A quick trip to Elko

. . . for our niece Courtney's baptism! Isn't she so cute?

It was a very quick trip; we rolled into Elko around 7 on Friday night and left Sunday afternoon, but we fit in lots of fun! The main event was Courtney's baptism on Saturday afternoon - Melissa's blog has sweet pictures of Courtney and Kevin beforehand. It was so nice to be there; we're very proud of Courtney for making such a great decision. Afterwards we all went back to Melissa and Kevin's new house to hang out (and eat yummy food!). Between handing my camera to various children and using it a lot myself, I ended up with tons of pictures, so consider yourself warned:

Puzzles were a big hit - Clyde and George teamed up to complete one, while Lily handled another solo.

Will did the ABC puzzle several times with moral support from Daddy,

and later on Grandma as well!

Mallory and I took advantage of a photo op. I love being an aunt :)

Another photo op with an obviously distracted Clyde. . .

who later had lots of fun wrestling around with Uncle Kevin.

Ooh, more puzzle time. Will and Lily combined forces for this one, with Aunt Amanda and Pops double-checking their work :).

Then we randomly started dancing. Who can remember why or how?
This is a lovely shot of me demonstrating the 'shopping cart' dance - at this particular point I was 'clearing the shelf', a move I may have made up, to be honest. I have a distinct memory of my older cousin Janessa teaching us these dances (the shopping cart, the lawn mower, etc) at my cousin Ryan's wedding reception when I was 12, so I figured it was about time to pass them onto Mallory :).

Mallory was showing us the worm, and Clyde was eager to try it too!

Uncle Steve lost brutally to Mallory in Battleship and then he attempted to take on George - I never did hear the outcome of this match-up, though.

Then it was definitely time for some good ol' Hide and Seek.
Here's Courtney counting . . .

and Chuck hiding :).

Here's George counting . . .

and Chuck hiding :). Chuck and Steve (aka the only two adults who played multiple times) were usually the last to be found. Steve had some pretty amazing hiding spots - perched on a windowsill in the basement, between the mattress and box springs of George's bed, etc. The kids were going crazy trying to find him; it was hilarious.

Lee and Aleesha came over, too, yay!

And of course they brought their sweet Bri. It was so funny; she wandered off with Aleesha's phone (a blackberry, I think) and then came back holding this play phone - nice trade, eh?

Oh, my sweet Will! I love how entwined our fingers are; he loves spinning my wedding rings around and around my finger.

Will and Grandma heading down to play in the basement.

At one point, brave Uncle Steve took charge of all seven kids downstairs, where they played games like "Smash on the Mattress".

Amanda and Chuck deeply engrossed in 'Sorry'. Melissa and I were mostly playing too but kept getting called away or distracted by other things, so Amanda and Chuck dutifully carried on, taking our turns for us.

I love my husband. (And yes, I am very good at the long-armed self-portrait shot).

We had such a fun time visiting Chuck's family - the highlight for Clyde was getting to plant doughnut seeds with Grandpa on Saturday night and waking up Sunday morning to freshly grown doughnuts :).

We got home safe and sound on Sunday evening, albeit to a chilly house. I quickly turned the heat on and mixed up some cookie dough so that we could turn the oven on, too (every little bit helps!). Plus, that way I got to break my fast with cookie dough, which makes fasting a much more enjoyable experience!!

Clyde managed to get one oven mitt on by himself but requested help with the other one, so that he could 'check on the cookies'. Goof!