Time for summer!

Welcome summer! Well, almost summer. Summer for me anyway. Although I have lived here in Texas for just over a year, it's going to take longer than that for this cold weather Wisconsin girl to get used to the south Texas weather! So for all the Texans down here, it's spring, but in my mind, if the trees are all lush and green, the flowers in full bloom and every day is in the 80's.... SUMMER!!!!

Our summer (Spring) has been off to an eventful start! In the last 45 days, we have had 34 days of overnight guests! Not really guests, but my family. :) My sister Amanda came here for about a week, we went to the Houston livestock show and Rodeo, it was so fun! We also so Zac Brown Band, went to the Houston Zoo and just spent a lot of quality time together. She met Caleb for the first time and we got to just be fun giggly sisters together!

Then, about a week and a half later, my youngest sister Emily came on a whim! This was her third time down, so we didn't do a lot of touristy things, but pretty much hung out. And she finished installing the flooring in the hallway! It was a project Daniel had started, them Emily and I were working on together. I went to town for some shopping and when I got back... volia! She surprised me and went ahead and finished our project. What is family for? ;)

My grandfather was originally planning on coming a week and a half later, but he changed his plans last minute and got here early, while Emily was still here. Unexpected, but still a blessing. :)

Em left so it was just Papa (my grandpa) and us for 2 weeks. I'm not going to lie....  we kind of just hit a wall. Everything was going really well, and it was so great to have my 74 year old grandfather with us, but Daniel and I were starting to miss "our time" together. It's amazing how much you need that alone, quite time together to recharge and prepare for the next day.

 That being said, it was really cool to see my grandpa have the same relationship with my kids as I remember him having with me as a child. Grandparents are such a blessing and I'm really going to treasure the time he was here.

I was so unbelievably excited for my parents to get here! After Grandpa was here for the two weeks my parents flew in!!!!! My goodness I love them! I have always been super close with them both, so not seeing them for a whole year has been extremely hard on me. For the most part I would try not to think about it, because I would just get so overwhelmed with how much I miss them, but as the weeks got closer and then the days, that's almost all I could think about! Caleb and I picking them up from the airport has been one of the best days this year!

We had an amazing time together, we jam packed so many memories into 10 days it will be enough to get me through until this fall (when they are planning on coming down again :) My grandpa was here for another week after they got here before he left, and then we had just a few days of just my parents. :) I could go on and on.... My mom and dad are just the most God honoring, loving, generous people I know. I love them dearly and miss them fiercely. 

Dropping them off at the airport was really hard and I had an emotional drive back home, but once I actually got home and just sat back on the couch with my hubby while all the kids played, I realized I almost felt relived to have just us again. Almost 5 weeks of overnight family visitors is a lot of late nights, mini road trips, sugary treats, long talks, and happy memories. So many things that make life so beautiful! But all that can also include some schedule changes, crabbiness, and over tiredness. For the kids too! :) 

So despite me missing my family, I'm ready to get my own little family back on schedule. I have a renewed sense of joy and eagerness for life in general and now really feel ready to start our long summer!

So what about you? Are you ready for summer after this long cold winter?!