Girl time!

For the past two weeks (with one more week to go!), my mom has been visiting, keeping us company while Ben is gone. It's been a special time, as we don't get this chance very often living far apart, so we've been enjoying every minute of mom-daughter-granddaughter bonding :)

First thing that had to happen according to my mom was to finally get me a real tea pot (we've noticed that a lot of Americans get this confused with a tea kettle - used for boiling water - and very much a different thing from a tea pot ;) ), so we can have our tea and treats every afternoon. We also went shopping one day in FtCollins - mostly old town - which was so much fun! Unlike when I go shopping with Ben, I could finally take my time trying things on (over and over and over again ... ), and even ended up with a dress! In the evenings we've been having fun cooking tasty dinners and eating together. I even tried my hand at grilling antelope steaks (we all know that the grill is a man's realm), which turned out delicious - yes, I'm pretty proud.

Last Monday through Thursday morning I had booked us a cabin in the snowies, and we planned to explore the snowy range area and hike. However, we all know now that winter decided to poke its head around the corner at that time, and with it being especially windy, snowy and cold at higher elevation, we just enjoyed a few days of relaxing, reading and having more tea and sweets :) We did get to see three big moose on one of our little walks though!

Our cabin. (On one of the last days, when the sun had returned, and most of the snow had started to melt)

My mom in the snowies (Bryan family, we can explain how my mom ended up in a Huskers coat :) ..... )

Grandma and Andi snuggling in a little chapel on a hill.

Mom and Andi in the cabin.

I guess the only bonus for Andi now that her dad is not here is that there is room in her Mom's bed! Lately I've been having to get up with her several times a night, and in our small one-room cabin it was just more convenient to have her sleep with me. Pretty cozy too if you ask me! :)

My mom (and Andi too I'm sure) has also been enjoying watching Andi every now and then while I go out for a walk with Sage, or take a nap, or whatever else. Thursday night, my mom watched Andi while I went to the ladies bible study, and even though my mom and Andi had a lot of fun together singing songs, and playing and cuddling, when I came home and Andi saw me, she got so excited, and smiled and stretched out her little arms at me and was just wiggling! This had never really happened before, and I admit, it made me feel pretty special :)

Some more Andi updates: like I said in my previous post, I've been working on teaching Andi how to eat :) First up was more of the rice cereal, but that started to make her gag, and I don't blame her - that stuff tastes like walpaper paste. Because I didn't want her to become a sweet tooth from the start, I figured I try vegetables next, starting wit carrots. I thought we were off to a good start, but soon she would frown even at the sight of her bib (does she know what's coming?), and would gag, really gag after the first tastes. We have since tried squash, and sweet potatoes, and though the latter is slightly more appealing to her, she still doesn't think much of this veggie thing. This morning I finally caved, and gave her some sweet bananas - she sure likes those alright! I guess it's in her genes, and she is destined to become a sweet tooth like her mom! (I asked my mom to bring my baby book along, and pretty much every entry in there it says things like: "Wiesje likes her sweets, and wishes she could have lollipops and candy for breakfast" ... oh boy)

Andi is so excited about eating solid food.....

Talking with my girl.