Family Party

On Sunday, July 18, 2010 the decendents of my maternal grandparents gathered together. It was a beautiful day and I did my best to capture it all.

Here's the whole gang. We had a pretty large group even though we were missing quite a few cousins and their children... maybe next time we'll get everyone there. Can you believe all these people are here today because of two?





I'll have to edit this post later to fill in all of our names. (You should be able to double click on the pictures to see them larger and I'll be putting disks together for the aunts and uncles to share with their families)



Here's Aunt Phyllis and her family. Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Mark were the only ones to have all their kids in attendance!! Each has 4 so that is quite an accomplishment, although all of Uncle Mark's still live with him so they might not have had a choice... but we're sure glad they all came!

This picture of cousin Ben and his boys was one of the last taken, but was the one I had to work hardest for. If you look real close you will see that Ben is smiling!!

This was the second attempt for a picture of cousin Jamie with her family. I think it came out pretty good. We were very pleasantly surprised to see Ben and Jamie. I think it had been 15 to 20 years since I had seen them. (I can't believe I'm old enough to say that!!) Lets hope it isn't that long before we see them again.

Here's Uncle Mark and his family. When did these kids grow up?? I guess that is what happens when I move away.

Ok, I'm only 5 pictures in and I'm running out of things to say. I think this might just be a picture post.

This was attempt #1 at a picture of cousin Jamie and her family. Just wait until you see the blooper pictures on the disk. I asked for big smiles... and I got them!!

Thank you for the great food Uncle Fred!! I bet it was hot at that grill, but we appreciate it!

Martin with his Daddy watching the big kids play.

What a great smile!

This must have been one serious game!

The aunts and uncles in age order. Isn't that cute??

A picture for the wall.

And another for good fun. Come on ladies, you can do better than that!!

The obligatory boring shot just for Aunt Jeanie!

The kids had a grand time. Luckily only the adults who deserved it got sprayed.

Cheese!

Carter didn't stop the whole day! I bet he slept good that night.

Isn't it amazing how well kids get along who have never met?

He, he, he...

Gotcha!

Still running...

Berry picking.

Berry eating.

A good hiding spot.

My Ryan.

This is what happens when you don't play nice with your sister. Next time I bet you'll smile nice the first time!

To be fair, my brother is a good looking guy normally.

They found a nice shady spot.

But this spot looks much cooler.

Another great smile!

The kids ended the day in the trees.

Or, hanging from the trees.

See you next year!!

Air Show

We left the house at 8 o'clock this morning to drive out to the vintage air show. I am sharing the time so that I'll read this next year and think better of attending!! It was a hot, sticky, cranky day. Ugh! This next comment is for my own benefit as well... to quote Nora "I stink."

We all enjoyed ourselves before the sun kicked into full gear. We walked the airplanes and the boys got to explore.

I'm not sure how I feel about this first picture. It was taken on the movie version of the Memphis Belle. Tyler thought it was very cool.



We tried multiple times to get a picture of Dan with his boys, but it proved impossible with all that there was to look at.

We had to get picture of the boys in all 3 helicopters that they explored.

Now that we have two boys, we have to have two pictures of each helicopter!!

This one was large enough for both of them to get in together. Ryan was so pleased to be involved.

This was some sort of special helicopter... but I don't remember what it was. This picture was taken about 12 hours ago... way to long ago to remember details! I'm sure Tyler could tell you.

Ryan really liked it. "I can't believe they let me up here... I wonder how many of those buttons I can push..."

Another try for a boy picture. Tyler, mommy is over here!!

You'll notice that there are no more pictures with people after this point in time. There are reasons for that. Hot. Annoyed. Dripping. Crying. Screaming. June Bugs! Whining. Begging. I hope I at least lost a couple of pounds today!

I like this picture.

This plane, the "Never Miss" resides by Uncle Dave. Very cool!

Here's the Memphis Belle in the air. I guess Tyler didn't do much damage.

Overall, the first couple of hours were nice... now it is time to take a shower! YUCK!

He's still my baby...

Even with his new hairstyle, right??

It is a dangerous thing when I get a lot done at work and then decide to attack what needs to get done at home... efficiency and function take over and Ryan's hair falls to the ground!!

We have a full weekend planned with tons of time outside and it is going to be HOT. We kicked off the fourth of July a couple of nights early with some fireworks last night. These were the first that Ryan would experience awake. Since it was three hours past his bedtime, I wasn't sure how he was going to react. But, he did great! He loved being outside playing in anticipation, loved the popcorn, twizzlers, and oreos. Maybe he was too sugared up to worry about the noise.

Here he is showing off his popcorn mouth.

Aren't they just too cute??

Ryan is adorable no matter his hairstyle, but I think we'll be going back to bangs in the fall.

Soccer

June 26, 2010 was Tyler's last day of soccer... probably ever!

This was his second season so I'd say we gave it a good try. Tyler doesn't seem to have the competative or team spirit at all. We spend many Saturday mornings watching him "play," which in Tyler's world meant prancing and dancing in the vicinity of the ball, but never actually touching the ball. Hmmm...

This picture shows exactly what I mean. If there was a ball in sight, it might look like he was right on top of the game, but no, that is not the case!




To be fair, he did really well at practice. He enjoyed all the drills his coach had them perform. It was something about game day that didn't fit with Ty.

Here is the whole team including his buddies from school, Tommy, Aaron and Tyler K.

During his first season Ty earned a medal.

This time his reward was a trophy! Very exciting.

Never again...

Graduation Video

I wouldn't recommend playing this too many times... it tends to get stuck in your head!!

"In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth... and it was good!"

Pre-School Graduation

We finally got to experience Tyler's much anticipated pre-school graduation celebration!! We were able to share this moment with multiple sets of grandparents, great aunts and uncles, as well as cousins. I am incredibly proud of Tyler. All of the kids did a great job!


A while ago the daycare director let me know that they had selected Tyler to play God in their presentation. I was concerned that this may go to Tyler's head, but no worries... he let me know that this was not his role of choice... he was very disappointed not to be playing Jesus!!




These kids were just too cute performing their songs, all carefully choreographed by the wonderful team at school. My heart swelled and I was unsuccessful at keeping the tears at bay.


Here is Tyler receiving his diploma. I'm sure I'll be looking back on this at High School Graduation and wondering what happened to this little boy. But for now, I wonder how we made it this far. Tyler was 12 weeks old on February 28, 2005 when he started at this daycare. His first teacher was there tonight.

He was tired after the celebration and requested a picture sitting down.

The night was a huge success, especially for Tyler who received two marriage proposals!! Wouldn't it be funny if Emmy or Faith turned out to be the one?? Ha!

I took a video of Tyler's grand performance, but I'm having trouble loading it so I'll have to do so separately. Be sure to check it out. "In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth... and it was good!"

In the meantime, check out this rap version of "The Wheels on the Bus."

CONGRATULATIONS TYLER!!

Random Kid Thoughts

I'm sitting in an airport waiting for the next plane to take me further away from my family for the second week in a row. While I hate being away from them, I love the excitement of my job and the challenge that my travels usually bring. Feeling torn is now a normal state of mind. I also know that my boys will do just fine without me and they're getting some special time together.

When I returned home last week, I found that Ryan is now a huge fan of Dan. His speech is very limited (although his non-verbal communication is quite clear) making any distinguishable words special. His favorite word is "daddy"... after "no," of course!

This past Sunday was Fathers Day. It was also beautiful so Dan decided to take Ty for a ride in the vette just before bedtime. Ryan picked up on what was going on and was found at the back door, shoes in hand. I hate seeing any of my boys disappointed and just thinking of his little face full of anticipation makes me sad. I wish I had let him stay up a little late for a ride. Instead I swooped him up and made a big production of getting ready for bed... somehow I don't think he forgot about the ride...

I hear that Tyler thoroughly enjoyed himself. Without a back seat, this is a rare opportunity to sit right next to Daddy in a car. And, Ty took full advantage of it, not being quiet for a moment. After what I'm sure was a very responsible acceleration from zero to the speed limit, Tyler turned to Dan and said "I love you Daddy." What a charmer. Dan also got to hear that Ty enjoys eating birds like chicken, turkey and ham (??!!) because birds have beaks and Ty doesn't want to get pecked. Interesting stuff rolling around in the head of a five year old!!

I love to hear the thoughts, musings and sometimes humbling things little people have to share. In my last post I shared my pleasure at hearing Nora tell me she loved me. Well, that didn't last long!! Less than two weeks after their departure from our house, we saw them again at Grandma's. And, my sweet little Nora asked me my name.

Don't worry Nora, I won't hold it against you... I may hold it against your mom and/or use it when making my plea for more time.