jeffrey and madi to the rescue

In the Spring, Kevin and I were asked to go on the Priest/Laurel Nauvoo Trip that our Stake does every four years.  We were excited about the idea since neither one of us had ever been there, but we were unsure about who would watch our kids.  Bev initially was going to do it, but with all of Jerry's foot problems, she was unsure about whether that would be feasible since he still needed quite a bit of care. My mom was going to be in Denver with Kimberly and their new baby, and I really didn't want to have different people coming to watch the kids each day.  A few weeks prior, Jeffrey had been in town for school and had jokingly said that he would come watch the kids.  I know he was semi-joking, but Kevin and I talked about whether or not we could really ask him to do such a huge favor.  We determined that we could fly his whole family out, that way he wouldn't have to be away from them, and it could still be somewhat fun.

When we called to ask the favor of all time, he quickly said that he would talk to Madi, but that they were flying to Utah that same week.  They called back within 30 minutes, had figured out a way to change their flights to go straight from Dallas to Utah, and even shortened their trip to Utah in order to watch our kids.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude that they would even consider doing something like that.  Family really is the greatest, and I will forever be grateful for Jeffrey and Madi and their willingness to go out of their way to help us.  Every time I talked to them about it, I was emotional because I was really just so in awe of their sacrifice and grateful that my babies would be in good hands. 

When they arrived, we were so happy to see them all!  Brooke and Ellie gave each other the biggest hug, which melted my heart.  I think Brooke was a little less than patient with Ellie by the end of their trip, but I know she loves her cousin so much!

 We enjoyed a little outing on the boat, and Madi learned how to surf!

 The girls REALLY wanted to have a sleepover, and although I had my doubts, they did fairly good.  It only lasted for one night though, because they have different sleep/wake cycles.

 We took this picture after church to document their crazy life for the next 4 days.  Again, SO grateful for those two.

 We had terrible cell service in Nauvoo, but we tried to FaceTime with the kids at least once a day, and Jeffrey and Madi were awesome about sending pictures so that I could see what they were up to :) They even ventured out to story time at the library, and Chick-fil-A for dinner.

 We came home (at midnight) to this adorable sign, and spent the next hour or so recapping our trip with them.  They were flying out at 4 the next morning, so they really were probably so exhausted after watching 4 kids, 4 and under, for 4 days :)  That's a lot of 4's!