Reunions and Birthdays

I can hardly believe this is our last full week of summer vacation.  The kids start back to school a week from today.  We have had a wonderful summer.  Last summer was difficult in many ways, due to the ages and diversity of the 4 kids, so I was prepared for the summer to be really hard.  However, they have done really well.  The last two weeks there has been a lot more fighting, but they’ve really gotten along well all summer and we have had a lot of fun together.  I’m so thankful for this as my expectations were very low after last year.  =)  One thing I asked the older two kids to do was to make a list of 4-5 things they would really like to do over summer vacation.  We managed to do all the easy ones, but a trip to Chicago did not happen this summer.  I don’t think they minded too much, we stayed plenty busy.  But one thing they both had on their lists was a trip to the zoo.  My Mom went with us one day and we had a great (cool) day at the zoo.

   

Another summer vacation list item: roasting marshmallows….a few neighbors joined in on this fun.

   

This past weekend we enjoyed the annual Kaiser weekend.  Thank you to all my aunts and uncles and grandparents for all the work they did to make it a success!

 

  

Creighton turned 4 yesterday and we had fun celebrating with him.  His choice for a meal was hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, cottage cheese, and chocolate M & M cookies. Happy Birthday, Creigh!

Perfect Pictures

I was looking around our house this morning and noticed many of our pictures are getting dated, especially ones of Anya, she has changed a lot in the past 6-12 months.  So I decided to take some new ones.  In my mind, I set out to get “perfect” pictures, you know, ones where everyone is looking AND smiling AND has their hands neatly folded in their lap….Well, I did not get those.  What I got were some like this:

This:

This:

This:

This:

This:

And this:

When we first came back inside I was frustrated, but the more I thought about it, the more I smiled about these pictures.  I was planning to make the kids suffer through another photo shoot, but I think I’ll frame some of these after all.  What better reminder that we aren’t a perfect family, never will be, and that is 100% ok. =)

Vacation and More!

 

Aunt Ruth invited us to spend some time swimming with them and Alissa at the lake a few weeks ago.  The kids had so much fun together!

 

Kate and Lincoln participated in a kids fundraiser for St. Jude. 

Last week, we spent in Shell Knob, Missouri, with the Curt Rassi family.  Mike and I were in charge of organizing this year and I spent the last 30 minutes of our drive praying that the place would not be a dive and that no one in our car would throw up due to the windy nature of the roads we were on. 

The cabin we all stayed in.  We missed you, Nic and Amanda, can’t wait for to meet your lil’ guy when he arrives.  The cabin turned out to be quite nice, much to my relief.  Thanks Lord. =)

Some swimming pictures – Jane (as Creighton calls him) or Uncle Jason to the rest was quite popular in the pool.

  

The jump picture photo bombed by Lincoln. =)

Hiking Dogwood Canyon (a 6 mile hike) – the kids all did fantastic, but they were exhausted.

Mary, the rock star, carried this boy the whole way.  You are amazing.

We played lots of things ending with ball.  Kick ball, scatter ball, baseball.  Also some croquet, frisbee and bags. =)

       

The hammock got a lot of use.

More playing

  

Grandpa leading Who Sir I Sir

The Cat Refuge – this place takes in big cats that people think they can have as pets and then realize it’s not safe. =)  It was a neat experience. 

   

The Talented John Rassi family acting out a book. So fun!

 

Some musical talent.  The one on the right is bad, but Creighton was in awe, he loves instruments of all kinds.

Mini-golf – I had Creighton, Lincoln, and Silas in my group – the picture of Creighton may have been the time Creigh hit his ball 2 holes over and Silas had to go get the ball

Snapshots on our last morning

 

Thank you, Dad and Mom, for everything!  Our family had a wonderful time.  Thank you to the rest of the family for your flexibility and making the effort to come!  It was so fun to spend the week with all of you! 

Evidence we had a truly great week!