Okay so I’m over a week late…Zoe had art camp this past week so I’ve been more than busy! So, without further ado “how we celebrate our 4th!”

Aunt B and I cleaned up while Papa, Grandmere, the older kids, Mark and Uncle B took the kids out to do some fireworks and pop those snapper things.

Note, the girls with the ears covered and the boys looking on with great interest.

After family worship and getting ready for bed, Papa had some really colorful fireworks. Zoe fearless with a glint of cousin O covering her ears.

Josiah thought they were pretty cool too! Cousin G, not so much.

This concludes my posts on our 4th of July weekend. I know you are all thrilled to get back to the pictures and lives of our children at home doing boring ol’ stuff…cuz that’s just the way it is here…nothing much to report…anyways…

This month marks 40 years of marriage for Papa & Grandmere. To celebrate, Aunt B and I (oh yeah, and Papa and Grandmere’s sons!) threw a surprise anniversary party on the 4th of July. Yes, the timing quite interrupted a lot of peoples’ schedules and celebrations, however, that worked for us since we were all going to be there.

We wanted to celebrate as 40 years is a big deal. They are not only showing us how to stay together and the commitment they’ve made to each other, but they also creating a legacy to pass down to their grandchildren.

Aunt B and I collaborated for a gift. We took individual pictures of the kids feet and put it on a poster. We added Isaiah52:7 “How beautiful are the feet…” It was a great way to show them how much we appreciated their faithfulness to God and how it is being passed down to other generations.

We kept it casual and enjoyed a pot “blessing” (ya know, instead of potluck…anyway) meal with close family and friends.

Now, I will say that Papa snooped at his sister’s house and saw the invitation about 10 days out. Sneaky little thing. To his credit, he kept it all a surprise for Grandmere. Which was really cool to surprise her. She really didn’t have a clue until we started setting things up in the house and pulling things out.

I think the next time we try to pull something like this off, Aunt B and I are going to wear nametags:

Mine: My name is Abbie. I’m married to Mark (the younger one) and we’re the ones without twins.

Aunt B: My name is Aunt B. I’m married to B and we’re the ones with twins.

By now you’re probably thinking you’ve seen enough of my kids and adorable nieces and nephews…guess what?! It’s my blog, I can post pics of them all I want to…so here we go.

Papa and Uncle B and Mark set up the swimming pool…after a little play in it, the kids took a break to eat popsicles.

That’s the cutest way to eat a popsicle if ever I saw one.

Here too! This is Cousin H.

Simply adorable!

Mark then set up the slip n’ slide that Josiah got for his birthday. In retrospect, since our little ‘Siah is none too fond of the sprinkler water things, we should have saved it for Ace, but it worked out that the others got to play on it. Mark showed them how to slide which was quite fun for him. No, I didn’t get on it…one of us had to be ready to drive the van to the ER. No major injuries…these things are more tough and Papa and Grandmere’s yard has less rocks than mine growing up.

Cousin J…he’s the oldest, and I think was really glad to have something he could do since he’s now too big for the little pool.

Ace diving!

Zoe

Cousin H…a little word about him. I’ve described him as “Liam on speed!” He’s a great kid but he is high energy all the time! Lots of fun too.

We were told well before our trip that Papa had a surprise for the kids. Knowing Papa, he’s always got something cooked up for them and it could be anything. So, on Saturday morning, right before a photographer came to the house, in rolled this…

The kids ran from window to window to see what it was and guess.

When Zoe realized what it was she said, “Papa could have given us candy as a surprise but this is waaay better!”

Getting set up…

And…you’ll have to wait till the next post to see it in action!

Be prepared to be bombarded with pictures of my adorable children, nieces, and nephews (not to mention some pretty sweet lookin’ grandparents and aunts and uncles, etc). This past weekend we traveled to Papa & Grandmere’s house. Mark’s brother and sister-in-law, B & B traveled there too. So, are you ready for a kid/adult count? Here goes: six adults, one 9 year old, two 6 year olds, two 4 year olds, one 3 year old, two 2 year olds, two 1 year olds, one 3 month old…eleven kids 9 and under. What a crew! Papa made sure there were plenty of surprises and fun to keep them busy. Over the next few days my blog will be full from the weekend trip!

Up first, we celebrated missed birthdays and father’s day…and Mark’s birthday (which was that weekend).

Papa’s father’s day…Snapfish has a great program to put in pictures and it makes a coffee mug collage…something that Papa uses everyday.

Josiah’s birthday celebration…piece by piece.

Mark is 30! FINALLY! We’re thrilled to have welcomed him on the otherside. For his birthday he got (just gotta brag because I thought it was great planning), Olive Garden salad and breadsticks, lasagna, Snickers Cake (that was delicious if I do say so myself…he had a Snickers cake for his groom’s cake and I’ve been trying to replicate it for nine years…finally able to). And for his present…we will be going to see a shuttle launch. There are only a few more before they retire the shuttle. I wanted him to be able to do somethign he had never done or would ever do on his own. Unfortunately, he’ll have to wait until next year. We’re full up with stuff until then.