Clarkston - Part 4

Yummy S'mores!

A movie night...the joys of Grandma and Papa's trailer. I am so glad Jud could be held and loved on by his 89 year old Great Grandma.....

and 90 year old Great Grandpa!

Clarkston -Part 3

The schedule was pretty packed between potluck dinners and the talent show/reception for Grandpa and Grandma. Aunt Carol and "Johnny" emceed the event. The talent of this clan really came through as the show lasted two hours! Jud and J.R. loved every minute of it. :)
Jared played Tennessee Waltz again.

Jesse played and sang the Ballad of Davy Crockett, including a special verse written about Grandpa Kuykendall.



Performing was a first for our little guys. Justin and J.R. sang a duet, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." Usually Justin does really well, but of course he was nervous. Not J.R....as soon as he realized the microphone was turned on he went for it. :)

An unpracticed trio by John and Sally's "original three." We outlaws didn't join them. :)I thought this picture of Lauren was so cute. J.R. had a good time making her smile.

Clarkston- Part 2

We were definitely ready to be at the campground! Chief Timothy is a beautiful place. BJ took Jared, Jesse, Justin, Brady, and Reaghan swimming. It was good they went when they did. We either didn't have time or it was rainy the rest of the trip. Reaghan got to wear the beloved floater suit since her parents were not there yet with her stuff! :)

Of course a target was set up at the Kuykendall reunion. Knife and tomahawk throwing is in their blood. :) I guess it explains BJ's redneckedness.

Clarkston Trip - Part 1

We had a nice time last weekend at the Kuykendall Family Reunion in Clarkston. I was surprised at how well the drive there went. (The way home was another story!) Here we are enjoying a McDonald's breakfast in Portland at 8am. Jared's schedule was a little turned around since we left the house so early. He thought we were eating breakfast so late!

We picnicked for lunch and the weather was beautiful!

The boys wore their In-n-Out burger shirts from Grandma Sally and Papa. They thought the shirts were so cool. At one point Jesse was wearing his backwards so he could look at the muscle car!

The Boys' Parade

Jared, Jesse, and Justin felt inspired after Rose Parade! Our only baby doll in the house....Baby Isaac has been through a lot the past 7 years!

Rose Parade

Since we had to be in Portland all weekend, we decided to go to the Rose Parade. We have missed the last few years so it was a fun treat for the boys.

The only time it is okay to play in the middle of the street! Lots of sidewalk chalk, jumping rope, and frisbee. Rose Parade is an all morning affair. Half of the fun is the hours spent waiting for the parade to begin. Uncle Rick and Brady get there very early to save our spot and we arrive around 8am, with the parade getting to us by 11am. Jud did pretty good considering. :)
John has never met a stranger! Although we seem to sit next to this same man every year!

Justin loved the Indians. J.R.'s favorite.... the mot-e-cycles. I gotta say, the Indianapolis Police did a routine on their fancy Harley's that was amazing. It was probably my favorite too. :)

40 Years

June 12th was my wonderful in-laws' 4oth wedding anniversary. What a blessing they have been to our family! We were overjoyed to have an opportunity to give back to them for once. On Friday night the three siblings and families celebrated at Saylor's Country Kitchen....complete with dinner, cake, a sibling trio, and gift for a family picture to be taken in September.

Thank you for the love and commitment you have shown all these years.

I thought my cake turned out cute...even if it was super dry! That's what I get for trying to feed Jud while it is baking. So much for multi-tasking. :)

Fiddle Recital

Here are pictures from Jared and Jesse's fiddle recital a week ago. The boys did a great job... and it was a lot of fun having the recital in the Voetberg's home. We also enjoyed having Aunt Linda join us for the evening. :)

Sorry about the unsteady recording. I was holding a wiggly two year old on my lap. :)

(Jesse playing Red Wing)

(Jared playing Tennessee Waltz)

Seven on a couch

Jared thought it would be really neat to take a picture of all seven of us on the couch.....

So, here is a picture of the seven of us on our couch!

Rainy day wiggles

We have had soooo much rain lately. The other day they did great all morning and even during their quiet time. But, boy, once they were up I could just see the energy exploding out of them. I dug out a DVD of the songs from a past VBS and made them do the motions to every song. J.R. even tried to dance for a while which was very entertaining. :)

(Something didn't go J.R.'s way hence his "pouting" pose. We're working on it. :)

New tricks

Our little guy is now seven months old. Looking back at his newborn pictures, I can hardly believe how much children change in less than a year. Jud is such a joy. We are all enjoying his smiles and new tricks. :)

Here he is sitting up.....sort of! (With a little more practice, I think he will have this skill down.)

Notice the spit up dribbling out of his sweet mouth. Aaahhh, life with baby Dud. :)

Jud is now eating pureed food....and loving it.

His best trick of all.....sleeping through the night (most nights anyway.) :)