Papa and Nana John Come to Visit

My parents have come out with their grandparents names: Papa and Nana John. They are short. They are memorable. They will do. I think I even like them.

Nana and Papa John after an exhausting weekend with Will

When Will was about to be born my mother and I had many conversations about when they should come and visit us. After long deliberations, it was decided that my parents should visit after we had moved to Kansas City because the week Will was going to be born would be hectic. It was a wise decision.

Will smiles and waves for the camera

My parents flew into Kansas City on Friday morning...but then had to keep on flying on to Wichita due to extreme fog here. There they waited for 3 or so hours until they were cleared to finish their journey. Unfortunately Midwest Airlines does NOT do a sufficient job of updating their flight information, and Carrie had already driven to the airport.

There were some rumors floating around that Will did not have the John pot belly. Let us put those rumors to rest.

But they did arrive in one piece and met Will. They came downtown to my work and met people there while my co-workers also got to meet Will for the first time. That night we went to Arthur Bryant's for BBQ, and it was great. Carrie's pulled pork and my burnt ends were tasty, and it reminded us of when we went there with Meredith and Steven, Ron and Karen. My family is having a biggest loser competition, and we did our part to trick my parents into eating out this weekend as much as possible.

Will sees the light

The next day my father and I put together shelves we had purchased the night before. They are perfect for what we need. Pictures of our apartment will be forthcoming when we get over having a baby around. Hungry with no groceries we had Wendy's for lunch. Then we went to our apartment clubhouse and worked out for awhile and then visited the hot tub and sauna. Will came along and passed out in his space age stroller. This was my second trip to our sauna here, and I have figured out some things:

1. It takes this sahko (electric) sauna a good half and hour or more to heat up to a good temperature.
2. I have to remember to bring my own bowl and ladle for throwing water on the stove. I bring a plastic popcorn bowl and a plastic ladle we use for spaghetti sauce.
   
3. There is a thermostat/breaker above the stove, so if the room gets to warm the sauna stove shuts off automatically. I handle that problem by pouring water on the thermostat so that it stays cooler while the rest of the room approaches what a Finn would consider a normal sauna temperature. Fire codes are for sissies.

Unlike the first time, the sauna got legitimately hot. My father, my lone sauna friend, was a sport and came with me. We burned so many calories just sitting there. After awhile he was done and left, and I dumped the rest of my bowl of water on the stove, and for the first time since I went to sauna in Utah with friends, I really had to mentally persevere to stay in there, which I did until the steam died down. It was heaven.

We finished the night with delicious Papa Murphy's pizza.

In the morning Papa John delighted the crowds with his homemade french toast, made on our griddle which we got when we married but did not take out of the box until Sunday. Sustained by the goodness of the french toast I performed Will's baby blessing at church. It was short and sweet, but I think I got all the important parts, and when I asked the Bishop if it counted he said it was fine.

3 generations of Thomas ... John's: Anthony, Will, and Doug

We finished off Sunday night with a great visit with the Cranes for the healthiest meal of the weekend, lasagna and salad with optional apple crisp.

Will does everything 100%- he cries and plays hard, and looking at this picture he relaxes hard

We spent the holiday morning relaxing. We went out and bought a new table for our dining room/space to replace our card table which will now serve as a studying desk in our room as soon as we can get Will to move out. We ate lunch at Panera, and left for the airport, commenting on how it was still somewhat foggy, which had been the reason for the complications on Friday. Well, their flight had been canceled despite the information on internet (Thanks Midwest!) and now my parents would be leaving in the morning. We ate out one final time at Jose Pepper's for mexican food, who was the son of Dr. Pepper. For those of you keeping track at home, we ate: (1) BBQ at Arthur Bryant's (2) Wendy's (3) Papa Murphy's (4) French Toast (5) healthy lasagna & salad with apple crisp (6) Panera (7) Jose Peppers. I RARELY keep track of the things I eat. I tell you all this because this was all part of our scheme to take my father out of the running for the biggest loser competition. We figure Carrie has a good shot at winning due to Will's recent birth, but my father, due to his years and life experience, may be her biggest rival. Thanks for the visit Dad! Take that!

My parents are great.