Michael and Mallory had some big changes in their lives in September. Michael accepted a job at Jackson Laboratories in Bar Harbor, Maine. So, after living in Livermore, California for a little over 3 years, they made the move to Maine. We are sad they will live so far away from us, but we know this job is the perfect opportunity for Michael's career and Mallory will have a chance to live in the same area where she grew up. We are looking forward to visiting them in such a beautiful place.
We were excited to have Michael, Mallory, Madie and Finn come and visit us in October on their way to Maine. They arrived on Oct 1, which happened to be Mal's birthday and they stayed until Oct 10 - we loved 10 glorious days of having them with us! Before they came to our house, they made a quick trip to Utah to visit Mal's siblings who live there and also got to visit Grandma Clark and some of my family.
While they were visiting us, we still had some construction projects going on, but they patiently lived through it with us - and even helped us (Thanks, Michael!)
We did take some time to have fun also.
Madie and Nana played with the pretend food.
Nana got to play with Finn.
Madie and Brodi played dress-ups:
Brodi was going for the leotard over the pajamas look, tied with a polka dot ribbon. Nice.
Madie loved this outfit and it looked so cute on her - she did not want her picture taken and was trying to hide from me behind the piano. Gotcha, Madie!
They even let Papa, Hannah and BJ play (and Finn, even though he didn't get a hat):
Madie was able to go to Aunt Tiff's pre-school for 2 days while she was here. Brodi goes there too, so at least she sort of knew somebody. Brodi and Madie are just now starting to get to know each other. On the 2nd day of pre-school, Mal, Madie and I and Shannon, Brodi and Hannah went with Tiffany's pre-school class to the pumpkin patch.
Here is Madie - such a cute picture.
Brodi and Hannah picking a pumpkin....
Cute picture of sweet Hannah....I tried to get a picture of Brodi by the pumpkins, but she wouldn't let me.
The girls decorated their pumpkins with Halloween stickers.
Then we went on a hayride. I don't know how I missed getting a picture of Tiffany. She was busy keeping track of a bunch of little pre-schoolers! But, thanks for letting us tag along, Tiff.
We went to a petting zoo.
And played in the playhouses.
Mal and Madie posed for this cute picture.
Here is Papa with Madie and Finn.
And Nana and Papa with Madie and Finn.
We enjoyed General Conference all weekend and then had everybody over for dinner Sunday afternoon.
We finally got to celebrate Mal's birthday with a BBQ and a delicious ice cream cake that Shannon made. Mal had a lot of help blowing out her candles!
Here are 8 of the 10 grandkids. We sure missed Claire and Ethan and wish they could have been here too! (Notice how Finn is standing in thin air? Pretty tricky, Michael!)
Brodi and Madie played us some songs on the piano. Well, they pounded some songs on the piano!
On Monday, we went to the train park in Scottsdale. Mal stayed home with Finn because their car was going to be picked up at our house and be shipped to Maine, so she had to stay and wait for the transport service. We missed them.. We also missed Papa and Tyler, who were working. We had a picnic lunch - it was a pretty warm day, but very pleasant if you were in the shade.
We all rode the train - some of us twice.
The cousins all had fun playing together.
And we had lots of bonding time.
Sam was in heaven when he was riding the train! He loves trains so much!
On Tuesday, we only had the morning to do something together because Michael & family were leaving in the afternoon for Maine. So, we chose something close by - feeding ducks at the park. We had everybody this time except for Tyler, who was working. Tiffany was watching her neighbor's twin girls, so we had a couple extra kids with us, but they fit right in. Here is Madie feeding the ducks.
More duck food, please.....
The kids feeding the ducks.
Hannah and Sam
Sadie
Look at this happy little Finn-Man! I LOVE his dimples!
Nana and Madie
We sure are going to miss these guys! It was so much fun having them visit and we hope they will come back soon and often. Thanks for the visit, Michael, Mallory, Madie and Finn!
We love you and wish you much happiness and success in your new adventure!
After we got home from taking them to the airport, the house was so quiet and when I saw this sitting on the dining room table, tears came to my eyes. This is the basket Madie carried around while she was here as she played the part of Belle in Beauty and the Beast. It's her favorite movie and she acts out the whole movie. This basket was what Belle carried her books in.
Oh, Madie, I miss you!
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