Whew!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. To say the least, its been a hectic week. As Nicole mentioned earlier, my mom and grandmother came out for the week to celebrate Haley's birthday with us. Having not seen her in more than six months, they were delighted with how much shes grown since their last visit. Quiet and reserved at first, she soon warmed to them and was chatting up a storm. First stop on the agenda was a Thursday trip to ToysRUs. (I still hadn't picked up a gift for her yet.) Needless to say, Haley benefitted greatly from grandma and great-grandma coming with us. On Friday we had Haley's birthday party in a nearby park that she enjoys going to. Many of her friends were there to celebrate with her. Everybody had a great time.

Saturday we went to see her friends Cas and Logan for yet another birthday party. (Cas was born 12 hours after Haley, and shares the birthday with his mother Heather.) Joe and Heather threw a "water" party, where all the kids got to swim in the inflatable pool and take runs down the Slip N Slide.

Sunday was Haley's actual birthday, and we spent the bulk of the morning opening a plethora of gifts from the family. She loved everything and spent the remainder of the day (and every day since then) playing with her new toys and modelling her new clothes for us. She is the only kid I know of that insists on trying on new clothes the second the gift box is opened. Thanks to all of you that sent gifts and your birthday wishes.

My mother and grandmother left this morning for the trip home. We're already looking forward to seeing them again this fall when (hopefully) we'll fly out for a visit. Also looking forward to several other visits from family in the coming months.