Happy 2012....and a new baby!

     Blogging gets put aside as the Christmas season progresses...so much to do and never enough time!  Well, we were stopped dead in our tracks this year...we had a new grandbaby coming on Dec. 27th!  We took Wrigley to the doggy hotel and left for the cities on Dec. 23rd.  We played with kids, celebrated Christmas Eve services, spent Christmas morning with little ones...and welcomed our 10th grandchild and 4th granddaughter, Olivia Basil, on December 27th.  She will forever celebrate her birthday during the Christmas season, but I think she'll have no problem with that!  Here's a photo montage of our week....

We attended Christmas Eve services with our son and family at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, listening to Leith Anderson preach his last evening before his retirement.  Very moving service.

Captured a photo after church of Sam's family...before baby's arrival 3 days later!

Spent Christmas morning and day with these munchkins and their parents.  We don't deserve this much fun!

     On Tuesday, Dec. 27th, we arrived early to take care of our grandkids while Sam & Roz left for the hospital....Olivia Basil arrived that evening, surprising us all with who she was...her gender was a surprise to everyone, except probably the doctor!

I got to hold her within an hour or so of her arrival....love those fresh babies!

While Roz was in recovery, Sam & I took Olivia to their room and checked out all her teeny little parts.  She was perfect...of course!

Note the Daddy's face...he's mesmerized yet again by his fourth little one!  So cute!

Big sister, Monica, got her own "newborn" baby from Mommy when we went to visit her new sister.  She was very excited and aptly named her "Baby Weeva"  as she called her sister.  Ben, 5, was so in love when he met his new baby.  Lucien is here...but more interested in his Mom's tubes and wires!

Ben & Lucien introducing Papa to their new baby sister.

We are blessed to be grandparents to Olivia...and 9 more little blessings!

"Little Sister" trying to wake up and see the world...

I'm not saying anyone was tired on the trip home from the hospital, but....

We had a ball with these 3 kids for the 4 days their Mommy & Daddy were in the hospital.  I brought my pink DS, which is always a treat for Ben & Lu...the microwave timer was our new best friend...setting 10 minutes and letting the boys share play time and their sister content to sit and watch.

Sometimes electronics just do their thing when a Nana needs time to clean the kitchen or get dinner ready!

     We left our little charges and drove home on New Year's Eve, hitting a "warp speed" snowstorm when we were an hour from home.  It was beautiful and a rare sight this winter....

I captured this "blue" snowfall when we arrived home...breathtaking...and we were glad to be home!

I can't end this post without sharing our 3 kids up north!  They celebrated Christmas with their other Papa & Nana.  We will have our family Christmas next week with everyone...and I hope to get a picture of all 10 grandkids!  Stay tuned....