Family Visit for a Special Day

 We have been excitedly waiting for this weekend to see our family. It was a bit stressful getting the house ready for everyone, but when Friday came, we were ready! Our first guest to arrive was Grandpa Barthlome who arrived in the afternoon. We ate McDonalds for lunch after Daddy brought him to the apartment. Caleb got the day off of work so he could help pick his parents up from the airport when their planes came in, so he spent some time driving around and running errands in between picking them up. When he went to go get his mom from the airport after lunch time the rest of us headed down to the pool to cool off from the Arizona heat! It was Evelynn's first time actually getting in the pool, and Connor had a blast swimming and throwing Grandpa's shoes in the pool, and a rock! When Daddy got back from running his errands he came down to the pool and joined us! 

Grandpa and Grandma West arrived a little after 6 pm. They brought Uncle Joseph and Uncle Michael with them! Connor had fun playing with Uncle Joseph and also thought Grandpa West's slippers were the coolest! We had pizza from Papa Murphy's that night and then watched Cars with Connor. We all had a good laugh too when Michael gave me a funny look and said "hey Rebecca, i like Evelynn's pirate eye patch!" (he was making fun of her headband that fell down over her eye!!!!) We just had to get a picture of it since it was so funny!

 The next morning we were all up bright and early for Evelynn's baby blessing!
We had originally planned on blessing her on Sunday but there was a change of plans with Caleb's Annual training for this year and he had to report to the armory by 7 am on Sunday. his mom had already bought her plane ticket so we just had to rearrange plans and make it work! So, we planned to bless Evelynn at 8:30 AM on Saturday, June 1st. Caleb went and picked up his Mom from her hotel nice and early that morning  and we all got ready to take some pictures before the blessing time. 

Our Little Family:

The Grandpas and Daddy (and Evelynn):

The Grandpas and the Kids (and Daddy)

All the Guys (and Evelynn):

Us and My Family, the West's:

Us and Grandma Anderson:

Us and Grandpa Barthlome: 

Everyone that participated in the blessing circle. Daddy, Grandpa Barthlome, Bishop Johnson, Grandpa West, and of course, Evelynn in the center. 

Grandpa Barthlome had to leave right after we finished the blessing to catch his flight home, so we quickly snapped some more picture of him and the kids! We were glad he was able to come!

 After Daddy and Grandpa West got back from taking Grandpa Barthlome to the airport we all went down to the temple to take some more pictures. Poor Evelynn was soooo hot in her dress (although it was beautiful fabric, it wasn't the most breathable fabric!) so we went in the Visitor's center to cool off where there was air-conditioning! We took Evelynn out of her car seat in the stroller and Connor decided he needed to sit in there since she wasn't!

Caleb went  ahead of me with Connor while i was holding Evelynn and my mom took these cute pictures of Connor looking at the statue of Christ. His Daddy was also pointing out the world to him in the mall mural. 

With Caleb's Mom, Grandma Anderson:

With My Dad, Grandpa West:

With My Family, The West's:

Our Little Family:

After we had all cooled down a bit (it was nearly 100 already and it was only 11ish) we went outside to take more pictures.  

 It didn't take long for the kids to get grouchy and hot again so we finished up the pictures and left.

 Our Family didn't seem to mind seeing the temple grounds despite the heat. 

 the parking lot had been PACKED so we had parked a bit of a walk down the street at Deanna's hotel.  we headed back and she checked out of her room to came stay at our place. while we  waited Connor tried to break a plant, and he got down a booster seat to sit on on the floor!

As you might be able to guess, we went to the pool when we got back. What else is there to do in such heat???? For the first bit Evelynn got to hang out with the Grandmas in the shade while the rest of us swam. Just FYI, Connor LOVES to swim! He isn't afraid of going under the water, even though it sure freaks me out!!! He loved having so many people to play with!

 Connor discovered a super fun game at the pool...we now call it the "1,2,3 Game". You count to three then toss him to the other person. To put it simply, he thought it was the coolest thing he ever discovered. he would count and wait for us to toss him and he wasn't pleased when i told him he had had enough! he was shivering but didn't want to stop at all!

 After a bit Evelynn woke up so we decided she could come swim. 

When Evelynn got grouchy again we sent her back to the shade to get dried off and Connor and i splashed out feet in the pool. Then we all decided to head back home and get cleaned up for dinner time. 

That night we went to a cool place for dinner called Organ Stop Pizza. we've been there before and thought it was super cool. After we got back Caleb had to run to the store to get a few things to pack for Annual training. His mom went  with, then when they came back i went with my parents to get a few things for dinner the following day. Then we all watched a few episodes of TV shows before bed. 

I had to have Caleb at the Armory by 7 am, so we left about 6:30 to drop him off. He said bye to the kids and then his Mom and Connor went with me to drop him off. We don't have church until 11 so after we got back we took our time getting ready for church and getting the kids ready. 

Now that Caleb and i are Ward Missionaries, we go to the Gospel Principles class for Sunday School. I had been asked to give the lesson and was pretty nervous, but everyone said i did alright. The lesson was on the Creation. I had Evelynn wear her dress to Church so people could see. I had a quick meeting after church so Deanna and my Brother Michael took some pictures with Evelynn while Joseph kept Connor occupied. 

Our visit with our family came to an end this morning. I sent my parents and brother's out the door at about 7:30, and Deanna caught a ride to the airport from them as they headed out of town. My brother Michael made everyone yummy breakfast and Joseph tried to get Evelynn to smile for a picture! 

We sure had a great time with our loved ones and can't wait until we can see them again or come visit them and everyone else in Idaho!