Catch Up.. Part 1 of 99

So Tyson returned home from Afghanistan after serving over there for a year. He was able to come home (Utah) with Lauren & Jordan over the Easter weekend. In Spanish Fork when our Soldiers come home the city welcomes them into town with style. Of course this parade had to be kept a secret from Ty or he would have found some way to sneak into town. Anyway ahead of time I convinced him to have some kind of uniform on when he got here because I wanted to take pictures very first thing as we only had a couple of days with him and he always finds a way to get out of the picture thing. I also let him know that there was construction on the Benjamin exit so they would have to come to the Main Street entrance. He knew something was up right when they got off the freeway as the fire trucks, police cars etc were all lined up along the side of the road right as they hit town. Of course he was not very happy with me, but I knew that he would get over it. It was raining so I felt a little bad because I knew that he and Lauren were going to have to ride on that firetruck from the entrance of town up to our house.

As they turned the corner off of main street to head up center street the American Legion was lined up along the side of the road. Thanks to my friend Steve Wilson he lined this up and it was awesome as they saluted Tyson and he in return. As the parade was coming down main street of course all the cars stop, the people come out of the stores, everything just stops for a minute to honor the soldier or soldiers who have returned from serving and protecting our freedoms. Everytime this happens I am the first one out to the street with tears in my eyes. I am so proud.

The scouts from the 22nd ward came at 5:30 the morning Ty was to come home and lined both sides of our street with their flags, it was an awesome sight. It was a great homecoming for Tyson.

Like I said it was Easter weekend so we got together to color eggs and everyone had a great time. Not just the little kids .....

But the big kids too.

And they are off. Along with the real eggs, I have several (like 100)plastic eggs with prizes in them. Of course after they collect all the eggs they are then divided out evenly between everyone. The kids open the eggs and get to see what goodies they have won .

A few years ago I thought that it would be fun to have an "adult" hunt. I think that my kids have as much fun on Easter as they do Christmas. Now with the adults I tried to get them to even it out when it is all done and they said NO WAY , you get what you get period. Each year as someone new comes into our family the others try to help them out and get them prepared by telling them to be sure to wear a dress or high heals or tight pants something to really slow them down. This year Trent,Emily, Tiff & Adam all had the same idea and came in their game clothes. It was pretty funny but Tyson and Lauren were not to be had. They all got their share and had a great time.

Besides household items there is money to be had, so if it looks like they would step on someone if they fell.... They would.

A great time was had by all. I love my kids. I am so thankful for the great adults they have become.

Stay tuned for part 2