It's always fun when Grandpa comes...

We had a visit from Grandpa Howell a couple of weeks ago! He had been at a trade show in NYC, so he decided to drive down and spend a few days with us before going home. It was so fun to have him here! Jaden loved having his "bampa" around to read him lots of stories and play with LOTS of cars. 

The first night Stan was here, we met up with a new family in our ward for a fun night of bowling. It was Jaden's first experience and he loved it...for the first game anyway.

Grandpa got put to work on several projects during the week. The first one was haircuts!

Project #2 was "Teach Audrey How to Make Bread Using a Natural Yeast Start." Oh. My. Goodness. Steve's dad is the king of baking with sourdough and natural yeast. He brought me out a natural yeast start and taught me how to feed and bake with it. It probably deserves its own post for another day, but wow, there is so much you can learn about and do with natural yeast. We're trying to convince him to write a book. I'll give you a teaser and just say that gluten intolerant people CAN EAT BREAD made with natural yeast instead of instant yeast. It's amazing and I'm excited to get started. Now I just need a Bosch...if you know where I can get one for less than $400, let me know... ;) 

Project #3 was fun, as well. My friend Heather had posted on her blog awhile back about how they made beds for their girls using free furniture plans from Ana White. I had been looking through that site and thought it would be fun for Steve and me to try a simple DIY headboard for our guest bedroom. Steve kind of looked at me like he wasn't sure if he should take me seriously. :) However, when Stan came out I mentioned the idea to him and he said that he had actually designed a headboard for one of their guest rooms but never built it. We looked at Ana White's plan, compared it with his, then came up with something kind of in the middle. It took about 6 trips to Lowes, but ended up being a really fun and fast project. I still need to put one more coat of white paint on it so it's not in the bedroom and picture-worthy yet, but I love how it has turned out so far.

Jaden had some projects for Grandpa, too, like having Grandpa teach him how to pedal his bike, buy him special gummy bears, and have Grandpa babysit and have a special "Cars 2" night so Mommy and Daddy could go on a date. 

Sunday was St. Patrick's Day and Steve and I were SWAMPED at church. Stan made us crock pot corned beef and cabbage AND Irish soda bread. Oh man, it was divine. I managed to throw in shamrock shakes for dessert so he didn't have to do everything. It was a fun holiday and then we said goodbye to him that night so he could drive back up to Newark and fly home early Monday morning. 

Such a fun time with Grandpa! We hope you can come back again soon!!