Whew... deep breath!

I survived! What a crazy, chaotic, fun-filled two weeks! I'm just not used to so much on my schedule every day! Back on Feb. 7th when the Swapps flew into town I knew things would be hectic but wow, I had my eyes opened as to life on a daily basis with 5 kids (2 babies) and 2 businesses... hardly time to breathe. We crammed so much into each and every day and half of the nights as well! We had family, from far and near, here almost 24 - 7. We (some or all of us) crammed as much as possible into the time we had together: snowboarding, sledding, hot tubbing, guitar hero jamming, banjo strumming, bouncing off the walls (at home as well as at the Bouncing center), reading Harry Potter NON STOP, eating non stop, teasing, crying, laughing, playing games, watching movies, sleepovers... and that is just what I can remember.

Heidi and Eric both had to leave to attend their various trade shows and so for 4 days the kids were left in my care. This time with them really reinforced the "it takes a village" mentality because I called on my "village" of support from Cam, LaRane, Clark and Katie! THANKS SO MUCH you guys... you saved our sanity. Once again we realized we're not as young as we sometimes thing we are! I also renewed my respect and admiration for you moms and dads of young families -- this is not an easy life right now!

It was such a treat to have everyone here for this short time and I was even able to accomplish my 2 wishes: 1. we did book our tickets to China for May and 2. we did get a family photo which was a huge accomplishment, especially with 4 babies under 2!

So right now I'm sitting in a totally quiet house, totally missing everyone and so glad that we were able to have this short time together. I have lots of great memories and I hope the kids will remember this time here with fondness as well. Thank goodness for web cams and email so we can still keep in touch. Next it will be our turn to come and invade your territory!