Chez Gotfredson

We have had a wonderful week! My family...that is parents, Cat, Matt, Rachel and both my grandmothers came to visit us for an extended weekend. As they drew near on Friday night, Mike and I finished last minute preparations for their arrival. I must admit, I was pretty impressed with us. We had two queen airbeds and a futon set up in the basement, a twin double-high airbed in Maggie's room, and a twin airbed in the family room upstairs for Matt. Our hotel was ready for visitors.

My family enjoyed seeing Maggie and Paola as well as a few of the surrounding sights and we enjoyed spending time with them.

Here are a few highlights:

Saturday, Rachel participated in the town Easter egg hunt at Wallace Park. Then we all spent some time at the park and Mike took interested visitors on a walking tour of Paola.

Easter Sunday, we had a stake conference broadcast. We heard from Elder Snow, Sister Lifferth, Elder Oaks, and President Monson for the second week in a row. Again, much was learned. Here is a picture of Rachel, Maggie, and Mike in their springy Easter attire.

After church, we enjoyed a terrific Easter dinner, complete with Costco ham (which pleased my dad, the Costco fanatic/employee), garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and my mom's yummy curried carrots. We relaxed after dinner: some napped while my brother enjoyed wheeling and dealing my grandmothers and Rachel in a rather questionable game of Monopoly. Then we had an Easter cake, dyed some eggs, and read the Easter story before bed.

Easter Monday, we woke up to treats from the Easter bunny. Maggie got a couple sweets for her parents to eat, a board book about cookies, her first toothbrush and tooth cleanser, and some coloring materials. Her Easter bunny is kind of lame, however, I did catch her popping a few M&M's anyway. And Grandmommy gave her a darling stuffed bunny for Easter as well! Here is a picture of her and Uncle Matt with the kids' Easter goodies.


Later, we went to Liberty Jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was unjustly imprisoned with some fellow church leaders for several months. As Liberty is Mike's home town, we visited with his mom while we were there and she treated us to a lovely lunch.

Tuesday was our last day together. We visited Independence and saw some church history sites there and then went into Kansas City for a visit to Hallmark headquarters and their kid-friendly creation station, Kaleidoscope. The rest of us checked out the visitor's center while Rachel created.

Afterwards, we had lunch in a nearby park. Here is a shot of Maggie and her grandpa. Maggie really loved being held by Grandpa. One evening in particular she would go to no one else! Until Grandmommy came on the scene. Maggie did go to her without complaint.

Too soon Wednesday morning came and it was time to say good-bye. Here are a few more shots:

Maggie and her "Great"-Grandmothers Wanlass and Mayse

Aunt Cat and Maggie making Maggie's new signature "ooh" face (which Maggie covered with her fist at last second)

Saying good-bye to Uncle Matt and his hat

Now as we find ourselves the proud owners of four empty airbeds we find ourselves wondering: Who will be our next visitors? Maybe you! Give us a call, we'd love to have you!!