Fun With Family and Friends

We've had a good weekend as a family. We were off in all different directions last week and so it's nice to be together again.

When we were at my parents' house, it suddenly occurred to me that we'd never all been so spread out before. Alan was in New Orleans, Kaitlyn in Missouri, Aaron and Lauryn in MN, Bryan in Europe, and we were in TX.

I've enjoyed being with my family during the last couple of days. We were all here, except for Kaitlyn. We missed you, Kate!

Yesterday, Aaron and Lauryn came over. We had an egg hunt, dyed eggs, and cooked dinner. Fun to spend time together doing these things.

As time passes, I treasure time with family more and more. Time with our children and extended family is such a blessing.

When we visited at my parents' house, I just tried to soak it all in and appreciate the time with them and also with my siblings and families.

Here are some photos from our TX trip. Easter photos coming soon.

Here is Jadyn painting with Grandpa. This was cute. I never thought I'd see the day when my Dad does this sort of thing. But, what Jadyn asks for at their house, she gets. :)

Alan's dad came over for a visit that same morning. Here is Jadyn with her other grandpa.

Grandma, reading to Jadyn.

Here is Jadyn with her cousins, Aaron and Thomas. They came for a visit on Wednesday. Aaron and Thomas were adopted domestically, in 2006. My sister told us story after story of their antics. Busy, times two!

Jadyn with Thomas.

"Mom, I picked this for you."

Aaron, in the tree that all of the grandchildren have climbed over the years.

My mom bought Cascarones for the kids to have fun with. Cascarones are confetti-filled eggs and an Easter tradition in Mexican culture. You break them over someone's head and it is said to bring good luck. No photos of Jadyn doing this. She was a little nervous about the whole thing. She later broke hers in the house. There was confetti all through the house, since we all had it in our hair. My mom may be seeing it for a while. :)

Jadyn is playing with her cousin, Kari. Kari is my brother's oldest. She came over for dinner on Wednesday.

We came home on Thursday, and then on Friday, we hosted playgroup at our house. We had 9 families here and we had lots of fun. Visiting, eating, playing, eating some more. It's always so fun to be with this group.