Our little grandchildren are growing so fast and it really shows at Halloween time.  These photos are in the order of when we saw them.

This year Avery went as Dorothy.  This little Dorothy
was like the tornado, always moving.

I had to include this shot to prove that she did have ruby slippers.

Jane was such a cute little chick, but not ready to smile about it.

 Riley and Addison did an amazing job of holding still while being made up.

Presley was done by the time we got there.

Quite the combination here with the skeleton of Jack Sparrow, Young Dracula and Princess Strawberry Shortcake. 

We were worried for a while, but the clown and the dead football player finally showed up.  I guess the big sisters were just to old for trick or treating.

Our August Family Reunion

I hesitate to really call it a family reunion since neither Wade's nor Eric's families were able to make it, but for those of us that were there we did have a wonderful family reunion.

I want to give a very special thanks to Kathryn and Trevor for hosting it at their home.

The first Evening we kind of relaxed and enjoyed watching Campbell hosing down his sisters.  There was lots of laughing and running and water.

On Thursday Kathryn and Trevor took us to a fun and lovely park on the Snake river where the kids (even some of the "older kids") could play in the water.

As is always the case at family reunions, cousins get to play and talk and get to know each other better.

And of course it's always a great time to catch up on some much needed rest.

Thursday evening it was Grandma and Grandpa's turn for the activity and we brought the makings of more wet times with water balloon volleyball.

It was great to see how much fun they had together and how well they cooperated to make those balloons really fly. 

Of course they didn't get wet enough with that one so later on we had some water balloons to add to the fun.  This shot was taken just before they all ganged up on grandpa who got soaked.

Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of when grandma almost killed grandpa when she tossed a water balloon in his face just as he took a deep breath and ended up with a lung full of water. 

It was a couple days late, but we could not let the time go without having Jane's first birthday party.  Her and Avery had a wonderful time with the chocolate icing on the cupcakes.

Friday, was a wonderful day of fun in the dirt. I don't think you could ask for a better host than Trevor who went to a lot of work to make sure we all had a great time. He shared his and even borrowed some ATVs for us to play on.

One was just Megan's size and so she got pretty much exclusive use of it to the point where she had a pretty sore thumb from pressing the throttle control.

Jeff and Avery had a great time as they were introduced to this new fun method of transportation through the hills and dirt.

Anna and Hallie had a wonderful time together and Hallie was so sweet to her cousin to let her do most of the driving.

After numerous attempts to get grandma on a four wheeler Tamra finally convinced her that she would be gentle enough and so off they went.  Grandma says she had a great time.

That evening we had another wonderful activity courtesy of Dustin and Tamra.

Each of the kids got several opportunities to knock the stuffing out of the pinata which Tamra had not only filled with lots of candy, but also several toys and activities for the kids. They were likely on sugar highs for days afterwards.

We very intentionally set our reunion, both time and location, around the special event that occurred on Saturday August 6th.  Megan was baptized and confirmed by her father.  It was a wonderful occasion.   I'm not sure who was more excited, Megan or Avery.  I think it was Megan, but immediately after she came up out of the water Avery announced in a loud and excited voice for all assembled "Megan's baptized".  She repeated it a couple times as the congregation happily chuckled.

After a wonderful lunch at Granny's Buffet, Megan's favorite restaurant, courtesy of Trevor and Kathryn, Jeanne and I hugged Kathryn, Trevor, Melissa, Jeff and our sweet grandchildren goodbye with a lump in our throats and a little dampness in our eyes, and we headed off to a cousin's of mine who lives about 30 miles north of the tri-cities.  Sorry, no photos of that.  We had a great visit with my cousin Glenda and her husband Steve.

On Sunday, after church with Glenda and Steve and a delicious lunch we headed out to meet up with Dustin and Tamra and family and head toward there home in Albany.  On the way there was a beautiful waterfall that I had heard about called Panther Creek Falls, about 25 miles north of the Oregon/Washington border.  It was well worth the trip and was certainly among the most beautiful places I've ever been to.  You'll find photos of it on my blog (Click here to see it on my blog) and I also posted it on my flickr account (Click here).

I had told Dustin that the climb down to get the best photos of these falls had been called "semi-dicey" by at least one person who had done it, he refused to let me be there alone.  I really appreciated his help and attentiveness.  It was great to have him there.

We had a wonderful stay at a rented beach house.  Only a short walk away was a wonderful beach where we spent some time.

 

We spent a good part of two of our days on the Oregon coast out on the peer crabbing. Then on Wednesday evening we ate our fill of fresh crab meat.  What a tasty treat.

It was a wonderful time, both in Washington and Oregon, and one I will remember for the rest of my life.  I only wish that Wade's and Eric's families could have been there.  Once more I want to express my deepest thanks to both Kathryn and Trevor and Dustin and Tamra for being such wonderful and thoughtful hosts.


Oh, one last thing. . . . While at the beach house on the coast our little Missy had been left in her kennel in the garage while we went out crabbing.  When we got home she was so excited that after a few minutes she decided to jump to "her momma".  Unfortunately, grandma didn't know that Missy was coming and instead of hitting "her momma" Missy hit the concrete garage floor and as she did she began to yelp in pain.

45 minutes later the vet showed me the X-Ray showing where her tibia and fibula had snapped.

This was taken yesterday as Missy scooted up the steps holding her splinted leg to her side.  It's slightly blurry because she is moving pretty fast.  The vet says in 6 to 8 weeks she'll be "as right as rain".








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Sean Becomes a Deacon

Sean turned 12 on April 12th and so it was time for him to become a Deacon.  Grandma suggested that I fly up and be with him on this important occasion which I was very happy to do, though I do wish both of us could have gone.







I got there on Saturday morning so I was able to go to Sean's Birthday Party that afternoon where we did an indoor miniature golf and laser tag.  Tamra and I joined them for the miniature golf and Tamra latter said she wished she had joined them for the laser tag.  I was content taking pictures.

Of course on Sunday we attended church where Dustin ordained Sean a Deacon.  He also gave him a very nice blessing in conjunction with the ordination.

During the day on Monday Dustin had an important mid-term exam and Tamra had here day-care business to run so while Sean and Anna were in school I took a drive around and took some photos.  Some I have already put on my Just Used Pixels blog.  I couldn't pass up this very nice little train station in Albany.  If you look closely you'll see that I was even there on a day when there was actually some blue peaking through the clouds.

On Monday evening, our family home evening consisted of going to Sean and Anna's final Archery Class of the year. 

Since this was the final class they got to have a little fun by shooting out balloons, some of which had prizes in them.

Sean had just got some new sites installed on his bow, so even though they were out of adjustment a little so he didn't hit the balloon every time, as you can tell by this photo where the two arrows are essentially going in the same hole he's got a deadly aim.

You can see by the look on Anna's face that when it comes to sending that arrow down range she is very serious.  She also is an excellent shot.  I think she was the first of all the kids there to get every one of her balloons popped.  Her and Sean both ended up winning baseball caps and chocolate bars.  I'm really glad I went, we had a great night and I was very proud of both of them.

Sadly on Tuesday it was time to leave.  I'm so glad I went up.  I had a ball and I just wish Grandma could have gone with me.  Next time for sure.

Riley's Baptism

Saturday, March 26th was a special day for us all as Riley was baptized along with his cousin Landon Kimber.  It was a great day and a great Baptism Meeting.  Skyelie gave a talk on B-A-P-T-I-S-M in which she talked about how each of those letters helped us remember important things about baptism and the covenants we make.  She did a SUPER job and we were very proud of her.  Afterward we went over to Jannica's brother's home, nearby and had a super lunch.  All in all a wonderful day.

WAY TO GO RILEY!!!

We are so proud of the wonderful decision you made.

Special Day, March 13, 2011

I thought it would be good to have a record of the family on the special day when Jeff was sustained and set apart as the 2d counselor in the new Bishopric in their ward so I took some photos. It will be interesting to see how he and they have changed by the time he is released.

While the camera was out I got one of the two sisters together.

Jane has been doing this new thing with her tongue lately that is so cute, but, of course, she wouldn't do it while the camera was there.  We did get this really cute expression though that I thought everyone might enjoy.

Big Fun in the Snow

I have been talking to Eric and Jeff about getting the grand-kids out for a sledding party this year. Sunday night at our family get-together I realized that Monday was Presidents' Day and a school holiday so we quickly put together a sledding event. Unfortunately Jeff had to work and Avery and Jane had coughs, soooo that just left Eric's and Wade's families. Also unfortunately, Skyelie had recently had her tonsils out and didn't feel up to coming out with us and Makenzie's knee was sore and so she didn't come. Tooo bad darn it, because the rest of us had a great time at a place called Hidden Hollow with sleds, tubes, Hot cocoa and donuts.

Awesome Visitors

I'm only about a month late in posting this, but we had an exciting visit just after Christmas last month when Margie Uminski Walker and her husband Andrew stopped by to visit and introduce us to Andrew.  There blog is here.  You should go visit it if you haven't recently.  We are so pleased that they stopped by.  If you read this Margie and Andrew, we hope you won't be strangers next time you're down this way.