A Visit from Emily and Laura

We loved having Laura and Emily come and visit us. The boys love their aunts so much and loved being spoiled. Of course on our first trip to Walmart, Aunt Emily had to buy the boys a special treat, and Alden convinced her that he needed a Trans- former too. But more than being spoiled, they loved just spending time with their aunts. Alden was so disappointed when their plane was delayed. He thought when he went to bed on Wednesday night that he'd wake up and have his aunts there. As soon as he woke up, he ran downstairs yelling, "Aunt Emily, Aunt Laura, here I am! Here I am, Aunt Laura and Aunt Emily." When he couldn't find them and I told him they hadn't got to our house yet, he was very disappointed. Needless to say, when he saw them Thursday night, he was thrilled!

We did a lot of fun things while they were here. We played baseball in the basement, fought with light sabers, played transformers, went shopping--several times, took a road trip to Columbus, played board games, went to church, had Family Home Evening where Aunt Laura taught the lesson, went out to dinner, heard Aunt Laura's mission stories, and got to enjoy Aunt Emily's delicious cooking. My sister Emily is perhaps the best cook in the world! She replicated Costa Vida's Sweet Pork Salad with tomatillo ranch dressing --ummmmmmm (I think her salad was even better that the actual restaurant's though). The sweet pork was to die for, and she also made a delicious lime rice to also go on the salad (if you want me to send you the recipes she left me, I can).

Even more than I loved the activities and the delicious cooking, I loved spending time with my sisters and watching them spend time with my boys. When we went to Columbus, Emily took the boys to COSI while Michael, Laura, and I went to the temple. After that, we all went to the Eddie Bauer outlet where they were having a $4.99 jeans sale. Then Michael took the kids to Burger King and let my sisters and I have a stress-free dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Columbus, Salvi's Bistro (what an incredible husband, I have! I told him I'd rather that he come with us, but he said he didn't think the kids would enjoy the restaurant that much and told me to have a nice time with my sisters).

My favorite moments were watching the boys express their love to their aunts. As soon as Alden got home from school, he'd start talking to his aunts. He always had to know where they were and kept constant tabs on them. In church on Sunday, Thobe was coloring with Emily. He stopped coloring and in all seriousness looked up at his aunt and said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Aunt Emily." Although it wasn't Valentine's day, I think it was Thobe's very sweet way of telling his aunt that he loves her very much. The next day, I was holding Hyrum, and he was fussy. Laura was taking a few bites of a treat we made, and Hyrum started reaching for her. She asked me if he wanted cake, and I said, "I think he wants you." She went over and held her arms out to him, and he lunged for her and wrapped his little arms around her neck and wouldn't let go for anything. I think Laura loved that, but I loved it even more. The hardest thing about living here in Ohio is being so far away from my family. It warms my hear to know that despite the distance, my kids (even Hyrum who hadn't met his Aunt Laura until the Thursday before) will have a close relationship with my family and love them as I love them. That means so much to me!

On Tuesday, we reluctantly took my sisters back to the airport. We were sad but are so grateful for the sacrifice that they made to buy plane tickets and to visit us. Thank you so much for coming, Laur and Em! We love you and miss you!!!! Please come back soon!