How the "West" was won.

Family. It has been a blessed past few days with visitors from all over... across the river, the northern frontier, and the wild wild west.

This past Tuesday the boys Great Great Great Aunt Jean spent the day with us. She came to check out the new place and spend time with her 3 times great nephews. One thing that I love about spending time with her is the connection to my great grandmother who I was extremely close with until she died when I was 9. Aunt Jean is the last that I have left of Grammy's siblings and spending time with her reliving stories from the past is a true honor and privilege.

Sharing a strawberry snack.

Learning time.

The young and young at heart.

Handsome (mischievous) boy!

Nose Booping.

Wednesday my parents graced us with their presence... both to spend time with their grandsons and see the new house. This was Mom's first time here, so Shawn was rather excited to show her around "his" house.

Comfy Cozy.

Grandparents Day.

Shawn showing off his new room.

The boys were both ecstatic to see their MeMe and Pappy... Shawn wanted them to stay a while longer to play!

Quality Time.

Meme, The Entertainer.

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Shawn certainly has a way with his MeMe and getting her in giggle fits.

Payback.
MeMe threw Shawn in the pool with his cloths on and then it POURED down rain all over her!

Yesterday, Kendra, Ayden, and Alexis came by for a kiddo play date (and mommy one too.) Shawn and Ayden (both being the oldest child in their family) certainly butt heads over the whole "sharing" concept. It is rather comical to watch them with their "No Mine! No Mine!" fits. The babes are both pretty calm and complacent... just enjoying each others company and being sweet as pie. I couldn't get over how Lexie is SUCH a people person. She kept crawling all over my lap and played with Jon in the toy room so nicely.

"These Little Piggies."

A Moment of Kindness.

Twos a Crowd.

Landon and Ayden get along so well. Ayden shares and plays very nicely with him. Too bad the older boys couldn't do that with their OWN siblings :)

Babes R Us.

Landon & Lexie

Purely Sweet.

The Zoo.

The Trio of Boys.

Kendra's cell phone is the coolest!

Watching Bolt.

Pool time... mimicking time.

Swimmin' Dudes.

"Um, Delilah, this isn't what it looks like!"

Last night the wild wild west made its way East. Grampa Bob (Jon's Dad) flew all the way from Idaho to spend a few days helping Jon play "Mr. Fix It." Shawn must have heard us talking late last night because I hear this "Mommy, I need a drink of water." Grampa and I headed up stairs and to Shawn's delight was his much loved Grampa Bob! We treated Shawn to a few stories... and Grampa got him back to bed. This week is going to be a blast for Jon and the boys spending some serious bonding time! The only down side is Grama Carol is back in Idaho busy as a bee with the balloons. We miss you Grama Carol (and Shawn keeps asking about you!)

Good night kiss.

Bedtime Stories.

This morning the guys were hard at it.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Aunt "Wynda" and Gunkle "Coody" have arrived! We have the distinct pleasure of spending the entire weekend with Jon's brother and sister-in-law! Shawn was extremely excited to see his Uncle... for he knew that this would be a weekend of fun, romping, and t-r-o-u-b-l-e!

Speaking of trouble... I find it rather ironic that Shawn is very interested in learning how to spell that word above many words hehe. How fitting.

Shawn adores him!

Two of a Kind.

Lovin' Aunt Wynda :)

Tool Time Teachings with Uncle Cody

Helping the flowers grow.

There is nothing quite like Family.

Forget that little kiddie pool...

Bedtime Stories.

Sunday with the nephews.

Visit with Pap Marks. Shawn kept saying "Lets go see Pap and Tooooby!" (Toby the pup.)

Adventures with Auntie.

Families are Forever!

Stepping Stones.

We love our family.

Nephew & Uncle.

Sis-in laws... I love you babe!

Pool Time!

Chasing Aunt "Wynda" around the yard :)

You'll never believe it: Landon now LOVES the water! Today he had an epiphany... Water is his new found friend. We couldn't keep him from trying to swim in it!

The Dolphin II

Family Pool Fun.

Landon thought this was the greatest... being thrown in the air and splashing his feet in the pool.

Hero Daddy

1st Deere Ride!!

Tonight we had our first family cookout with the new grill... Burgers, 'dogs, mac 'n cheese, chips n more... We set everything up out on the back porch and had an amazing time!

This was one of the hardest visits to say goodbye to Cody and Lynda. We have all grown so close over the past few months and seeing Shawn and Landon develop such a strong bond with them makes parting all the more difficult. Tonight, Shawn said to them as they were leaving "No, stay here in this house!" One thing I will always be grateful for is Lynda sending me that email last October wanting to get our side in a very messed up long story with Jon's mother and step father. We lost so much time with Jon's brother & Lynda because of his mom and keeping us from having a normal family relationship. We'll never get back all of that time lost and we'll never forget the heartache that was put upon all 6 of us (Jon, the boys, Cody, Lynda, and I.) This fresh start in our new home and new town is a good way to say goodbye to those holding us back and keeping us in a vicious fighting cycle of hurt and lies with parents who claim to love our family but only set out to harm it. It is a shame that a mother could do that to her sons and grandsons... lie and place blame on everyone but where blame is due. None the less, Jon and I have grown from this experience... not only in learning what NOT to do as parents and what is true unconditional love versus abuse and control. Our family is stronger from this hard lesson... and for that we are thankful.
I know this is something I have not blogged about until now. The blog has been set to private and is viewable by invite only. After the last confrontation and new findings in a long twisted tale... we know it is best to keep our family life private and leave Jon's mother to think about the harm she has caused us. We will not allow our children to be caught up in a web of hurt like she allowed her own children to be caught up in. Our family is the most important thing in the world... and our children deserve to be treated with respect and shown unconditional love from their family. We hope everyone will respect our wishes and keep this blog to just you (the invited parties.)
Thank you:
The Rawlings Family