Easter

Our neighbors to the south, Joe and Anya and their family, are leaving next month. So we planned a last, Texas, Easter, hurrah get together. It was wonderful. We got to do everything with them that we wanted to, and it was great to be with family over a holiday.

They came on Saturday, and the kids first took them out to the woods to explore. The kids did crafts and ran around the yard. We also toured the house and had hot dogs for dinner. After that, we went to the dog park and got Andy's frozen custard, picked up and delivered by Aaron. Joe and Anya and their kids appreciated our favorite local treat like we hoped they would. And the weather was beautiful. The cloud of mosquitoes and gnats that descended upon us on our walk home on the trail was less pleasant, but we made it through.

Woodland Explorers

Joe in our tree. I zoomed in a lot, so it looks weird. 

At the dog park

The dog part of the dog park

That night, we put the younger kids to bed and then filled up plastic eggs with candy. Anya was very organized with each kid having a certain basket color and egg color, so that nobody fights over who found what egg first. The older girls are getting so mature and are fun to talk to.

Before church, we squeezed in some egg-dying. Fun for all ages!

After church, we made a ton of food (turns out 12 people don't need 72 dinner rolls) and had the egg hunt. We also got some cute pics of the kids in their Sunday best. Even the dog had an Easter dress:) Then we ate all the food and talked and played some more. It was a perfect day.  

Aaron is in the bishopric now. He was called, then it was general conference, then normal church, then Easter. So we had that one normal church day and by Easter Sunday I was already like, "Oh, it's SO wonderful to have you home with no extra meetings!" Clearly, I need to build up my meeting stamina. 

Joe and Anya and their kids are so great. We have been really blessed to live close to them. They are so fun and easy to talk to. They have such strong testimonies. They make you feel loved and happy when you are with them. They are humble and kind and generous. We are excited for their new adventures and will truly miss them.   

Grandma and Grandpa McCombs!

I really, really needed my parents to come and see me. I'm so glad they were willing to drive hours and hours "on their way" home from their mission to see us in Texas. I looked forward so much to their visit, and it was just as great as I hoped it would be.

It was wonderful to hear about their mission. They had so many great experiences in just the eight months they were there. I think they really made a difference. I'm grateful to be related to such amazing, capable, spiritual people who want to share their time and love and efforts with others. Including us! I love talking to my parents. We have wonderful conversations about interesting topics. And they are always invest a lot of time and energy into building relationships with my kids. I love that!

We took them to the Zilker Botanical Gardens. Saw lots of cool fish and flowers and had a picnic, which was apparently against the rules. Dad had a wheelchair due to his need for a hip replacement. 

We also rode the Zilker Zephyr again. We'd done it before with our Dennis grandparents. It was just as fun the second time around! Scotty's allergies have passed, so he was able to enjoy being outside. Annie was also so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa watch her play volleyball. And her team won the game!

Here's my dad playing ball with the kids, in spite of his bad hip.

Grandma and Grandpa also played lots of game and bought Annie and Scotty a bunch of delicious ice cream. We ate Torchy's and Rudy's. We watched movies. Grandma was the sewing queen. She altered dresses and skirts for me and Annie. They also got to come to church with us, and mom and I painted bluebonnets at a RS activity. It was really so nice to have them here. I felt like a well-watered plant after their visit. And having them come, having visitors, made our house feel more like a home. Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad! You're the best!