And the fun continues...

St. Patrick's Day afternoon, my brother Brandon flew in from his 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
So, we headed up to St. George to be part of the fun and welcome him home. Luckily for us, the airport in St. George is SUPER small, so you can wait right in there and watch people walk right off the planes. It makes it much more convenient and fun than in normal bigger airports.

Kayden and Grandpa watching for the plane to arrive

Autumn and Zac eagerly waiting for "Uncle B"
Zac was super excited as he watched and waited!

He arrives!!!!!

Someday this will be me, hugging my boys after two long but happy years apart.

It was so fun to see Brandon and get to visit with him and hear all of his stories throughout the week! He had lots of good stories and experiences to share...many miraculous, inspiring ones, and a few that just made us laugh. We are so proud of him for serving the Lord full time for two years. He felt a little out of place being home "without a purpose," as he said, but Zac and the other kids saw to it that he stayed plenty busy. :) They LOVED having him there to play with all day long!

Brandon and the kids


We played long and hard every day...
jumping and sliding at Jumping Jacks,
swimming at the indoor rec center with slides that Zac LOVES,
playing at the park (the weather was gorgeous and warm the whole week),

playing in Grandma's dress up boxes (Kayden decided to join in on the fun this time),

eating our traditional missionary-homecoming-Saturday-night-dinner at the Pizza Factory,



exploring, climbing and picnicing on the red hills,

Kayden and Uncle Justin


making bunny cupcakes with Grandma,

My creative son got a little bored with the bunnies and designed his own "Dragon Warrior" cupcake for me

listening to Brandon report his mission in church on Sunday,

and the highlight of the trip (other than seeing Brandon and all the family)...

a visit from Spiderman himself!!!


Luckily for Zac and Autumn, Uncle Brandon knows Spiderman personally!

Our first night there, Zac wore his Spiderman PJ's to bed, and Uncle B told him that he knew Spiderman and would have him come for a visit the next day. The kids were soooo excited all day and anxiously awaited his arrival. Zac was so happy when he opened the door that afternoon and found Spiderman standing on the front porch.


showing the pirate toy to Spiderman


They had a BLAST with Spiderman! He stayed long enough to play a game of ping pong, play catch, play air hockey, play hide and seek and tag, and show them a few tricks. It was finally time for him to go, and he disappeared into the neighborhood somewhere. After he left, Zac said, "I'm so happy that Spiderman came to visit! He is sooo AWESOME!"

That night, when we took a walk around the block, Autumn and Zac went on a search for Spiderman. They called and called for him, but he must have been off saving another helpless person in distress.

Luckily for them, Spiderman made another visit on our last day there. Boy were they happy to see him again. Since we've been home, Zac's been excitedly telling everyone that Spiderman came to visit at Grandma's house and how cool he is. He keeps wondering if he'll ever make a visit to our house. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but we know he's super busy out fighting all the bad guys.


We had such a great week playing, visiting, and enjoying each others' company!