Sunshine Seven Visit

On Friday, July 12th, I flew out with my brother Neal to visit my brother Scott, his wife, Sandra, and his 5 kids (nicknamed the sunshine seven). We hadn't seen Scott and his family for 5 years and were excited to see them. Unfortunately my flight got delayed 2 hours because of severe weather. I was already scheduled to fly into Miami at midnight, but that got pushed back to 2 AM. Neal was a flight ahead of me and had to wait in an airport for almost 5 hours. Poor guy. I called Scott and told him not to wait up for us, but when we pulled in at 3 AM, Scott was up to greet us and then left to deliver some papers. I was reminded through out this trip of my brother's great work ethic. He gives so much to his family and works so hard to make their lives better.

We woke up to cute little girls shyly walking by us sleeping in the front room to get to the kitchen. However, by the end of breakfast, we were best friends.

We spent the morning playing while Sandra got things ready for Caroline's birthday party which was on Wednesday, July 10th.

Here are a few things that we did:

Stella climbed up in her bedroom window seal and told us a story... a few times.

Then Gabi took a turn telling stories in the window seal.

After that we did some role-playing games. Most of them revolved around one of the girls having a baby like their Mommy just did. Of course, there had to be a Daddy (Neal or Me) and some sisters. Amazing how much kids look to their parents as examples!

We then pulled out some presents that we brought and that Mom and Dad sent with us. The girls loved them and played with them the rest of the morning.

With the notepads and pens that the girls were given, we played a game where one of us would write down three words that described us and we would have to figure out how they described them. I have some serious doubts about the validity of some of the words. For example, Gabi wrote quiet on one of her lists.... hmmm, you tell me if you think Gabi looks like a quiet person in this picture.

Sandra got the girls all ready for the birthday party and I took a few pictures of them before we left for the party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Stella - Age 3

She is a sweet girl with a shy side, but with Gabi around she has a bit more courage to come out of her shell (and she gets a bit more wound up). She carried around her blanket and would suck her thumb, still clutching the blanket with the sucking hand (It reminded me a lot of Cambry).

Some quotes:
At breakfast while patting her cereal with her spoon: "Shhh, I can't hear my patting."
After brushing her teeth: "Smell by breath, haaaa [breathes in my face]."
In a prayer: "I love Daddy, he loves me. Then Mommy had a baby and she comes out of her tummy..."

Gabrielle (Gabi) - Age 5

She is very friendly and energetic. She would come up with games and things to do. Even when she was afraid to do somethings she would try anyway.

Some quotes:
"You [me] look like my Dad and you [Neal] look like your Dad."
"I knew this day would come!" as she excitedly held up her prize at Chuck E. Cheese

Caroline - Age 7

The birthday girl! She is a quiet girl and is quite the romantic. She loved stories from me and Neal about our girlfriends (our wives). She was also very nurturing towards her younger sisters.

Some quotes:
"You're too much like kids to be adults" - to me and Neal
"You [me] look just like my Dad, but you're too skinny"

Caroline: "Can you tell me a story about your girlfriend?"
Me: "Do you want to know how I fell in love with my wife?"
Stella: "That sounds good and yummy."

 All three of the middle girls

Isabelle - Age 12

She is soft-spoken and patient with her little sisters. She was Mama's helper while we were there. Her younger sisters loved it when she would play with them.