Grandparents!

My mom and dad and little sister came to visit over this last weekend. My boys had been looking forward to it for so long. They began counting down the days a week before they came. "How many more days until Grandma and Grandpa come, mom?"
It was great having them here. It sure is easier to keep up with my laundry when my mom is here to do it for me! :-)
We did lots of things-- went to see the Percy Jackson movie, ate at Rudy's, planted a vegetable garden in some backyard containers, went to the lake, made cookies, my mom and dad took the boys canoeing on Town Lake, took Ben and I to eat while my sister babysat, and played games and had great conversations. Ben and I did our best to tempt them to move to Texas.
Eva just turned 16, which freaks me out. She was born in January of my senior year in high school. She was only 3 years old when Ben and I got married. I think it's hard for her to be an only child. Funny how the grass is always greener on the other side... I think there were times when I was growing up that I thought a few less people around would be nice. :-) (Just kidding, I loved having a bunch of siblings, and I think I probably enjoyed the babies more than any of my other brothers or sisters).
One of my favorite things has been watching my younger sisters and brothers grow up and become peers of mine. Eva is almost there. She has 2 more years of high school, and I know it seems like a million years for her. Youth is wasted on the young, right? I wish the years would slow down a little for me.

Here are some pictures:


Mosey being a goof at the lake park. He gets in these silly moods, and can't stop giggling. If he were to be a villain in a Batman movie, he'd be called "The Giggler" for sure.


Here I am with my pretty baby sister. Picture courtesy of Mosey.


We made Valentine's cookies on Valentine's Day-- really the only celebration we did this year. I'm such a boring mom. I actually enjoy the Valentine's festivities, it is a fun holiday for kids before things get all messy and complicated with girlfriends and crushes and all of that stuff. I'll do better next year.

Anyway, Mosey did some of this:



But really, a lot more of this:



And this:



And this:



Everyone was just a bit hopped up on sugar by the end of the evening. And I've had a rather hard time disciplining myself from reaching into the box of cookies every time I passed them in the kitchen for the past few days. Thank goodness they're all gone now!



Joseph enjoying the fruits of his labors.

As usual, it is fun seeing the different styles my boys have. Here's Brigham very meticulously decorating his cookies:



And here's my beautiful Eva showing them how it's done. She didn't want me to take any pictures of her, but she's crazy because look how gorgeous she is!!



While my dad was here, he did some long-awaited tasks around the house, including cutting a new board to put in our bathroom under-sink cabinet where a slow leak rotted the old one away. The boys went out to "help" him cut it, and I peeked out to see them all standing in a row like this, plugging their ears and watching my dad. So funny!


I'm such a loser and didn't get ANY pictures of my boys with my parents. I meant to send my camera with them when they went canoeing on the lake, but forgot that, too. Oh well, they'll just have to come back really soon to make up the photo-op!

I have the best parents in the world, and I'm so lucky to be married to a guy who loves them as much as I do. For the last few days since they left, he's said to me at various random times, "I really like your parents." Awww... So do I!