Brad and Kathryn's Epic Visit

Oh you guys! We just had a wonderful visit from Brad and Kathryn! I hope I can adequately communicate how awesome it was. 

One thing that kind of put a damper on things and overshadowed the entire visit was that Brad, just moments after arriving, slipped and fell down our back stairs into our basement (with his plate of nachos and all), landing hard on his back. He was super sore all week and walking and sitting gingerly and couldn't play like he wanted to. But he never complained. I felt so bad for him. And he had a cold - so his cautious big sister wanted to keep his germs away from her babies. So, all in all, that was tough. But he made the best of it. 

Here he is sitting on a hard chair outside icing his back - wanting to still be a part of the action, even though it was painful. Poor guy. 

So, enter Kathryn...

She was the rockstar sister in law that took care of all of us! She compensated for Brad's injury by mowing the lawn,

Going on bike rides with Cole, cleaning up the dishes tons of times, taking Cole to the park, playing in the sandbox (while Brad stood there with them), holding big girl Hope, and cleaning and tidying more than I even realized. 

It was sweet corn picking time, so we went out to one of Marc's farmer's fields and picked and picked away. Brad stayed home with a (supposed to be) sleeping Hope and kept her happy and occupied until we returned - Even though he had to keep her on his lap. 

Kathryn and Cole were picking buddies 

Cole sampling the harvest - nothing fresher than that!

Is he a farm boy or what? His daddy is proud. 

We got a LOT of corn. Shirley joined us and she particularly likes to get a lot and "put it up" in the freezer and give it to her kids. Kathryn was a good sport to give up nearly two hours to help shuck and clean and take the corn off the cobs. What a process! Brad again stayed home with Hope, nice guy, while she slept. 

We had corn for supper, just hours after it was picked, and Brad couldn't get over how good it was. I think the three empty ears on his plate spoke for themselves. 

We went to shaved ice!

Cole and Kathryn shared lots of sweet moments. She is so good with him! And Brad does well too!

They chose to stick around to go to the library for Learn & Play before heading back home. Hope was sleeping, so Kathryn stayed with her and Brad went with us. It was so fun to have him there! They LOVE it when men come play! It was hard with his back, but he joined in as much as he could. Cole loved having him there. 

And while we were gone, somehow Kathryn managed to magically clean up my entire house - vacuum, move 6 huge bags of hand-me-downs out of the living room, empty and fill the dishwasher, clean up the toys upstairs and down, strip the bed - as well as get them all packed up and ready to go. I was flabbergasted. It was such a gift. I just relished it this afternoon after they left and during nap time - I could just rest. It was so nice. 

Since they've left, Cole has talked about them a lot. "What Brad said? Oofball?" "GOOFBALL!" And tonight he tried to gargle his water in the bathroom when he was brushing his teeth "like Krathryn". Couldn't think of too many better people for him to emulate! What a treasure!

Thanks for coming guys! It means a lot that you made time to get out here! We love you!

(Hope to write soon about mom and dad's visit last week and Norma and Abby are coming next weekend!)