when family comes to town

larry's sister colleen and her family came to visit us right after christmas. we had sooooo much fun with them. their older kids stayed with us and it was such a blast. it's been a few years since we have seen them and the kids have grown so much. so much in fact that they aren't even kids anymore. they are totally like little adults now. and if you want to get to know someone; well, just have them spend a week at your house. we were up till all hours of the night watching movies, playing games and just finding out more about them. it was awesome. and during the day we did some cool stuff as well.

they brought some fabulous tubes with them so sledding was way fun. i don't think i have ever gone down a hill so fast in my life.


lily loved it. and the best part was - it wore her out!

ben was a mad man. i'm hanging on for dear life and he's all but standing up. craziness!

brooke and her friend p* enjoying a little break.

brendan's victory shout as he smoked daniel coming down the hill.

just how many people can you fit on those things anyway???

apparently a lot.

the "big cousins" were so good to our kiddos. they played with them endlessly and were always there to lend a helping hand. i tried to kidnap ryan and have her live with us forever. but wouldn't you know, she'd rather go to college than hang with us. talk about having your priorities out of line ;)