summer fun

We have been having a really fun summer. The kids have spent some time at friends' houses a few times when our summer babysitter was gone. (I have awesome friends!)

They got to kayak for the first time with Shannon and her girls.

And play with the dog...

 They made homemade play-do at Tricia's house.

And played with the baby kittens.

 They got to swim at Krista's house.

And play with their cute puppy.

 And they captured and played with a giant black snake at Meredith's house! Yikes!

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 Meredith and Jill and I took all the kids to a huge waterslide that is carved into the side of a hill. It was so much fun, and the kids loved it. 

We moms also did the waterslide which was fun for us and the kids!

After the waterslide we took the kids fishing. No one caught any fish, but the kids had fun trying!

What a fun day!

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom & Dad

 My mom and dad celebrated their 40th anniversary on June 11th. They planned a trip to Cancun to celebrate. All of us adult kids surprised my mom by coming to Cancun to celebrate with them (they really had to twist our arms to go to such a dreadful place!...)

The resort was beautiful. This was the view from our balcony.

Just beautiful.

We got there the day before my parents, so we were able to surprise them when they got there. 

My dad knew we were all coming, but my mom didn't. She was so surprised and didn't stop smiling the entire time we were there!

We have never been all together without kids, so it was such a fun time.

We would relax by the pool and play games during the day.

 And then get dressed up for a nice dinner each night.

 I made this wall hanging for my parents and gave it to them on the actual day of their anniversary.

And then my dad surprised my mom with a vow renewal ceremony on the beach.

And of course another fun dinner to celebrate!

What fun memories we will have!

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Meanwhile back at home, Joe's mom came and spent the whole time at our house with our kids. They had a million different activities, and she was a rockstar. Thanks Jennifer!

Happy birthday Joe!

 This awesome husband and daddy turned 38 this year. We are so blessed to have him, and he really is the most selfless person I know.

We had a few friends over for dinner and dessert (his favorite: strawberry shortcake).

It looks like his bowl is on fire! :)

Lots of kids were there too!

Happy birthday Joe! We love you!

Memorial Day weekend in Kansas

 We had a full and fun Memorial Day weekend. We headed up to Kansas for one last big get together with Joe's family before Josh and Val leave to go back to the Philippines (we aren't even going to think about that yet...) :(

Jennifer arranged to have family pictures taken while we were all there. I can't wait to see the pictures from the photographer!

We all had our "own" clothes on first for the whole family pictures.

I thought my three looked pretty cute...

Then we got all the kids changed for grand kid pictures. It was a little crazy with 17 grand kids, but thankfully more than half of them can dress themselves! :)

Jennifer made ALL of the girls' dresses. Amazing. And the girls all loved them!

Sweet twin cousins. Norah wants to cut her hair just like Naomi's now!

These three middles are quite the crew. They have a blast together. 

Thankfully pictures went really well. Val and I were commenting how much easier family pictures are now even with all the kids than when we first joined the family. It was hard getting those teenage boys to cooperate back then! :)

We spent the rest of the day hanging around the house. We had a great game of kickball going that evening. 

Val had a great idea for the kids to make stepping stones for Nana's garden. The kids loved it, and they turned out really well. 

 Lots of relaxing (I'm sure they stayed this way for all of two minutes...) :)

 And wrestling. Don't mind the look on Deacon's face. His Uncle Jeff isn't actually choking him...

Grandpa played board games with the girls.

 Sunday morning we all headed to church. The six brothers all sang a song together. It was really fun to hear them all sing together because they haven't done that in forever.

The kids stayed to watch the daddies sing, and you would have thought we were at a concert the way they cheered for their daddies when they were done!

 After naps, the boys headed out to do a little work in the yard for Jody. Deacon and Joey now have the privilege of being one of the boys who have to work! :)

Then we headed back to Sunday evening service at their church. The kids all sang two songs together. It was so sweet.

Kylah sang her first ever solo. She nailed it!

I got to cuddle with sweet Riley.

 After church the guys all played basketball. Joey and Deacon got to play with them, which they thought was pretty awesome.

The littles cheered on their daddies.

On Monday the weather was beautiful. The brothers went golfing, and the rest of us took the kids to a park. 

Snack time!

And then cooled off in the sprinkler back at Nana's house.

I love watching Joey with his cousins. He is the favorite of almost every little cousin and is so sweet with them.

Norah and Riley are pretty fond of each other too!

 Kylah got a real sewing machine from my parents for her birthday, so she brought it to Kansas so Nana could show her how to use it (I have no clue!) She was pretty excited!

It was such a fun weekend with everyone around. We are so blessed with great family who we also really like! :)