Softball in the Park

For a Family Home Evening, we met some friends in the park for a little lesson, softball and treats. It was a gorgeous night!
Some of the baby boys got in on the action. Kyce was a spectator.

I just loved this picture of Kyce and his little crib buddies! His Monkey (from Rosie Denny), his Build a Bear (from Grandpa and Grandma) and his Glow Worm from us.

A Reason to Celebrate.

Over the 4th of July weekend, we celebrated my Parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary and my Mom's Birthday.

40 Years Ago..
And now!


The Head Table..then and now.

The same flowers

Pammy (Flower Girl) Karen (Bridesmaid) Doug (Groomsman)

The Cake...then
and now!
It was a lot of fun and I shed a few tears while putting together the power point presentation.
These were some of my favorite pictures. I didn't get great pictures that day and I am kind of bummed about it. It was hard trying to carry a camera around and a baby at times.
During the presentation Courtney, the oldest Grand Daughter, and Noah, the oldest Grandson, wore my Mom's Dress and my Dad's Navy Uniform. I am waiting for a picture from Emily. It brought tears to our eyes. It was really neat.

Benjy's parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary 2 years ago.

I am so thankful that Benjy and I both have parents that have been such great examples to us and someday Benjy and I look forward to celebrating 40 years together~

A Long Lost Friend..

Here is another reason why I love Facebook. A couple of weeks ago, Jill Kiefer Ferguson found me. Jill and I use to teach 3rd Grade together at Lois Craig Elementary in Las Vegas, we even lived together with our husbands for 2 weeks while they were waiting for their Teacher Next Door house to be ready. I assumed she lived in Indiana, where both her and her husband are from. I looked at her current city and found out that we are living about 30 miles from each other. Here we are 7 years later... at Como Zoo. The last time we saw each other we both lived in Vegas and after a couple of moves for both of us...who would have thought? She has two beautiful little girls and we had a great day together.
This is Kaydree with her friend Grace and one of Jill's little girls, Ainsley.
It was so cute how Ainsley and Kaydree became buddies.

and...why do we bring strollers?
I love Kyce's crashed out look!
I have to say that it was really neat meeting up. I just loved connecting a bit of my past with the present. We all look forward to getting together again, soon!

9 Guys + 3 boats...

= a great time.

Every year my brothers, Dad and Benjy go with 5 other guys out to Whitlock Bay in South Dakota to go fishing. This year it fell over Fathers' Day weekend. As usual they had a great time and caught a lot of fish. Benjy never wants to bring the camera out with them, for fear of losing it. Plus he hates to take pictures. So we usually only get the before and after pictures.


Kaydree and Karsyn had a blast, hanging out with their cousins all weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

This is a great picture of Benjy peeling after his fishing sunburn!

Random Photos

Noah and Kyce
Grandma and Kyce

Kaydree's favorite way to do her hair these days.

The End of the School Year.

Now that I have comitted to catching up on blogging, I realize just how far behind, I am. The end of the school year just seems (I don't want to chose a negative toned word) however, how many movies did the girls watch, how many field trips can they squeeze in? Kaydree's class worked on play practice all day long for weeks and then took an entire morning putting them on for parents. (Kaydree blogged about her play) Should our children really be packing up classrooms and washing off tables and desks? I understand them cleaning their own mess, but extending that to the teacher's stuff and the job of the custodians, seems somewhat, wasteful. It is what it is... and I am sure things won't change for next year. OH, well. Karsyn graduated from Kindergarten and then the next day of school was a trip to Como Zoo.

I had to wait for Kaydree to go to school that day a little late so that she had been away for 24 hours on eye drops. I arrived late with Kyce to the Zoo, it took 25 minutes to find a spot to park and it was extremely hot and humid. When I walked in to find Karsyn and her group this is what I saw....
it was the first day back for the Polar Bears. News crews and just about every school in the area was there. CRAZY. Maneuvering a stroller and finding Karsyn was no easy task. Thank goodness her soccer coach was there and texted me so that I could find them. (Gotta love technology!)
We waited to 10 minutes just to get a picture by the giraffe statues. Karsyn was committed to wearing her polar bear ears the entire day! Yay, for Karsyn putting in a great year of Kindergarten!

Saying Goodbye...

to people is difficult however so is saying goodbye to a house that holds so many memories.

Over Memorial Day Weekend we went to Marshall for some graduation receptions and we had one of them at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was the first time I had ever seen it completely empty and most likely the last time I would ever walk through it. So many memories of visiting from Colorado to spend time with our cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents. We would drive hours and hours and we were always so excited pulling into Grandma and Grandpa's house. After Holidays or long summers, we would leave their house usually in the wee morning hours and I still picture Grandma standing on the front step, waving goodbye and crying.
About this time last summer my Grandma fell and broke her hip and she had to succumb to an assisted living facility. Which is very nice and has lots of activities for her to participate in, however it isn't home to her. After a long winter and maybe the realization of not being able to drive anymore, she decided to sell her house. (A very wise decision)

This was the room that my parents slept in that was later made into a laundry room after Grandma couldn't do the stairs anymore. When I would visit from college and my parents were out west for work, I would sleep in this room.

The kitchen is where we spent most of our time. Right before my Grandpa passed away from cancer, we were going to Subway, but he didn't feel well enough to go, so Grandma and I went and got it and brought it back. I still remember our conversation and it helped me know when I met Benjy that he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. When we spent our summers here, Grandma usually made us fried eggs with crispy edges, toast with grape jelly and Sunny D.

In this corner, in front of the bookshelf always sat a reclining chair that we would play behind as kids. Grandpa use to sit and watch cartoons and laugh, the most contagious laugh. We usually couldn't walk past his chair without him pinching us, tapping us on the leg or teasing us in some way.
Two years ago, my mom and I cleaned up this back room and here it is completely empty. It was such an odd feeling walking through this empty house. We know that this is the right decision however it marks a different time and season in our lives. When you lose something that has been such a pillar of stability in your life, even if it is a physical object, it reminds you that a lot of time has passed and this is a huge change.

I am so glad that we got to have one last gathering at this old house that has held so many fond memories. We moved many times when I was growing up for my dad's work but Grandma and Grandpa's house was always a house that I could come home to. Grandpa and Grandma and their home, were always a constant in our life. Part of who I am and what I hold dear, developed in the memories and lessons I learned while spending time in this house with the people I love.

Kyce's Milestones

Kyce is taking after his sisters and is a tiny little peanut. We often hear how tiny/skinny he is... the doctor laughs when I ask him about it. He looks at the girls and asks us what did you expect? For our own peace of mind after he nurses we try to supplement him with formula. (Just to make sure he is getting enough) Of course we have been doing this for a couple of months and he hasn't gone up in the charts at all, but it makes me feel better. When I use to worry about the girls' weight and height, My brother once said, "You don't breed two Dachshunds (weiner dogs) and get a Great Dane." I have to admit, it's fun that other family members are enjoying feeding times, also! Kyce also has a new found love for baby food!

In the last two months, Kyce decided to start sitting, crawling (everywhere) and he just popped two teeth.

Why Does One Fall Behind in the Summer?

The summer has brought on a crazy busy schedule and yet we have found time to enjoy our time together. Here are my top reasons for not blogging...or excuses?
1. The Girls are out of school and we have been trying to get out and do things when the weather has been nice.
2. Kyce doesn't sleep like he use to and no longer enjoys playing in his confined exersaucer and now wants to crawl everywhere and requires undivided attention, so one can not get on the computer.
3. Benjy and I are now enjoying, Lost, the Television series on DVD. Instead of blogging while he watches the Discovery or History channel, we are sitting together after the kids go to bed, watching Lost and we love it!
4. The girls have been deep into soccer, I now, REALLY, know what it means to be a SOCCER MOM. We have put on the miles, let me tell you!
5. We have been traveling back to Marshall a lot. (fishing trip, Birthday, Anniversaries)
6. This weekend marked the end of some intense computer work. I haven't allowed myself to get on my own blog in order to check other blogs because in my spare time, I have been putting together a slide show for my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary. It required a lot of scanning of pictures. (blogs to come)
It has been a great summer and we are looking forward to our trip to Washington for the Villarreal Family Reunion. I am hoping to be caught up before then, so that I can continue to keep a Family Journal that hopefully someday my children and grandchildren will cherish.