We Miss Kyle!

Keith’s brother, sister-in-law, and niece just returned from a mission trip to Haiti.  While Kevin, Leanne, and Jessica were gone, Kyle came and stayed with us…and we LOVED it!

We shared him with Grandma and Papa, but I think we would have been glad to selfishly keep him all to ourselves!  Kyle was so good, helpful, and fun to have around!

He is SO good with our little boys!  Kyle is patient, creative, and fun with the little ones.  Alex even fell asleep one night happily saying Kyle’s name over and over again, “Ky-wol, Ky-wol, Ky-wol” and when he woke the next morning, Kyle’s name was the first word out of his mouth!  Alex LOVED having his big cousin stay with us!

These pictures showed up in random order, but here are some of their adventures:

Kyle reading Alex a bedtime story 

making pancakes together one morning

Lots of wrestling!

morning playtime (still in pajamas) on the new swingset

Kyle & Max doing “So Big” together at breakfast… 

…which is a very tiring game for a 10 month old ;)

video games in the bonus room

there were several nights when I barely saw Keith or Kyle after the little boys went to bed – they just hung out upstairs together!

 

Driving Lessons (?!)

There’s a video to go along with this one…I’ll try to post it this weekend!

Football in the yard

Driving up to visit Nana and take her to Steak & Shake

 

Nana & her 3 great grandsons

 

Swimming at Uncle Jim’s house on the 4th of July
These are all the great-grandkids, minus Jessica.
(Oh, and Keith & Kari to hold the little ones)   

Grandma also took Kyle and Alex back to Uncle Jim’s house a few days later, but I have no pictures of that…

  

Alex learned about water balloons, water guns, and hoses.
(And I learned what happens when Kyle gets a hose of icy-cold water near his Aunt Dawn.  BRRR!)

   

ALL the grandparents came over one night, and we pulled out the little pool for the boys…

Kyle got to be here to see Max learn to stand up and to crawl!

 

Alex invented a new game called Belly Buttons.  He asks Kyle to “open his shirt”, and then Alex places his belly button against Kyle’s belly button.  I’m not sure what purpose this serves other than making Alex happy.  (Word of warning: it’s not limited to just Kyle.  If you come to our house, there’s a good chance that Alex will ask you to “open your shirt”.)

 

A little relaxing & TV watching…

 

Guitar “Jam” sessions with Kyle & Alex

  

a backyard fire one night, with s’mores and…uh…wrestling?
Jessica was here last summer, and we had a very similar night in the backyard…only Jessica stayed in her chair, chatted, and roasted marshmallows.  Kyle ran in circles, pummeled Keith to the ground, and shouted a lot.  Oh, the differences between boys and girls!

   

Kyle even helped me to get things ready for preschool VBS at church one day.  What a help that was, to not worry about 2 little boys while getting the preschool room ready for the week.  Thanks, Kyle!

Grandma & Papa did some more creative things, like taking Kyle to the movies and to Indiana Beach.   We kind of stuck to the simpler things, because of our little ones. 

WHAT A JOY it was having him here!  We’re so thankful that we got to enjoy him while the rest of his family served in Haiti.  I think it’s a week we’ll remember for a long time to come!  I know Alex won’t soon forget it.  Thanks for being such a fun big cousin, Kyle!