Spring

I have always loved the Springtime and the events that take place...moving activities to and enjoying the outdoors, softball season, Memorial Day weekend, and the excitment and events that come with the end of a school year. Since moving to Phoenix, spring has become my favorite time of year. The weather is so beautiful and if you know me, you know I love Sunshine!! This time of year is great for us because it attracts and encourages our family to come and visit and we love that! We have had lots of fun with our visitors the past month and we want to tell them Thank You and Come Back Soon!!

I got one of the coolest surprises of my life one Friday night. Alan and I had just sat down on the couch to relax after a very busy day. I heard a knock at the door...Alan went to answer it and then yelled, "Jennie, it's one of your friends." So I get up and walk to the door and there at my front door is Jake and Natalie both with cameras capturing my surprised expression!

As I think back, there were plenty of hints that visitors were on there way that I should have clued in on....

Clue #1 Jake called to talk with Alan, but not much chit chat for me

Clue #2 That Friday afternoon as Alan and I drove home from the temple, Alan states, "Our house is a mess! We've got to clean when we get home!" Since when does Alan really care? Besides, our kids had been gone all day and the only thing that was really a mess was the fact that I started painting the boys room, so everything for their room was out in the family room.

Clue #3 After t-ball, Alan starts picking up, vacuuming and moving the mattresses from the family room onto the deck. Even though he hadn't eaten since breakfast, he skipped dinner to clean. This should have been a huge clue

Clue #4 Friday evening, Alan went outside to take a phone call on his cell

Clue #5 After the phone call, Madelyn comes inside and asks, "what does 10 minutes to cotton mean?" I looked at Alan and said, "If someone was planning to come and visit you WOULD tell me, right?" His response, "of course but noone is coming to visit." Yes, this should've not only been a clue, but a dead giveaway!

We all enjoyed a spring training baseball game, especially the warm sunshine. Jake and Nat especially because they had left snow in Cedar City and came to 90 degrees and sunny!

Jake and Natalie were so good to entertain and play with the kids. They played cards, took them on walks and to the park. They are so much fun and some of coolest people we know! Thanks for coming...you can surprise us anytime!

The Squire family was our next visitors who came a couple weeks later over Easter weekend. Alan's sister Annette her husband Ralph and their cute four kids, Tyler, Amie, Nate and Russell. Our kids were so excited to have some of their Cox cousins come to visit! They asked for days, how many more days until the Squire's are coming??

The first day, we hiked the Waterfall Trail at the White Tank Mountains. The kids all loved hiking in the outdoors, looking for rattlesnakes and lizards. They especially loved the ponds of water at the end and like all boys do, they had to throw a couple of rocks in!

The second day, we all woke up to drizzling rain and disappointed kids...the big Easter Egg Hunt at the Surprise Stadium was on the agenda. To our surprise, after loading everyone up and arriving at the stadium, the big egg hunt was canceled due to a little rain! The kids were so sad, and what made it worse was them knowing all their cousins in Utah still participated in the traditional egg hunt despite Snow!! But we made up for it with our own Easter egg hunt and the kids had just as much fun!

At the end of the treasure hunt, the discovered eggs were being tallied up, making sure they were all found. When the numbers came back and we knew one was missing, Uncle Ralph informed the kids that one had fallen into a deep hole. All the kids took a turn reaching their arms way down into this hole but all came up empty handed. However, Mason was determined to find it and sure enough, after several attempts, he came up with the last egg! He was thrilled!!

Of course, a highlight for Easter is decorating and coloring the eggs...

We also took the kids to Cabela's, a favorite for our kids!

We love our family and are so grateful when they come to visit! Hopefully they all know they are welcome anytime!!

Easter Sunday...what beautiful children!