Family Picnic 2012

 My brother Mark and sister in law Carol hosted yet again another fabulous family picnic! It is always such a fun day at the acreage just hanging out and playing with family.

 Their daughter and my super fantastic niece came up with an Olympic theme for this year's picnic. As you can tell in the photos that follow she did a great job of coming up with many, many events! My mom is conveniently in the background of this picture, an incredible woman who has a lot to be proud of!

We had to start the day designing our "family flag". It was fun and each of the families worked well together trying to make just the right flag.

We had an equestrian event, one child per adult, whichever team crossed the line first equaled winner!

The day ended with a medals ceremony, gold, silver and bronze were handed out to each of the top three participants. PJ received silver for one of his events and could not have been more proud. I LOVE this picture of him spontaneously hugging my mom because of his sure happiness.Gabe and PJ are only one week apart in age and had a blast all day!

Brie trying her hand at Farmers golf.

Maggie is holding Addy, the newest addition to the growing family. With her arrival I think we are at 69 members in the immediate family!

Archery, an event that was enjoyed by many people. Maggie did quite well for her first time using a bow and arrow.

 The kids had to make their own boat and then we saw who's boat floated the best! and who's sailed the quickest.

 This was a tasty event, marshmallow blowing contest. Design your own marshmallow shooter and then see how far they will launch a marshmallow!

 Soccer was enjoyed by many.

While chalk was not an event, Brie certainly enjoyed herself! She was proud of her chalk filled hands!

 I love the picture of the 3 little girls, they were all facinated with one another. Brie was 2 in Feb, Teagan was 2 in July and Maci was 1 in June. The three were often found together throughout the day!

 Silly daddy and sweet Brie cheese.

 Tug of war anyone?? always a yearly favorite!

 Look at each of these little shavers faces as they run the sprint race, precious in their own way.

A very fun and relaxing day for all that attended I do believe. Pete was able to attend with us this year which was nice as well. A day to forget anything and everything and just enjoy each others company. Another huge thank you to Mark, Carol, Jill and Eric for all the fun.

This picture is one from 2011. It is the last photo we have of my dad as he headed down the driveway last year leaving the picnic. We all knew in our hearts that 2011 was probably going to be the last one he attended. Although we did not mention him specially I think we were all thinking of him in our hearts. At various points during the picnic we got raindrops and twice we got quick showers. One shower was during supper, as everyone ran for the garage and house little Brie and I grabbed our plates and sat on the front step under the protection of the roof. We could still feel sprinkles a bit but not get soaked. Someone offered to help us to a drier area but we remained on the stoop. As Brie and I sat there I could not help but think of dad. Were these sprinkles throughout the day his tears? Were the tears of sadness, joy, pride or love? I being his baby and sitting with his baby, thinking and then deciding the raindrops were all of the above but most because of love. I squeezed my Brie and shed a tear, wiped my face and just like that the shower ended and others began to join us again outside. I miss you old man and you are always in my heart. Thanks for the sprinkles, I love you too!

Dreams Made True

 Dreams Made True is a pageant for girls with special needs, ages 5 to 25. It is such a heartwarming day! These girls are treated like such princesses for a day! It was started by a family in my hometown 3 years ago and has grown each year. My great little niece Abby has been a participant since the beginning. The county queen asked each girl what their biggest dream is, talk about tear jerking comments from these sweet little ladies! Abby had no problem taking the microphone and announcing she would like to stay overnight at a friends house with her sister Kenzie. Then Abby promptly grabbed her escorts arm and lead him around the stage to the required spots before making a quick exit.

 Abby was presented with the First Runner up trophy in her age division, along with a certificate, and a medal.

Abby for the second year in a row won the people's choice award. The audience is allowed to drop money into the bucket of their favorite participate. Abby came in with the most money in her bucket. 

 Her is quick photo of the girls with Abby and Kenzie!

This last picture is of the girls and Lindee Link, she was the entertainment again this year. We met her last year and bought her CD. The girls have nice memorized it and LOVE her so they were in shock when she took the stage. I did not tell them she was going to be there again this year. They were thrilled and hung on her every word.
We are very proud of our Abby, she is a very special little girl and we love her dearly! We will continue to attend the pageant every year because it is such a touching experience!

Ms. Lauren's birthday

 Our sweet little Ms. Lauren had a birthday. I will not disclose how old she is but we did try to make her feel special. Her dad informed me her favorite color was purple and her choice dessert was cheesecake.  We were able to decorate with purple and came up with a cheesecake. (I love that Kayla likes to take pictures of Lauren, she is going to be such a big part of their summer memories that it is fun to have pictures of her as well!)

 The kids decorated the cake and insisted on putting on the correct number of candles. Lets just say I am glad Ms. Lauren is not any older!  :~)  Love Ya Lauren, thanks for all you do!!

summer things we do

 So we have this "pool" in the backyard for the kids to cool off in. We have a very uneven yard! We are considering a concrete patio in the back to give us an even area!

 Off to the park to look for bugs and various other fun things! Cicadas are the favorite and the hot weather has made them arrive early this year! Kayla is in heaven and Brie looks at her like she is crazy for holding a bug!

We also do not have a flat driveway nor a street that is safe to practise bike riding! I loaded the bikes up and we hit a local tennis court so I could keep track of all 4 of them. It is a double tennis court completely enclosed by a very tall fence! Close the door and it is a great entrapment for a busy 2 and 3 year old! I was able to help Kayla and she is officially finally at age 8 able to ride a bike without training wheels or help!!! 

Lauren and the zoo

So have I mentioned this fantastic babysitter we are so fortunate to have?! I bought a pocket camera the beginning of summer so she could capture some memories for me. She has gone above and beyond the call of taking a few pictures. Today they went to the zoo and it appears they all had an awesome time! It made me smile tonight looking at the photos left behind on my camera! Lauren thank god for you! Our family is truly blessed to have you this summer. I cannot tell you how enjoyable this summer has been for me, knowing the kids are so well taken care of!

Kayla was the lucky one and caught a butterfly today. It was her friend for quite awhile, talk about one happy girl!

Movie anyone? the kids enjoyed Artic 3D!

Jesus loves Brie

Brie is learning from her siblings quite well. As you can tell from the video, yes Jesus does love Brie! Watch out St. Paul's you may not know what you have coming in January! I think Brie will THRIVE there and have a blast! someday we will catch her doing more of the song but for now this will give you a taste!

baby bed no more

 Brie Brie is in a BIG bed! We were going to convert her crib to a toddler bed, something we had never done before and it proved too challenging. I asked her if she wanted to sleep in the big bed with her butterfly sheets and she yelled YES! Down went the crib, washed the sheets, made the big bed and viola, no more baby bed. As I told Pete it was probably easier to just do it unexpectedly rather than plan for it. Brie is back to looking like a little peanut in the new bed!