Memorial Day weekend was especially memorable this year because Jake and his girlfriend, Tiffany, flew in for several days. It sure was good to spend time with them!

The brothers were quite excited to have the oldest one home, and they got started right away with playing ball games bright and early the first morning.

Meanwhile, Ruth had a substitute teacher for math.

But it wasn’t all work for Ruth; later that day, Tiffany brought her to Walgreens to buy nail polish and face masks. Ruth’s first face mask:

She thoroughly enjoyed having Tiffany here, and soaked up every minute with her.

These guys spent a day in Chicago and stopped to visit Mom and Dad for dinner.

It seemed that at every turn, the brothers were competing in some kind of game. I don’t know if this will ever change! We had our family picture taken for the church directory, and as soon as they were done posing, they ran over to the carpetball game.

And though the weather was sizzling hot, they played many rounds of Spikeball and cornhole. Always competing.

Ruth was on hand to cool her brothers down with a spray from the hose.

Jim took advantage of his muscly sons and had them move timbers to the backyard.

As long as these oldest two weren’t competing against each other, they were enjoying their time together.

Our backyard maple tree is a favorite hangout spot.

Some things will never change.

We decided to celebrate Jeremy’s birthday early so that Jake could join us. Here are the guys in deep discussion on the deck:

And Mom and Ruth on the friendship swing:

On our final morning before Jake and Tiffany headed back to Colorado, Peter made his famous blueberry-cheese crepes. A great way to cap off a wonderful weekend!