My Beamish Brood: The Yantes Inn is Open for Business

For the weekend of Blaise's baptism, we had a house chock full of family! Paul, Maureen and Liam made the trip from Rapid, Monica and Glenn's family came from Wisconsin, and even Patrick and Anne came down from North Dakota! I was reminded what a blessing our new home is as we found places for everyone to sleep and still felt that we had room to spare! (Next time we'll have to squeeze in Megan and the Wards too... hint, hint)

Glenn and Monica arrived first on Friday, bringing with them a huge container of Glenn's delicious smoked meat to serve at the Baptism reception. The cousins settled in and began to play together while we relaxed and caught up. Everyone else arrived later that night after the kids were asleep. The boys were thrilled to wake up to Patrick sleeping in their room and Liam on the couch downstairs! It took every ounce of self-control they had not to jump on them and wake them up the moment they saw them.

Saturday was a beautiful day, so we decided to hike Dodge Nature Center, the beautiful nature area near our house. The kids had a great time exploring the woods, the farm, and a boardwalk through the swamp. They even got a closeup look at some turkeys! Speaking of edible birds... Paul batter fried chicken and french fries for dinner, which was deee-licious.

Most of us went to Mass Sunday morning, but those who had gone the night before stayed home with the smallest of the children. When we got home, the house was spotless! My amazing mother-in-law and brother-in-law had whipped the house into shape while watching three little children! How come I can't do that? Then Monica, with her cake decorating mad skillz, turned a plain white sheet cake into this beauty:

We spent the day watching football and making last minute preparations, and then in the evening got ourselves over to the church for the big moment! The baptism was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and everyone stayed up around the bonfire late into the night... except me. I was totally beat. Blaise chose this weekend to become quite needy, and after a day of rocking and bouncing him, I was ready to crash when he was.

Monday morning most everyone headed home, but we got one more day with Monica and Glenn. It was another gorgeous day, so we spent it outside in the backyard watching the kids play... and doing some playing ourselves. I made it two whole steps on the slackline! Lucian was very proud of me. (Monica maybe might have made it even farther than I did but who's counting anyways...) Then we enjoyed Chin Chins Chinese for dinner, because apparently where Monica and Glenn live is a black hole for good Chinese food. And Chin Chin's is probably the best in the nation, so there's that.

Tuesday morning was a snap back into reality as I hustled the kids out the door for Catechesis as the last of our visitors hit the road. It feels like we haven't stopped going since then, but it sure was great to have a long weekend break to enjoy time with family!