Family Visit

My dear brother Mark, his wife Jillian, 

and their two gorgeous and smart daughters, Cora & Esme,

came to Arizona to visit!

They stayed with my parents, who are about three miles away 

from us during the winter months (yay!)

Their first evening, we met at Barro's for PIZZA!

There was much silliness.

My Dad watched over his flock with a happy smirk.

Here's my vegan gluten-free pizza!!!

One of our pizzas got made wrong, so we got a free pazookie -

it's a cookie in a pan with ice cream.

Cora and I were doing some snuggling with Grandma.

And some crazy cuddles that were too amazing for a clear photo!

It may be blurry, but I love this photo.

Grandpa took them to the play area, where they built this tall tower!

Later that evening we hung out for awhile at my parents' house.

The girls played wild games and we laughed a lot.

Sneaking . . . 

Of course, eventually bedtime came.

I got to cuddle while listening to Grandma read books.

Once again, slightly blurry, but really sweet. 

The next morning (not TOO early), we took some family photos by the lake.

Here's my favorite:

The other background was pretty with the lake and the palm trees, 

but the SUN was getting in our eyes and making us cry.

Most of us are squinting our eyes closed in this funny one.

Greg and I both have ours closed in this one, too.

My pained expression makes me giggle.

And sometimes Mark's SelfieStick gets overzealous and takes unexpected photos

such as this one . . . where I'm trying to get my eyes to stop watering

and it looks as if my face is melting.

  

This one is pretty cute, too, especially of Mark & Jillian and the girls.

It looks as if I'm trying to hide due to the angle, though.

After photos, we went to Chipotle for lunch - yum! 

I had my usual bowl with black beans, fajitas, corn, pico de gallo, and lettuce.

It was very tasty!

Esme quickly developed a special fondness for Greg 

(or "Greggie," as she decided to call him).

Of course we needed to walk down to Yogurtland to get some frozen treats

after lunch!

SOME of us walked, anyway . . . 

This place even has cold treats for dogs!

They had one vegan gluten-free option: raspberry lemonade sorbet.

Very tasty and tart.

It was a chilly day, but sitting in the sun felt nice.

What a fun first day with wonderful family!

There's more fun to come . . .