Omi & Opi

My parents came out last week to pay us a visit.  Well, I say pay "us" a visit, but I think they were really in town to meet the little dude.   The picture below may not suggest as much, but Charlie did enjoy all the extra attention.

This is the first time my parents have made it out to NC for an extended visit since we moved here.  They did swing by for less that 24 hours when they came for Laynie's graduation two Summers ago.  Wanting to encourage this type of behavior, we did our best to show them a good time.  We took them to our favorite restaurants. We visited local points of interest.  We went on a shopping spree.  We went to the movies. We introduced my mom to the game "Words with Friends."  We watched a couple BYU basketball games. But mostly we let my mom play with Charlie while my dad cat-napped on the couch. 

The focal point of my parents' visit was to be present for Charlie's big day on Sunday.  As is customary in the Mormon faith, Charlie was presented to the congregation and given a name and a blessing.  Charlie's blessing was a special experience and we were privileged to have my dad, Sean, Jordan, and Tyler assist in the administration of the blessing.  Sean and Ashley were also having their daughter, Hailey, blessed the same day and we had the good fortune of having Sean's parents in attendance too.  Even our Catholic friends, Fern and Rachel, came in from Durham to be there.  It was a great day.

With so many parents around, we coordinated a dinner the night before (coincident with my 31st birthday) and invited everybody to be there.  Who knows, the next time Sean's parents and my parents get together for dinner may be at Charlie and Hailey's wedding...

They say all good things must eventually come to an end and we did eventually have to take Omi and Opi back to the airport and say our goodbyes.  The house is a little quieter with them gone (but not much, old people don't make that much noise anyway).  We can't wait to see them again in June. 


But our home won't be empty for long. We actually have a lot of family members who are now interested in coming out to North Carolina to visit us.  I didn't know one of the fringe benefits of having a kid was that one instantly becomes more popular with the family.  We are looking forward to upcoming visits from Cami's parents and two of her sisters.