Two Times the Fun =)

Yes, yes.  It's true!  The twins came to visit and it was such a special treat!!  Dave and Rach were able to make the trek out to Colorado with 5.5 month old babies in tow, and we are so thankful we got to spend some time with them =)  Here are a few highlights:

They got in to town late on Friday night.  Marc and I knew mom and dad would be hungry, and the kiddos would be pooped, so we had a few snacks available for them.

Who would like a cookie?

...or an adult beverage?

Our spread of snacks for the hungry parents.  That bruscetta is courtesy of yours truly - we canned it over the summer and were able to enjoy it now!

Uncle Marc and Dominic - look at that adorable face!!

Sweet baby girl.

Hi Renata!

Polly was quite curious - not the best picture but had to show you - she stood on her hind legs for several minutes trying to get a better look at Domonic

Again - not the best picture quality - but Polly is checking out Renata.  The picture reminds me of what pictures looked like in the 60's...

This was Polly's first time around babies of any kind.  We were kind of nervous about how she would handle infants, but she was insanely well behaved!  She was mostly just curious - new sounds and new smells galore.  I was incredibly impressed with how calm and gentle she was.  There were a few "face licking" incidents, but we tried to keep those to a minimum.  It was mostly just sniffing and setting her head down close to the cutie pies =)

On Saturday, we spent most of the day lounging and letting Dave and Rach relax.  Plus, Aunt Nicole and Uncle Marc wanted some play time with Dominic and Renata, so we were a little selfish and hogged them to ourselves =)  We spent the day with lots of snuggles and bouncies =)  Can I just tell you that little baby laughter is like heaven to my ears??  I couldn't get enough - what a beautiful sound!

Bah - it's blurry.  But what a sweet face!

Okay in this one, Dave's face is precious =)

Polly just wanted to rest her head on Dominic's cute little tummy.

Hey baby girl!

Polly scoping out Dave and Renata.

Touchdown!  Snow rules!

Sweet girl - Mommy is making funny faces behind the camera.

Uncle Marc - I am not amused...

Say what???

Aunt Nicole - stop hesitating and feed me!

Saturday night, we decided to be brave and head out to dinner at Barolo, a fun little Italian place just down the street from our house.  Dinner was yummy, but there were definitely a few "meltdown preventions" taking place.  I think the time change and the disrupted schedule was definitely taking a toll on Dominic and Renata, but once they calmed down, dinner was a breeze.

The grown-ups at dinner.  Can you tell they're brothers??

Sunday, we woke up and decided to head to our favorite breakfast spot, Waffle Brothers.

Getting the kiddos bundled up for our walk.  How adorable is that cover-up?

This thing is insane...

Here's our crew - rollin' rollin' rollin'...

 

We made it!  The pictures look more dramatic than it was.  It was 60 degrees outside and about a half a block away =)  Well worth the walk!

Sunday night, we headed out to Rachel's sisters house for dinner.  Kind of a funny story, but Rachel's sister got a job out in Denver earlier this year, so the whole Lauchli family moved to town from Bloomington (they used to live in the same town as Dave and Rach).  That's actually the reason Dave and Rach came to visit - Lauren and Mark had the whole family in town for Christmas in Vail - so they came out early to spend the weekend with us, and then met up with Rachel's family to do their Christmas.

This was the first time that Dave and Rach had seen Lauren's girls in almost 6 months.  They were both so excited to see Jane, Avia and Caroline after so long (they used to see each other almost every day!) and I won't lie - I got a little emotional at their reunion.

Big Jane, Little Jane, and Avia seeing Renata for the first time.

 

Beautiful girls!

All the cousins!

Together for the first time - Bahh so mad it's blurry!!

Also, Rachel's other sister, Natalie, is pregnant!  It was just such a joy to be around the whole "Barnhill" family and we were excited to see everyone (we hadn't seen her side of the family since their wedding a few years ago!).  After dinner, the girls got to do their Christmas before heading up Vail the next day.

Nat and Dominic

Practicing for Baby Blake!

Lauren and Mark's home is immaculate.  Check out the dinner spread!!  We did NOT leave hungry - that's for sure =)

All the girls.  Jim has a much better shot of this one =)

Jane and Baby Caroline - how sweet is she??

 

Opening presents!  I love Avia's face in this one =)

...and now Caroline.  Too cute!!

Pop playing the piano while girls open gifts.

Men holding babies =)

Caroline looks hesitant...

Okay...I guess I'll open this huge gift that is bigger than me!

Hah!  I love this - Miles holding Dominic and Dave is about to tickle monster him!!

Miles is practicing being a daddy for Baby Blake =)

I totally want a grown up version of this toy!

Jane got ice skates!  I also wanted a pair =)

Miles, Dominic, and Jim - our fancy photographer =)

How cute!  I a polar bear onesie for Dominic =)

And a sweet winter outfit for Renata.

 

We were sad to leave Lauren and Mark's house on Sunday night, but the time had come =)  Marc and I had to get home and finish packing since we were flying to Pittsburgh to be with Marc's family for Christmas.  The other exciting part?  Dave and Rach are coming too!  Yep, that's right - they spent a week in Vail with her family, flew home on Thursday, and drove out to Pittsburgh on Friday to be with Marc and Dave's side of the family for Christmas.  Quite the crazy schedule, but I won't complain about getting to see the twins again =)

But that will be a separate update =)  Hope everyone is having a fabulous week and Merry Christmas to all!