Aunt Bubba Comes To Visit!

As the official hostess for all Mikesell sisters between college semesters, January found us with a nice 2-3 week visit from my baby sister, Bethany. She had just wrapped up her first semester at BYU-I and was killing some time before leaving to go teach English in China. (Side note: I worry a bit about my sisters' choices as far as foreign living arrangements go. Mexico? China? I guess they don't need free English teachers in nice places like Spain or Japan). 

I did my best to entertain the Bubba, but I will admit that three kids (one of whom is a newborn) + frigid temperatures make me a pretty boring tour guide. We did make our first planned visit to Amish country (as opposed to the time we accidentally found ourselves in Amish country trying to pick up a lawnmower off Craigslist). Most of the fun stuff was closed for the winter, but we did find ourselves in a grocery store filled with bulk (cheap) spices and novelty candy. Seth finally found some candy Legos after we'd been searching for a year!

We also braved the crowds to sample a delicious lunch at Shady Maple Smorgasbord. While it was delicious, it's not a restaurant choice I'll be making again with small children. Someone was constantly demanding more food/drink, or demanding desserts once they realized dessert was an option (thanks a lot, Bethany!). 

And this would be the only picture I took of our trip:

So glad we paid good money for Seth to eat macaroni & cheese and cottage cheese, just like at home.

Bethany was an excellent nanny: 

Seth & Catherine loved having someone new around to pester/steal an iPhone from: 

They loved going downstairs to "wake up Aunt Bubba" (I made them wait until after 10 am--I'm a kind and generous soul). By the time she left she had mastered the art of sleeping through their wake-up calls and/or "forgetting" she'd locked her bedroom door the night before. Ah, the life of no responsibility. Enjoy it while it lasts, Bubba Jo! 

It was so nice to have Bubba around to talk with, to help me make dinner, and to help me with the kids during piano lessons/co-op. If nothing else, hanging out with us was a very good reminder that being a parent isn't something to rush into. There is no more effective birth control for a teenager than the daily life of a stay-at-home mom of three. ;)