The Lake

On August long week-end, most of my Dad’s side of the family goes to the lake every year.  We hadn’t gone in 6 years since I was pregnant with Kiera.  We figured since we’re finally out of the baby stage now that we would go just for a day and see how it went.  It ended up being a FANTASTIC day and we all had a great time!

Most of the way there, Haley wanted to hold my Mom’s hand, which looked quite awkward.

I love how the scenery changes with rock on both sides of the highway.

After we turned off the main highway, the road was treed on both sides…I love trees.

This was right next to the lake.

Kiera went in the lake but then got cold, so she huddled in a tube for a while.

She liked being out on the dock.

We found out that Haley’s life jacket works very well as she fell into the lake!  Blake’s life jacket also worked very well when he fell into the lake, too!  I’m SO glad we made them wear them almost the whole time we were there.

In the boat with one of their 2nd cousins

A bunch of the kids went tubing…

…including Kiera!

My 5-year-old went tubing…she is way braver than I was at that age!

Blake waiting for supper…my cousins kindly let us use their cabin and we had a big fish fry/potluck supper with a bunch of family which was SO good!

Another 2nd cousin…there were a lot of them! :)

Kiera had so much fun with her and has been talking about her ever since, saying that she’s one of her favorite cousins…so sweet!

There is nothing like the sunset on the lake.  I love how God uses the sky to display His beauty and His glory.

When Family Came to Visit

So, it has been almost a month since my sister, brother-in-law and niece came to visit and I finally transferred my pictures onto the computer today.  Without further ado…

The night before they came, there was a gorgeous sunset behind our house. I sat on our imaginary deck and watched it (aka, I opened the door that will eventually lead to our deck and took pictures).

We went to my cousin’s wedding on July 20 and they handed out little bottles of bubbles, which Sophia enjoyed.

It had been a while since we took a sister picture.

Lookin’ fabulous!

Because tractor pictures are hot…

It had also been a while since we had done Mother/Daughter photos.

Ok, I promise no more windmill or tractor pictures.

The area outside where they got married was very pretty (the actually ceremony and reception were indoors)

Waiting for the reception to start

The head table

Caleb + Katrina

That was the most fun I’ve had at a wedding in a long time!  They had a dance afterward and it was just a blast!

It was very hard to get a picture with Haley of the two of us all dressed up for church, so this was the best one I got.

We went to the beach and as soon as we got there, the weather turned cool and when we left it was raining.  Oh well.

We went for supper to our favorite crepe restaurant and I thought these 2 were so sweet looking out the window side by side.

The last day they were here (they came on a Thursday and left on a Monday), my Grandparents came to my parents’ house for a visit.  Haley just woke up from her nap.

My Grandma is almost blind, in case you’re wondering about her sunglasses.

Right before they left, we went out for supper and shared a platter that included: one whole bbq chicken, a slab of side ribs, 1 pound of pulled pork, beans, coleslaw, corn muffins and fries.  SO good!  Their visit was short and sweet and we enjoyed our time with them immensely.  It had been exactly a year since we had seen them when we drove out to Washington.  I look forward to the next visit, hopefully at Christmas!

July = Water Fun

I can’t believe the summer is half over already!  We spent the holiday at the beginning of the month at the beach.  Our friends were camping there, so we met up with them and it was very close to a perfect day!

It was a bit of a drive, so they all had their blankies along.

Haley is not a big fan of water (except the bath), but she enjoyed the tube.

To prove I was there, too, I got Jared to take a picture of me, since I’m the one who’s always behind the lens instead of in front of it!

By the time we left around 4:00 (I think), they were all zonked!

I got out their turtle, which most people use as a sandbox, but the kids prefer to use it for a little pool

Kiera completed her first level of swimming lessons and she loves them (she’s currently doing the next level)! 

Pretty much the only time they all sit nicely on the couch together is when they’re watching a show.

I love that I’ve been catching them napping!

The rest of my pictures are on my camera, so there are more to come.