery. The stallion stable had the stall where Secretariat lived while was alive. This is his stall door. His name is second from the bottom plaque. All the other names have also lived in this stall. The one at the top is the current resident. 

He brought a couple stallions out for us to see. This is one of the more mellow guys...some of them are very feisty! The stud fees at this farm range from $5,000-$80,000, depending on the horse!

All of us waiting for one of the stallions to come out of the stall...we are standing back because this one was a bit more spirited!

The horse graveyard was really neat and held Secretariat's grave. The kids were each able to take a rose from his grave which they thought was pretty special. 

After leaving that farm we headed into Paris for a lunch, walking around and waiting for 2:30 to come! I had read that one of the local barbershops did a bluegrass jam that afternoon and we wanted to check it out! When we got to the barbershop there was a sign on the door that said: "Be right back. Joe" We waited until about 3 pm and he returned. He was very hospitable and let us into his barbershop. It was a "hole in the wall"! It was so crowded and old and everything you'd expect a small town Kentucky barbershop to be. A couple of his friends came in after that and they all started jamming for us! We were the only audience members and they seemed thrilled to play for us. Two guitars and a banjo and they were awesome! It was so great toe-tapping fun and a total highlight for all of us. As a sidenote, we saw on his magazine rack a New Era and Deseret News (church magazines for our church) and we were curious and asked him about them. Turns out Joe is LDS. Very, very small world since that isn't all to common around here. We were all excited about the connection. Here is a little sample of the music. This is some great music. I just loved it!

Wednesday it was off to the races! The day started out very chilly and we really had to bundle up. Heidi really decked herself out for the occasion and didn't spare any details on her outfit. She turned many heads with her bright pink hat and looked like a real little lady at the races that day. She was Grandma's buddy the whole day and I thought they were such a lovely pair!

And these two chaps cleaned up pretty nicely too! Nathan was a little puzzled why I made him wear church clothes to see the horses. When we arrived he said, "But Mom, the horses don't have church clothes on!"

These beauties sped by so fast it was hard to capture a good shot:

They were so beautiful! These horses are true athletes. Don't worry, we didn't wager any money! At the beginning of each race we'd each pick the horse we wanted to win and then cheer that number on. 

There were 9 races that day, one every half hour. Before each race the prospective racers would parade around this paddock and then get saddled up and ready for their jockey to mount. 

Thursday was a work day. I was so, so appreciative for my parents and their help on my yard. Our front flower beds had white gravel, a rock collection, and lots of scrubby old shrubbery that really was an eyesore at the front of the house. We all worked hard all morning and we got it all cleared out! Some of the shrubs were so stubborn that we had to hook my Dad's truck up to them and yank them out. No wonder I've been having a hard time trying with my shovel! The end result was amazing: my house looks so much tidier. Now it's time to decide was to plant there in it's place. Love having an empty canvas to work with. Grandpa had the great idea to head to the local Mexican restaurant afterwards and we all sure enjoyed our chips and salsa after that rock hauling. 

What a wonderful visit. I really felt like I had been on vacation without ever leaving home. Having family around does that! Sure love you guys and appreciate you driving the many miles to visit our new Kentucky home. Means more than you know!