Tuesday, August 26, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATELYN!!!

Ok, so her birthday is not until October, but by then our local amusement park will be closed. Normally, we just have a family party, but we've told our children when they turn 10 they get to have a friend party. Both David (who had his party last year) and Katelyn chose to take friends to a local amusement park for their party.






Since it is extremely expensive to eat at the park, we stopped at McDonald's for their fine dining. Here are Katelyn, Hailey, Rebekah and Anna enjoying the feast.





Sisters Rebekah and Anna give Katelyn a Webkinz as a gift. A big hit!!






Hailey and Katelyn with my brave husband. I asked my husband to join us girls on our trip. I just felt safer having a big, strong man with us poor, helpless females.;) He willingly came although he was injured. He had a torn ACL in his knee, yet he bravely hobbled along with us.
Thanks, Hon!!





One of my husband's favorite rides. Since his knee is injured, this was one of the few rides he could ride with relative ease.






My favorite ride.




The last picture of the evening. I think games are a waste of money. You already pay to get into the park, and now they want to take more money. For some reason, kids want to play games. The girls are holding the fruit of their labor. Totally worth the zillion dollars it cost, right?


I honestly don't understand some adults sometimes. The girls wanted to do a competitive game against each other. You know, the one where you aim the water at the hole and the whatchamacallit goes up. Well, the girls were all set up when 2 women walk by us.. My age, maybe a touch younger, they stopped and "sized up" the competition. One of them decided to play. Now really, you need a stuffed animal THAT bad, you need to play against 8-10 year olds. You would never do this, would you?

Well, that's when my husband decided to play. Thankfully, he won. The woman came in second. Of course, Shannon let Katelyn choose the prize. The unknown woman was visibly angry and walked away. As I said, I just don't understand some people.


Over all, this was the worst thing that happened all evening so it was a great time. The girls were well behaved. My husband was well behaved - most of the time.:) We all had a good time.





Friday, August 22, 2008

Every year, sometimes twice a year, we travel to Michigan. Most of my husband's family is from Michigan. I really, really like my husband's family. ( I have to say that . They might actually read this!) The next post contains pictures of all the cousins.

I can't seem to figure out how to type above the first picture, so I had to do a new post. It's annoying not being able to figure something out that probably is so very simple.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

After 2 months of waiting....PICTURES!!



Tyler - The third oldest out of the grandkids, but he's certainly the tallest. I wonder how tall he will be next year?






Zackary - Usually poses for you when you want a picture. I think he's fixing his hair in this one.
(Brother to Tyler)



Kurtis - I haven't quite figured Kurtis out, yet. I think he has hidden depth that needs more observation than I gave him. I'll try to pay attention better next year. He's the oldest of 4. The next 4 pics are of his siblings.




Ethan = TROUBLE, but a likable kind of trouble. I'm glad God did not give me the resposibility to keep him alive!!!






Conner - Last year he would not go near the pool. This year he took the plunge and liked it. At least I think he did; he has his own language that I have not mastered.





Josie - The youngest (so far) and the only girl. Her brothers are "all boy", but being "girly" seems to come natural to her. Here she is trying on my Brianna's shoes. You can't see her face, but she's cute. Trust me.




Brianna - She's not much of a swimmer, but she did enjoy getting in and out, in and out, in and out, in and.....well, you get the picture. This one, along with the next 3 kids, belongs to me.




Robert - What can I say?... his mouth is always open. There's always something important he needs to say.




Katelyn - OK, not the most flattering picture. We spent most of the time in the pool, so she looked like this a lot of the time.




David - (in the black shirt) My husband just cut his hair so he looks bald.

Shawna - (In the middle of the chaos above) My sister-in-law. She willingly gives us her room when we visit every year. She helps with the kids, almost non-stop. We tease her and adore her. She's working on getting her license, so if your in town...stay off the sidewalks!!





The Grandkids. 10 kids from 3 brothers (and their wives,of course)




The goofy picture.

In order to get a decent picture from a group of children, I have found that if I offer to take a goofy picture, after I get a picture I can live with, the kids will behave reasonably well for a couple of shots.