When Mom Came to Town

My grandparents were coming down to Brigham City last Wednesday and my grandma had the brilliant idea of bringing my mom to stay with us. They came Wednesday afternoon and my mom stayed with us till Sunday morning. And we had a blast!!

When they arrived my grandpa had a box of tools with him. When he walked in the door he said, "Ok, what can I fix for you?" Our bathroom door is super annoying and doesn't stay open. We've had to put door stops on the floor to keep it from closing. So he went back there and fixed it for us. We've also had a problem with our front door not closing well. So he fixed that too. My grandpa is a Mr. Fix-It BIG time. He can fix anything. He's amazing! They stayed and visited for a little while then left to Brigham City to see some friends. I love all of my grandparents so much! It was so good to see them. I probably would have cried when they left if my mom wasn't staying with us. That night we had roast, veggies, and rolls for dinner then lounged around in our pj's and watched Wednesday night TV, including "Modern Family" and "Revenge". With diet pepsis and M&M's in hand we were set!

Thursday, November 3

That morning we woke up and had breakfast, got ready for the day, and headed out the door to do some shopping. First we went to Sam's Club and my mom did a little Christmas shopping for my brother, who is leaving on his mission in March to Brisbane, Australia. (Exciting!!) I found Brycen a pair of Levi's while we were there. Brycen loved the aisles with all the Christmas trees and toys. He was holding a little Christmas book through the store so my mom ended up buying it for him when he wouldn't let it go. After Sam's Club we went to lunch at none other than Warren's. We love their burgers and shakes! So does Brycen. He especially loves their fries dipped in fry sauce. After Warren's we went to the Carter's store. Brycen LOVES the Carter's store. For one, they have a Lego table and little chairs for the kids to sit and play. They also have little things to play with against the cash register desk. He is in heaven every time we go. And this day was no different. He also loves to just run around the place. And these days he's fast. I let my mom shop while I followed Brycen around. He had tripped six times as I was following him. Multiple times I picked him up and tried to hold him and shop with Mom. But he tantrumed and kicked so I let him down to follow him some more. I stopped for a minute to talk to my mom when I heard Brycen make his seventh fall. But this time I knew it was bad because he started to cry. Hard. He was lying flat on the floor by the Lego table, and when I looked down I saw spots of blood on the carpet. His mouth was full of blood and he was screaming uncontrollably. We opened his mouth to find a gash against his bottom lip. He had bit right into it with his bottom teeth. At first we thought the teeth went through because he was bleeding so much. One of his bottom teeth also felt loose. One of the employees gave us a paper towel and we cleaned him up as best we could. Mom took him outside while I hurried and made a small purchase. His poor little lip was starting to get big in the spot where he bit it. When they walked outside and the place went quiet again I realized everyone in there was looking at me. They all felt really bad about what happened. One lady was really nice and gave Brycen a Tootsie Roll. I bought some Christmas jammies for Brycen and set my mom's stuff on the counter for them to put aside for her to come buy later. The drive home was a sad one. Brycen cried the whole way. The bleeding had stopped so by this time he was in pain and tired all at the same time. By the time we pulled up and went to get him out of his car seat he had fallen asleep and his lip looked like this:

Poor thing! I had to get a picture while Brycen was still. I sent it to my dad and my siblings so they could see it too. We gave him some Ibuprofen and put him down for a nap. He slept ok but kept waking up sad. After about 3 hours he got up and was pretty happy, fat lip and all. We decided not to take him to get stitches and hoped that we made the right decision. Poor little guy!

That night was another laid back night. Tyson got home from work and we made beef sandwiches with the leftover roast. Then Mom and I ran back over to Carter's to buy the clothes she had set aside earlier and also to head back to Sam's Club to take the Christmas book back that she bought for Brycen. It was a pretty dumb book. In fact, when my mom took it back and the guy asked her if there was anything wrong with it she said, "Yeah, it's stupid." I thought that was pretty hilarious. We also stopped in at Seagull Book and bought a few things there. When we got home we put Brycen down for bed then watched some TV. Brycen slept really well that night, we were so glad.

Friday, November 4

We went shopping at the mall on Friday. Mom got a few more Christmas gifts and we did a lot of oohing and ahing at all of the things we loved in all of the stores we went to. I bought Brycen two new pairs of shoes, including a size bigger than what he wears now. We had lunch at Chik-fil-A and it was yummy as always. Brycen shared with us and made a mess with the fry dipping. He's such a funny kid. We put Brycen down for his nap and watched the Thursday night TV we'd missed the night before. Tyson got home and we skyped with Amber for about an hour. It was so fun! And really weird for Am to have Mom on this side of the screen instead of on her side. After skyping we decided to go to dinner at Applebee's. We were put on a 25 minute wait, and before we knew it there were people being seated before us who came in after us. Eventually they called our names just to tell us they were waiting for a table that they could put a highchair at. Brycen was getting really restless. By the time we were seated he didn't want anything to do with it. After over 30 minutes of waiting at Applebee's we ended up going to Bajio down the street. Brycen did better there but still threw a fit during dinner. It was kind of a joke. We took him home and got him ready for bed, including a bath. The three of us stayed up and watched TV and visited. The newest episode of Grimm was on and it was awesome. It snowed that night for the first time in the valley this season. It was so pretty.

Saturday

We got ready Saturday morning and left to do some more shopping. We went to JC Penney and took advantage of some coupons we all had. Mom ended up with a new outfit, Tyson a new work shirt, and Brycen some more socks. After JC Penney we went to Applebee's for lunch (tried it again) where Mom treated us. It was yummy and I'm really glad we tried it again. Then we went over to Target to pick up eggs and graham cracker fish for Brycen. We ended up with the eggs, graham cracker Teddy Grahams, and a whole bunch of clearanced Halloween candy. I couldn't believe the variety they had! It was great. We stopped at Sam's as well for Tyson to pick something up. We went home to put Brycen down for a nap and get back into pj's. Tyson, Mom, and I played Wheel of Fortune on the Wii where Mom won $1,024,950 in cash and prizes. She picked up the million dollar wedge throughout the game so we made sure she got to the final round to see if she'd win the million. And she sure did! It was a lot of fun. We made breakfast for dinner that night. We had the cinnamon and sugar pull apart rolls that Mom used to make in the bundt pan when we were growing up, as well as scrambled eggs and sausage. Then we watched Home Alone 2 and laughed and laughed. That movie is awesome!!

Sunday

Grandma and Grandpa came to get Mom at 9:30 Sunday morning. We visited for about 20 minutes before they left. I hated seeing them go. I was trying my hardest to hold back the tears as they were packing up all of my mom's stuff and getting ready to leave. We said our goodbyes, and I didn't feel like I was as genuine as I usually am. I didn't want to cry. As soon as the door shut behind them the tears came. And came. And came. I went to Brycen's bedroom window and watched them pull away. All three of them waved to me as they drove away.

I love my family so much and I'm so grateful for all of them. We had so much fun with my mom while she was here! Lots of fun shopping, eating, laughing...it was a fabulous weekend. I already can't wait for this coming Friday when my parents and Amber come for my cousin Rachael's wedding in Logan. Then after that...Thanksgiving with Tyson's family! Great times lie ahead.

We love you, Mom! Thanks so much for coming and staying with us! And thank you, Grandma, for having the brilliant idea to bring my mom with you this weekend!!