Ethel mentioned that she wanted to visit when the tulips bloom and that is the month of April.  It's a hit or miss when in April but she took a chance on the second week of the month. I was apprehensive at first due to the fact that we had a very warm winter and my tulips had been poking out since late February.  Skagit county is always a little earlier than we are, but that was actually a great time to come.  Job had just arrived home from France and John was due to leave the next week for a few days for work. She arrived on a Tuesday and John took vacation from Wednesday on. They had a marvelous time.  He took her to visit the Tulip Fields in Skagit.  She receives tulips each year from a friend who lives in Washington and she really wanted to send some to her sister.  John helped her accomplish that while at Roozengaard.  John and Ethel also went to the marina for lunch and then strolled around it.  It was a nice day for it since most of the week was overcast and cloudy with some rain showers. John really wanted some photos with his mom and all the kids and so another day we headed to Hovander Park for photos.  The trees were just starting to leaf out so they didn't provide as pretty of a backdrop as I wanted but we were working in between kid schedules. Of course he had to take her for a ride in my car.  I think it might have been her first ride in a convertible.  I think he might be a little bit proud that he could buy me this car.  It makes me happy.  We also took in a high school varsity soccer game. No family visit would be complete without some kind of kid sport/activity.  Of course prom happened that same weekend and so she met Lona's date and watched him put the corsage on her wrist and have a boutonniere pinned on and all the other hoopla that goes on with prom.  It was a packed week with so much stuff going on.  I ended up working much of it being in the middle of a project.  It was a good visit.