Grandma's Birthday 2017

On our girls road trip last month we were talking about how it had been forever since Auntie M had been up to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin, so we hatched a plan for her (and Aunt Penny and Ben) to come up and visit for Grandma's Birthday. We knew Uncle Kyle and family would be here so it was a perfect opportunity for us to all spend time together, celebrate Grandma's Birthday, and check out the cabin. I think the best gift we can ever give Grandma is time with her family so she was in heaven. We even managed to take a little hike down to check out the creek, which was beautiful.

It was really hot up in the mountains which was crazy because it was literally 60+ degrees warmer than it had been the weekend before when we had been bundled up and freezing. Luckily Grandpa came prepared with squirt guns and the kids had no problem squirting anyone that needed a cool down. Unfortunately Kieran got out of control once and blasted Grandma's SUV but other than that and a couple scuffed knees it was a fairly relaxing day up in the hills. One of the cutest things was Ben's obsession with Lydia. He basically decided she was his baby and would start crying as soon as anyone else tried to hold her, it was so precious!!!

Father's Day 2017

Father's Day morning the boys surprised Jon with some crafts and questionnaires they had worked on for him and we experimented with an oatmeal pancake recipe per Jon's request. I sent my Dad a collage I put together of the two of us over the years and him with the boys when they were newborns that made both of us tear up. We then went into dinner prep mode and the boys helped me make a pie and cobbler while Jon put meat on the smoker. As has become the tradition, we hosted a Father's Day dinner for both sides of our family. An added bonus was that Uncle Kyle, Aunt Kari, Annaliese, Haleigh, and Lydia came down to visit for a few days. We had a fun evening with a house full of wild children and the boys loved every second of having all of their cousins under one roof for the first time ever! It was a fun evening celebrating some of the special Dads in our family!

Family Time in the Mountains

Grandma, G-Momma, and Auntie Laurie all have Birthdays pretty close together. They decided to celebrate this year by spending a few days up at the cabin with Grandpa and Uncle Peter too. We spent all day Sunday with them, but we also were able to have dinner with G-Momma when she arrived on Friday. She was pretty exhausted after a very long day but managed to keep up with the dinner table antics (including a "massage" from Reed) and play a board game with us before they headed out.

Sunday we took a stroll through Grant Grove with everyone and then went back to the cabin for lunch, more games, and a scavenger hunt. It was really cold for this time of year and we kept marveling at ourselves bundled up in June shivering!!! We had a great time and were bummed when it was time to head back down the hill.

Reed was very excited to take his camera along for the hike and it was pretty cute watching him try to fit the giant trees in his frame. He got some really great shots and picked out his four favorites to share: