FAMILY TIME!

My brother, sister-in-law Jillian, and my sweet nieces, Cora & Esme, came to visit!

Beforehand, my Mom and Dad and I went to the Chandler library to get a bunch of books.  Those little girls LOVE books (this makes their Auntie very happy!)

The library asked everyone to move to the lobby every hour for 15 minutes so that they could clean everything well in between.  This library is pretty.

Then my Mom and I went to Target.  I decided to buy these small "Wish You Were Here" mugs from the Starbucks inside Target for Cora and Esme.  They have scenes and special things about Arizona on them and they're a pretty color!  The box is an even prettier color!

There we are in the security camera!

Jillian, Esme, and Cora, all masked up and ready to fly!

Watching church the next morning with added cuddles:

Enjoying the sunshine:

With a bit from a palm tree: 

We went over in the afternoon.  I had made my own food and some desert, and we brought over the presents (the mugs, a cat bike bell, and a cat flashlight for the girls, State48 t-shirts for Mark & Jillian).

The girls had made us some presents, too!  They had written us letters and drawn us pictures, and Cora had made us an interesting and beautiful artwork that amazingly survived the trip in her suitcase!

They made Grandma and Grandpa some crowns and pictures, too.

Then we went for a walk while Jillian and my Mom got dinner ready.

Cora likes to pick up treasures and bring them home.  She considers using them in art projects, making them into useful tools, and displaying them as-is.  She's very creative, and she sees treasures everywhere!

Esme walking with Uncle Greggie:

Then we played Ollie-Ollie-Oxen-Free, or at least as I know it, which is trying to get the ball over the roof and if it comes down on your side, you have to catch it.  We found a four-sided pergola to use, and it ended up being perfect!  One side for everyone, but Esme teamed up with Mark.  This picture is HILARIOUS.  She kept putting her hands over Mark's eyes.

Poor Greggie.  He missed this one.

After dinner, it was time for some books!

We read the really-close-to-bedtime ones outside to get chilly so that bed would feel even better!

Mark and Greg chatted about work things.

Jillian cleaned up the kitchen:

We went for another walk around the lake, too!

And that was the end of the first day!

More family delight is coming your way soon!