Family!!!

Yes...in the summertime!

My mom came to visit last Sunday through Friday. It was so great to have her. My little girl is head over heels for that grandma!

And of course, she was spoiled rotten! She's been needing a purse for quite some time. I dare any of you to snatch that new purse from her and see what happens!

In Brynn's words, "yummy-yum!"

Have any of you every had a dish there with jalopeno cream cheese? Wow....

The BIG pool...

And the little pool.

Downtown Mesa!

This is a cute little bookshop on Main Street. It's a dangerous place for someone with a love of antique children's books like my mom, but she managed to escape empty-handed!

How could we visit downtown without a stop at
Sweet Cakes Cafe

What a girl I'm raising. She can't choose between the phone and the chocolate. But trust me, babies+phones+5 layer brownies = BIG MESS

Justin and Helen

I'm so glad it was such a mild spring/summer for all of my family.

In fact, when Justin and Helen were here (my brother and sister-in-law from Alaska), it rained quite a bit. I'm sure you can all guess how excited I was for that rainstorm at the end of May. After a few years of Alaska, I think probably Justin and Helen could not be enthusiastic about that kind of weather if their lives depended on it. But they were very sweet to indulge me and eat our In-and-Out outside in the rain. And by the way, thank you Jana for coming to visit me in the rain, just to make SURE I knew it was raining. It was fun to share in your joy...and I think it helped me look a little less crazy for being so excited! Also, thanks to Justin and Helen for being my eggplant buddies - I've decided that fellow eggplant enthusiasts are hard to find! (and ps Helen, I MUST have that recipe!).

I feel so bad that we didn't get any pictures of them while they were here! But they were only here for 1 night and it was kind of hectic. Here is Brynn discovering puddles...wearing a COAT in May! That Saturday morning was a cold one with all the rain.

Auntie Ev

Marty's sister Evelyn also stayed with us for a few days, and Brynn fell in love with her immediately. The first night Evelyn was here, I saw Brynn getting books off the bookshelf, so I sat down next to her to read them to her. Rejected! She walked right over to Evelyn and backed up into her lap, and that's where she preferred to stay when Evelyn was around!

While Evelyn was here, we took her and her boyfriend Jeff to Fountain Hills for Memorial Day. It was so fun!