sweet home colorado: "Auntie Day!!!!!!"

Auntie Mal came to town!

Yippee!

Our boys could not have been any more excited to have her here! They were counting down the days until "Auntie Day!"

Of course we had lots of fun adventures while she was here, but this first post is dedicated to some pictures from our time just around the house.

Grandpa sent a special car for each of the boys along with Mallory. These simple, thoughtful things are SO my Dad! The boys love him so!

Mallory got in late Wednesday night, so the boys were happy to find her at our house when they woke up Thursday morning! Nolan went to school for the morning so we hit the park with Ella. Auntie Mal is much more adventurous with the swings. Mommy is a chicken and doesn't push as high. So Heathy and Ella had a blast flying high and laughing hard!

She is also such a good sport...running all over the park and crawling in tunnels with the kids.

I worked that afternoon, so the boys got to stay home with Auntie Mal in charge and nap in their own beds for a change!

That evening we took our guest to our family's favorite restaurant for dinner...

IHOP! or as the boys call it, "Pancake World"!

The boys sure love their syrup...oh and the pancakes too! Ha!

The next day we went to McDonalds for dinner...only the finest dining for our guests! We are so in this stage of life! But hey, it works for our busy boys- food they like and a fun place to run off some energy!

After McDonalds, we took our boys to a place they have been begging us to go...

PetsMart!

They were so excited to FINALLY get a family pet!

We had promised Nolan that when we moved into a bigger house that we could get a pet fish. He has been asking for it for the past 2 months since we moved in. And today was the day his dream would come true.

It was funny when we got there that he didn't really understand that he was only getting ONE fish, he thought he could take home one of the whole big tanks behind him. And he wasn't really that into picking out the one specific fish that would become ours. He said, "I just want a fish Mommy, I don't care which one." He was more into picking out the other things to put inside the bowl with his fish. We decided on a Beta because they are low maintenance. He and Daddy picked out this blue one with red on his fins.

All the way home we brainstormed names for our newest family member. Here are a few that we tossed around: Vada' the Beta, Luke (Skywalker), Percy, and Manning (Peyton).

When we got home the boys enjoyed watching Daddy get the water, rocks, and bowl ready.

Nolan also picked out this little starfish guy to put at the bottom of the bowl.

And theres our guy...Solo Jansen!

(As in Hans Solo...the boys are in a little bit of a Star Wars craze right now!) It's funny, but we all really do kind of love him! And you know me, I AM NOT an animal person. The boys check in on him when they pass by and Mark worries over the water and the food. It's so cute!

Nolan feeding his first pet!

On Saturday, Mal and I got mani-pedis as a late birthday present to me! It was a fun afternoon out. "You Don't Know Jacque"was the color of choice.

While Auntie was here the boys each got a special treat...

Heathy got a new "Zurg" since his old one has broken into a bunch of pieces and has been glued together over and over again.

And Nolan got a "Box of Boogers"! Mallory sure knows his sense of humor!

A few other fun things they did together while she was here...

Mallory took Nolan to see Finding Nemo in 3D! She's sporting Nolan's Nemo 3D glasses in this pic!

They also made this jet pack! It was so cute to watch Nolan perfectly place each strip of tape to cover the bottles and to see them work together to create the flames. Then he told Auntie what buttons to put on it. He came up with the "Excited" button and Heath added the "#2" button. They had fun racing around the house after we "pushed" the buttons!

The last two nights Nolan & Heath had sleep overs in the basement in her bedroom. They actually slept pretty good in their sleeping bags!

Brooks got a lot of snuggle time with Auntie as well. He loves to smile for her camera!

We sure had a great time during her visit...she is at such a special time in her life where she can devote so much love and time to our boys. They are such lucky and thankful recipients! We can't wait to return the favor some day!!!