Fun in the summer birthday party!

Yesterday was a perfect SUMMER day in which to celebrate Preston's birthday!!

And we were all there to do so - can you tell the theme?

Notice the sharks on the swimsuit and shirt? This little fella just loves sharks and knows lots and lots about them too!

So, it was fitting that he received a shark slip 'n slide - and how wonderful that it was warm and sunny for the children to use it!
(He wasn't exactly slidding into the shark's mouth yet, but eventually he did so..)

AH, got through safely!

He also received a wonderful shark pool that had water squirting up!

Timothy is the one jumping in mid-air. Oh, they had fun!

Tobias enjoyed checking out his cousin's toys.

Another fun gift (that you may want to purchase too..) is this bubble machine.

(It's the yellow & orange thing you see sitting upon the bucket.)

The children just enjoyed the stream of bubbles so much!

(Great for photo opportunities too, as you can see.)

Brooklyn.

My favorite picture of the day. Doesn't it just say "joy!"?

Hannah.

Another classic childhood picture. Josiah.

Luke just oozes rhythm and motion.

Sean Patrick liked the bubbles, but he really LOVED that football and didn't want to put it down to have two free hands to capture the bubbles. Nope, the football was too important..

Happy Birthday Ben!

Yeah! 18!! Can you believe it?

Happy Birthday to my handsome nephew Ben!!

Happy Birthday to my honey!

Today my sweetie celebrates his birthday!
Happy Birthday honey!

The birthday train keeps rolling - Happy Birthday to Kyle!

Another day, another birthday in my family...

Happy 15th Birthday today to Kyle, my great-nephew!

Happy Birthday Ann-Margret

Happy Birthday today to my dear sister-in-law Ann-Margaret!

Hope you have a wonderful day - wish we lived closer so we could have some good quality time together!

Preston is 3 today!

I so dearly love this little face.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Preschool Vacation Bible School time!

After months of planning on behalf of Meghan, Susanne and Christine, our church

preschool Vacation Bible school week finally arrived! Such fun and music!

The children loved to sing out!!

and Preston was pleased to be old enough to participate.

I love the smiles of the "big" girls in the back.

(Brooklyn is third from the left, holding something red.)

Each classroom had a tent since they were on an adventure!

Some had campfires...

and some had rivers to cross... be careful!!

Some had to follow animal tracks ....

while others enjoyed the comforts of their tent home.

Brooklyn was enjoying game time in the fellowship hall.

and Preston was enjoying some play time before class time began.

And Sean Patrick (on the left) and a friend got to listen to a story in the nursery.

Meghan and Susanne did lots of planning; there were many wonderful workers/helpers/teachers to make things go smoothly.

The children are really enjoying this week. Thanks girls!

Someone is 11 months today

Is it possible that 11 months ago this little fella was born?

And now here is his pushing his little toys around looking like a little boy?

Grandpa and Grandma B. are very proud of him!

What a sweetheart.
Almost one year old!

Happy Birthday Stephanie & Jacqueline!

Happy 10th Birthday today to my twin nieces, Stephanie (in the orange shirt) and Jacqueline (in the back)! I miss you girls and wished we lived closer to each other!

It was a BIG day in our family when twin girls were born!!

I thought you'd enjoy seeing this silly picture from last Thanksgiving when your cousin Ben was willing to let you girls dress him up all crazy. (Ben has the crown, his sister Alison is in the white shirt).

Stephanie playing Wii - probably Mariokart, is my guess...


Jacqueline took time to demonstrate what she has learned during her violin lessons.

Stephanie, Alison, Ben and Jacqueline enjoy some fun together.

Grandma (and the largest stuffed animal I've ever seen) pose with Stephanie, Ben, Jacqueline and Alison.

Happy Birthday girls! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Grandkiddies at play

We had a nice memorial day, despite the damp weather. Adam & Andrea and the children came and Daniel & Meghan and the children stopped over and later on John & Sara and Tobias stopped by on their traveling towards their home. So, for a brief while we had everyone here and we hadn't planned it. I quickly grabbed my camera for some fun pictures.

The weather cleared in the late afternoon and we all went outside for some fresh air!

The old swing set was still a fun place to play.

As you can tell.

Josiah liked these little horse and riders from the sandbox. He found a sturdy place to set them.

Sean Patrick thought the balls from this "rodeo golf" game were just perfect for his little hands.

Hannah and Josiah had fun in the sandbox..

and then Tobias decided he wanted to see what it was all about.

He was very intent on watching his older cousins.

Preston and Luke found a better place to play - some dirt by the garden that I had not yet planted. These old toys were too big for the sandbox and the dirt here was just the ticket.

Now I have to think twice about planting flower seeds here..

And the "older" kids went inside by themselves after a while and settled together to read books. Isn't this cute?

I snapped a quick picture of my three sons.

And here is the picture of the whole group that Wally took.

I should have put the camera on a timer so Wally and I both got into a picture, but this was all so spontaneous, it just was easier to do this.

It felt great to all be together.