65 Years

Last month, Grandpa & Grandma had their 65th anniversary. We had a celebration last weekend for family with about 40 people. They have 17 grandchildren and over 20 great-grandchildren, so only about half of the family was there! Grandpa & Grandma wanted it to be low-key (as low-key as it gets with my family! ha). It was a wonderful time, sitting around visiting, laughing, and spending time together. As Uncle Alan shared, he remembered as a kid looking forward to the times they would go to spend with cousins and all they did was sit around and visit. It's so much fun to walk down memory lane and hear the stories from 3 generations (well, I guess only 2 generations really shared stories). Even after 32 years, there are still stories I've never heard before!

Mom and Dad brought down BBQ brisket and rolls and everyone else brought sides, so it was a plethora of delicious food, as always.

Lovely cake and beautiful flowers.

The boys with their parents. Carolyn wasn't able to come-they live near some of the fires in Colorado so they had to stay home and keep an eye on their home. They have also been helping take care of the firefighters.

 6 of the 17 grandchildren. So many fun memories with these guys!! (Teresa, Susan, me, Scott, Jeremy, & Megan)

 15 of the 21 (I think?) great-granchilren! Back: Hunter, Kaedyn, Anna, Parker, Rhys, Mia Middle: Daniel, Jacob, Addison Front: Isaac, Grandpa and Anika, Grandma and Ella, Asher, Leah, Bryce

 Anna and her "new" cousin Audrey. Fellow horse-lovers are best buddies now :)

 Grandpa's nieces, sisters Vicki and Cherie, came down from Iowa.

 Another of Grandpa's nieces, Shirley and husband Bruce, came as well to celebrate! I love this picture :)

 Cousins with Uncle Elmer and Aunt Mary. Oh the stories they told! So much laughter.

 The "outlaws" haha! Alisha, Dusty, Warene, Nona, Dona, Aaron, and Amy

 Dusty and Anika (who looks exactly like her Mama!!).

 Rhys and Papa (Anna took some of these pictures)

 Audrey loved holding baby Ella!

 Silly Bryce!

 Is he on a roller coaster??

 Siblings Asher and Addison

 So Dad asked Uncle Randall and Grandpa to re-enact a story from Randall's childhood. The story is that Grandpa and Randall had a race from the house to the mailbox. The first race, Grandpa won because Randall got to laughing at something and couldn't run. So Randall wanted a rematch. This time, Grandpa was losing! So he tried to grab Randall's shirt...only he missed the shirt and wound up on the ground with a tear in his suit pants! 

 We sat around for quite a while taking turns sharing memories.

 There was a lot of laughter as the children and nieces told stories about growing up!

 What a legacy these two precious people have! A legacy of love and faith, in the midst of happy times and times of sorrow. I can only pray that one day we have the same legacy to hand down to the next 3 generations!

Summer Thus Far

We always seem to have a busy summer. Little trips here and there to see family and friends. Harvest, family celebrations, short weekends away. And of course, the gardening!

 We got a tropical pack last time in our Bountiful Baskets. We all tried coconut water for the first time. Anna loved it, Isaac thought it was okay, Jacob gave it 2 thumbs down!

 This year we planted only tomatoes in the garden at home because we got a plot at the community garden. I put 12 of them in, all but 2 that Stacy & I started from seed! Most of them are doing pretty good. One of them died and I replaced it, but all the others are looking good. My cherry tomato plant looks like it's going to give me a hefty yield! 

 The first tomatoes of the year! Only one of them lasted til morning. :)

 We've had a busy few weeks with lots of late bedtimes. Which means Isaac has been falling asleep at the pool! Works out okay-he doesn't fall asleep after we get home at 4 or 5 and then is up til midnight, and he only gets a short nap in. He does miss out on all the fun of the pool and I don't get to do anything but sit beside him, but that's okay. Anna and Jacob have a great time. We love the pool!

 The other day I found Anna teaching Isaac about his letters. He was content to sit there and let her do her thing and would throw out guesses here and there. Jacob joined the mini school time, too.

 The most exciting thing for me this summer is that we got our Bountiful Baskets site opened here in town!! It's been a long time coming and we're all so happy not to have a 4 hr. trip anymore! It's not exactly fun to get up before 5am for the drop, but it's well worth it for what we get right here in town!! Mmmmmm!

 Some family came down and Anna got to meet a "new" cousin. They had a lot of fun riding horses at Scott's and playing at the Wetlands! I told you we would be going back again!!

 After the water park, we went to a playground while we waited and Isaac took a tumble. He fell flat on his back off the equipment and hit his head pretty hard on the gravel in the play area. He cried for quiet a while but it didn't bleed too much so I knew he didn't need stitches. It's in a terrible spot for car rides though! Poor kid. 

 Anna was a bit tired! A long day of horse riding, water park, and playing with Audrey (all with an early start to the day). After the water park, we headed out to the farm for a weekend of fun with extended family as we celebrated Grandpa and Grandma's 65th anniversary...those pictures up next :)

Old Fashioned Forth of July

I have to say, Sterling does the 4th of July right! This year the boys and I got to ride in the parade and Jeremy's family was here. And, as has become the tradition, our friends Nate & Joy were here. It was a great weekend!

Jacob was beyond excited about this new development (which I have a feeling is going to become another tradition!). We had such a fun time riding in the "modified" manure spreader with Carrie, Kate, & James!! Thanks Greg for letting us ride along!

They were trying to be patient as we waited for the parade to start. 

After the parade, one of the families with horses let the boys sit in the saddle. This was Bryce's first time on a horse and his smile was a mile wide!!!

He likes horses, but he'd much rather be driving a tractor! ;)

But this one...he prefers horses! He was not happy when I said it was time to go!

This year we had very comfortable, non-crowded seats for the fireworks...Jeremy's house! Papa & Binga took the kids up on the porch roof to watch. 

They really have a good view of the fireworks! We couldn't have had nicer weather for the holiday. Thanks, everyone, for helping make this a fun couple of days-family and friends helping with meals, the chamber and volunteers for all the work put in on all the activities, and Carrie & Greg for the parade ride!! 

Harvest 2013

Let's see if I can get this one to post. I have several posts that will not go through, for whatever reason. So I've really been blogging all this time, they just haven't been making it all the way onto the blog!

Harvest 2013

Aaron's first farming accident.Missed the   last step coming off the combine. Landed in a rut. Thought it was broken. Severely sprained. He scared 10 years off my life. 

Camping

We went camping last weekend with my brothers and college friends. There were 12 kids and 8 adults (and I use the term adult loosely with this group!!). It was an experience! The kids had a blast. The old folks had a little rougher time. 

First off, Aaron hurt his knee playing ultimate frisbee. 

Then my allergies kicked into overdrive. Lovely, aren't I?! I haven't had allergies this bad since I was a kid. I woke up in the middle if the night with my eyes matted shut. The last time that happened, I was spending the night at Grandpa & Grandma's farm and Grandma came in with a warm washcloth and gently cleaned my eyes. I couldn't have been more than 8. And she broke open my allergy capsule and mixed it in some Cool Whip for me to take since I couldn't swallow pills. Thanks, Grandma, for taking such good care of me! Back to the present... :) I had almost no allergies last year. That's never happened to me before. So I wasn't exactly prepared for this massive flare up of allergies. Turns out the grass pollen for that area was very high last weekend. Not fun at all. 

The most entertaining part of the weekend was watching the men "gather" firewood!! We brought a couple boxes of chopped wood, but we quickly went through that between cooking and keeping warm in the evenings and mornings. So the men went in search of more firewood...with no tools except their bodies and an extension cord!! The results were comical. I'll have to try posting the videos I have sometime. All I have to say is that those 4 guys...once they get together, they act like college kids again!! :)

All in all, it was a great weekend. I'm excited to camp many more times this summer!

Busy Summer

Alright John & Toby....here are some pictures of your cousins!! :)

Things could not be any busier this month! My brother Jeremy and his family are moving to Sterling!! I've been busy helping where I can as they try to move in a few loads at a time, while still working (Jeremy) and starting a new job (Alisha). This week Kaedyn and Bryce have been staying with us. In the evenings I try to make it over and help Alisha paint. They bought the oldest house in Sterling, which has been a bed & breakfast for many years. It has wonderful charm, but it's also covered in Victorian style wallpaper! Most of which is not exactly their taste. :) All the kids think the huge house is a great play place-especially since it's mostly empty! 

Isaac found a super hero costume among some toys. He loves it. And I love how he posed for me! Such a silly boy!

Since the walls are all lath & plaster, they can't remove the wallpaper without having to put up Sheetrock. So they found some primer that is supposed to work over wallpaper. I actually don't mind painting and even more, it drives me crazy to leave a room almost finished...no matter how late it is! So I sent Alisha home to bed and I stayed one night to finish this room. I actually like the color of the primer, but the walls will not remain gray. I like the paint colors she picked out, too. Now, whether we get all the painting done before Saturday morning.......

Early this week, a big storm came through. Very high winds, lightening like I've never seen, and a downpour. So the kids and I spent the next day(s) picking up limbs and raking up little sticks. This load was from Jeremy's house-and that was just the "small" stuff! At our house, we didn't have any large branches, just some smaller ones and lots of twigs. Our neighbor had his trailer hooked up so he took our debris to the burn site for us. 

In the middle of cleanup it started to rain again. The kids decided to take a break and play on the rain!

He didn't want an umbrella...I think he regretted his decision after becoming totally soaked!

Last Friday, Rhys stayed with us. I got her to leave her hair fixed for just a little while! She looks like Pebbles, but she acts like Bam Bam!!! She is a beast! But she probably has to be, being the youngest of 4!!!

Brothers :)

Grandpa & Grandma came to visit and celebrated Anna's birthday early. They let her choose a place to eat. She chose Carriage Crossing! Their pie is to. die. for.  Really all their food is delectable. 

Special surprises from Grandpa & Grandma!

So there you have it John & Toby...I found some more ink! ;)