pen pals

 Luke had so many fans come and watch him play his last game of the season, but there was one person especially he had been hoping could come! The previous Wednesday night, Luke went up to Joy and asked if she could bring Samuel to his game.  I told him that this was too much to ask (his game started at 8:30am!) but it shouldn't have surprised me that the whole family came!  We had Joy, Lily, Emi, Gracie, Dylan, Grandma, Grammy, Delaney, Lori, Caleb, Bob, Tim, Eli, Alicia, Chris, Craig and Grandpa all there!

 At first, both Samuel and Luke didn't quite know how to act with all of us watching them see each other for the first time in a year!  He had been counting the days waiting for Samuel to get here.  For the past year, him and Samuel have been writing the best letters to each other.  It was Alicia's idea for them to be pen pals and it has been such a great experience.  Luke doesn't particularly love writing assignments in school, but never has any problem writing long letters to Samuel.

 

 After his game was over we had a while before Dylan's game started, so we walked over the park to play for a little while.  Caleb and Eli enjoyed the swings and running around together.

 After spending some time with Lily, she reminded me so much of how Gracie was at her age. Such sweet girls!  We were able to go to Rubio's for lunch with them too.

 It didn't take long for the two of them to start playing and laughing together.

 It was fun to see Dylan and Delaney run and around and play with the younger ones too!

 All the guys played basketball after second service on a Sunday night, and the girls came to our house.  Gracie still has the same dress up box she has had for many years and loves to help the younger girls dress up.

Luke and I were able to join the Short family for the evening at California Adventure one night during their stay.  It was a special night for the two of us to get to do something alone together (besides eye doctor appointments!) and we had a great time.  Here we are on "Soaring over California".  Luke also went on "Tower of Terror" for the first time with Samuel.  We were blessed to get to spend so much time with the Shorts while they were here.  Luke is saving his money now so that he can go see Samuel in Kentucky for his birthday.  He has $14 so far, and is hoping that will help pay the cost of an airplane ticket!  He wrote Samuel today and said, "See you in August, maybe!" :)