Visiting Kera

We realized that we were running out of time to spend with family as we ran out of summer.  So we took a trip down to visit Andy and Kera. Except Andy and the three older kids were off on a canoe trip that week.  The girls were disappointed, but we still had fun with Kera and Emma and Charlotte.

I hadn't heard Kera say anything about her garden so I assumed she would like some zucchini.  I brought her the little one there.  When she saw it she laughed and bought out the giant shnozzcumber there.  We ate plenty of zucchini!  Which was great- I like it!

The kids were thrilled to play with all the animals.  The chickens are cute and have the best names. 

And Emma is just plain cute!

Cobb the snake is always a hit.

He is a very cool snek!

The bunnies were adorable and I had to field many questions of "Why don't we have bunnies?"

This guy made me really want a bunny!

I mean, just look at those lovely locks!  I NEED a rabbit with hair this cool!

But we do not have bunnies.  Just Levi the dog. So the girls had to be content to get all the bunny snuggles in while we were there.

And they did enjoy their time with cousins.

And they had a great time in the amazing backyard there as well.

Dad's Annual Pie Party

Dad's Annual Pie Party was held on July 4th, to maximize potential attendance.  Invites went out, and the yard was set up.  We put up several  canopies, to create shade, or as was the case, keep the rain off.  The weather was questionable all day, but the rain held off till half way through the event.

The line up of this years pies.  We made 25, plus the 2 mini gluten free Oreo Caramel pies for Steven.

The pre-party cutting of the pies.

The kids did a nice job on the signs again this year!

Here is the set up.  It worked really well.  I thought it was clever to put the cold pies in another pie pan filled with ice.  Unfortunately..... if you cut through the bottom of the pie tin whilst cutting the pie, as the ice melts, you get a soggy pie.  Oops. Fortunately, the pies were well received and devoured.

I even tried a fancy crust on the Cherry Pie!  I know.  I don't do fruit pies.  Dad made this one.  I just did the crust!

 Here are the grandkids who helped eat all that pie!

The Pre-Party Party

We had a Pie Party planned and 4th of July seemed to the the most convenient day to hold it, since it was a Saturday.  That meant family started collecting at the house in preparation for this exciting event.  This was a good thing because I stink at celebrating Independence Day in the traditional sense, and some family members excellent at it.  So a good time was had!

Callie helped Dad pull up some of the decking.  Dad has been working on replacing it a bit at a time, and he wanted it a little nicer before the hordes arrived.

There was fun and games and cute nephews.

There were fun fireworks, thanks to Uncle Dan.

There were fun kids and a good time.

Even the ones that didn't want to hold fireworks wanted to watch them.

I mean, who doesn't love a good Roman Candle?!!

We have a lot of cute kids!

Here we are, after the festivities, trying to have scriptures and prayer before bed.

And I think we had 27 people stuffed in the house that Friday night!  It was insanity.  But the good kind.

Visiting Jonathan

We took a little trip to visit Jonathan's family.  We were there for 3 days and these are the only pictures I got.  Sigh. I'm terrible. More terrible because the only photos I took were the first three, with the pool.  The rest were surprises only phone. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

 

Summer happenings

What is one of our favorite things about being in the US?  FRESH FRUIT!  And having fresh strawberries and whip cream on waffles for breakfast whenever we want.  Marian went for a triple decker.

Miranda was a good mom and took her kids to the lake.  The very very HIGH lake (as evidenced by that pavilion roof there).  She was thoughtful enough to take Marian and Delaney with her, and even more thoughtful to take this photo.

Dad talked me into doing something I have never done before. I went and gave blood for the first time! It wasn't as horrible as I thought, and I felt very virtuous about it. 

Rylee found this super-sweet macaron shirt at the thrift store and was quite delighted.

There was a tree needing some chopping, and a group of family went out to help.  It turns out a family of woodpeckers lost their home in the process. Callie rescued these two baby woodpeckers and brought them home.

Look how healthy they are!  Callie made sure they were fed round the clock for 3 days, before we found a vet that would take them and help them out.  They were very cute.

The kids were thrilled to find this turtle.  The turtle was less thrilled.

This was a marvelous $2 find at the Walmart clearance section.  Rylee and Samantha had a blast putting it together and decorating it.... and nibbling on it.

Marian enjoyed spending time at the pond and brought back a friend.

Isn't he sweet?!

Dad spent some time replacing the old deck with some lovely new decking.  

 Marian and Aaron had a little too much fun with this kiddie car.  I laughed and laughed.