A good kind of crazy ...

We had so much fun yesterday at our house! I tumbled into bed last night at about 10:30, after Grandpa Jones and I somewhat cleaned up the place, and slept like a rock ... until almost 9:00 this morning, a very rare thing for me! Which is why I am so tardy about posting these pictures ...

Look at Rachel! Doesn't she look great?
She had an emergency C-section LESS than 2 weeks ago!

If you have ever been to our house, you know how it is laid out and you also know that it is NOT a large house by any means ... all of the rooms in it are quite small actually. Grandpa Jones and I like it that way because now that we are mostly alone, the house is kind of cozy and never feels like it is a big old empty house. However, there are times when cozy isn't quite what we need around here! SPACE would be most welcome! It's OK, though, because ... it is what it is! So we make do with what we have ~ but honestly, if you could have taken a movie of yesterday ... it would most certainly remind you of a three-ring circus!
Little Lottie-girl is just as cute as a bug ... that smile of hers could melt the hardest heart, don't you think? She is 16 months now and just ... beautiful!

Nathan is 4-1/2, the oldest of this band of Joneses. He seems very unphased by all of the hustle and bustle that goes with having three younger siblings. He likes to play with all of our trains upstairs as well as the cars and trucks in the basement playroom. He's not at all shy. He walked right up to Aunt Emily and introduced himself ~ "Hi, I'm Nathan Paul!"
This is not a great picture of Nia, but she is such a darling. She decided to "hang out" with me yesterday and designated my place at the table ... right next to hers! And now and then she would take me by the hand and pull me where she wanted to go. I remember another little granddaughter who used to do that with me ... so many years ago now.
We served dinner at 6:00, but most everyone arrived at about 2:00 in the afternoon. We just played and "snacked" while dinner was cooking.
Look at those darling dimples! With her beautiful smile, I think Lottie could be the poster-child of happiness.
And here is "Aunt" Emily holding pint-sized (literally) baby Liam, who is having a yawn.
Ah ... here's a better picture of Nia. I could look at her little face forever. She stole my heart yesterday with her sweet little ways of talking and cuddling ... we even enjoyed a nice dance together later in the evening ... very sweet.
Baby Jeremiah was there, completely outnumbered by his cousins. He took it all in stride. I think he was totally entertained watching the craziness of our day.
This is a not good picture of Kelly and Dylan ... but they were here for dinner and I snapped this picture right when they had taken big bites of food ... bad timing on my part. It was so nice to have them here! Kelly made us a delicious and healthy and beautiful salad (no picture, sorry). It was great to introduce Kelly to more of the family!

Our ham was succulent and yummy. The meat balls were delicious! We had cheesy potato casserole, broccoli and cauliflower in cheese sauce, salads, vegetable pizza, garlic bread ...
And remember? It was Emily's birthday! She opened her presents, we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and then we ate a bunch of desserts ... Emily shared some fabulous cakes from her family celebration the prior day ...

Our long-time family friends, Tom and Judy, were here to meet some new family members. This is Nathan showing Tom the beautiful book that was especially made for him ...
There is nothing deeper than the joy of having family here, sharing a meal, hearing about what's going on in each others lives, laughing together, watching the babies, playing with the grandchildren ... I woke up this morning absolutely contented! Emily and Jeremiah stopped by for awhile this afternoon. I'll show you some pictures very soon!