Surprise Visit!

Several weeks ago, we had planned with Mark's mom and dad that they were coming out April 23-25. As time got closer, we thought it would be great fun to have Clint come with them to surprise Luke. Then I thought since it was a just a few days that it would be fun to have Cole come too. After all, he's FIVE and that is a big boy! :)

So, they arrived on Friday night. The boys were already asleep in bed because Luke had a soccer game on Saturday morning.

Luke said when he woke up, he heard Grandpa talking and then he heard Reed say something, and another voice answered. He told me, "I thought--who's that? Then my eyes popped wide open and I knew it was CLINT!"

It was a lot of fun to have the boys here with Grandpa and Grandma. Luke's team won the soccer game--2-0 and he made both goals. When they got back home, Grandma made thin omelets, with bacon and little smokies. YUM!

The boys played DS and Wii and Qf7 (just made that one up). Then we went to Culvers, where we had burgers, but were careful to save room for ice cream. Cole got the biggest chicken fingers he'd ever seen. I got a turtle sundae that rivaled Randy's Custard in the Ozarks.

It was a good day...

Then, on Sunday, our niece, Julie and her husband, Jarin, were planning on coming up to spent the day with us.

Mark had decided to make both baked oatmeal and egg casserole and we could have one or both for breakfast. We were mostly ready, when suddenly, the front door burst open and there was JAMES saying, "DONUTS ANYONE?" He was carrying a bag of Lerch's Donuts boxes!

At first, it just didn't compute. I thought, why is he picking up the boys now? Then Susan, Abby and Quinn walked in. Jim, Karen, Jana, and Jason were right behind them. They had all gotten up in the wee hours of the dawn to come out and surprise us for the day! (It is about three hour drive and they arrived about 8 am.)

We had a great time in a full Tippy house until time to leave for church. It was great to have almost the whole family here. Lynn preached in the morning and Grandpa, as visitor, preached in the afternoon when Sunday school was out.

James and Suz, Jana, Julie and Jarin had plans they had to get back for right after church, but the rest of us went to B. Antonio's for pizza.

Here are a few photos I snapped Sunday morning:
Grandma and Grandpa

Playing a little Wii baseball with cousins!

A Wee -- oops, Wii observer

The Donut Man, his lovely wife, Susan, and youngest donut-eater, Quinn

The Princess Abigail von Chirps

Oh, wow, Grandma has candy and fruit snacks!

Quinn with his treasures, Luke with his.

Jim and Karen--what a good-looking couple!

Jana and Jason (We're their biggest fans)