The Arrival

We've been very excited about Lindsey arriving and one of the things I was working hardest on was a gift for her arrival. I'm afraid I didn't do as well as she did, but I'm just not as good at giving gifts as other people are. (So I received a lot of help on this by soliciting advice from all my friends). Anyhow, I thought a canvas bag with her name on it for her to carry her college course books would be helpful. I had her name put on the bag and then we also included books on Texas and Fort Worth, sunscreen, sunglasses, wet wipes, her phone, and a key chain with her name on it and keys to the mini van (Lulu) and a key to the house. Then, I took the kids to Bath & Body Works and they spent about a half and hour with the sales lady (we were the only customers in the store at the time) smelling all the different lotions. She would patiently unscrew the tops and hold each sent up to the kids noses and they would make faces and say "Ew, that smells." or "That's good." Then when they couldn't decide, the sales lady suggested that they give Lindsey a sampler of five different lotions. She showed them a gift set that had five scents in it. They had already smelled all of them, but they insisted on smelling each one from the box set to make sure. They decided that was the right present. We checked out and the sales lady wrapped the gift up special and made Luke carry it. They were precious. They also insisted on a little stuffed dog from Victoria's Secret, so that is in there too.

Last weekend I also made a sign for Lindsey's arrival at the airport so that she could spot us right away. The kids helped by sprinkling glitter all over the letters. (Note to self: Don't ever buy glitter again). So here we are at the airport waiting for Lindsey to disembark. (We left a trail of glitter throughout Terminal E). Little did we know, we were at the wrong gate, her flight had arrived thirty minutes earlier, and she was waiting like a lost orphan with all her luggage on the street about 200 feet down. Sad, I know. Not the impression I wanted to make. Finally, we figured out that we were in the wrong place. She was very patient with us. The kids were silly at first and wouldn't give her a proper hello, but you could tell they were excited.

We took Lindsey out to eat after we picked her up. We ate at Macaroni Grill because I already knew that she likes pasta. She was very patient with us and we had a ton of questions. I don't think she got to eat much because she was answering all our questions. Here she is at the restaurant holding George.


She got us some gifts too and they were all very thoughtful. She got Chuck and me a cookbook. Love it. I read through the whole thing and I'm picking out recipes without cheese so we can cook them. Oh, and it also has a recipe for Champagne Cocktails - a definite must for Champagne Thursday!

For the kids, she went crazy. She got books and activities, including one or two on Robin Hood and Little John. I can't wait to see what the real story is. The absolute best gift, however, we the little soccer outfits she got for the kids. They are the same outfits that the England team wears (the team that Beckham would play for), and to top it off she had their names put on the back! Simply adorable! I'll have to post the picture of their backs later. They weren't very cooperative.



So, we're having a good time and I think she is starting to settle in. The kids are great with her. They showed off for about 24 hours - acting silly for her. Then I walked into the den Saturday afternoon and found Evie curled up in Lindsey's lap watching TV - and Evie was the one I was most concerned about warming up to Lindsey because Evie is so darn shy. Looks like it won't be a problem at all. Then on Sunday, she played board games with the kids for almost two hours! Her patience level clearly outpaces mine.

Gotta get to work, but there's an update for now.