Ivan's Wedding

So my little brother Ivan, who is the baby of the family got married again this past month.  We were invited and able to go to the wedding.

Ivan seems really happy which he has not been for a long time.

Beckett was his usual monster self.

Dillon was my big helper he kept track of all the kids for me and ran around doing what ever I asked him to do.

My mom made the cake, and she was really disappointed with how it turned out.  It was a very liner cake, so any shifting or settling (which cakes always do) was accentuated.  She felt like it was all topsy tervy.  I don't think it looked too bad.

Elleree was one of the flower girls.  We were all disappointed, because the dresses didn't show up in time, so they had to borrow some.  Oh well Elleree was cute any way.

Pierce was the ring bearer and did a fantastic job.  The wedding and reception was in Dakota's parents backyard.

The ceremony was hotter than hell, and I'm not even going to apologize for saying that, because it was.  I swear we all almost melted.  All of the men in Ivan's line had to wear pink shirts, which they all absolutely loved, NOT.

Dakota was beautiful, and cute as a button.

Beckett found a hole in their backyard that he loved to play in.

I had to put this in because this is classic Beckett is always tackling Elleree and hitting her.  Even though she is twice his size.

That is the look of the monster.

Elleree changed out of the dress as soon as she could.  She said she didn't like it, she is kind of a snob sometimes.

Some of my cousins were there.  This is Garrett, he is the same age as Ivan.

The kids were constantly beating him up and he was such a good sport.

The cute couple before they cut the cake.

Dakota got him soooo good.  I was really proud of her.

The first dance as husband and wife.

Which didn't last long, because Pierce and Truman wanted to join in too.

Truman thinks Dakota is the bomb.  So does Ivan's daughter Pasley, she was not able to come to the wedding.  She calls Dakota "my kota", it is way cute.

All the kids got their grove on, and we had a lot of fun.

Two of my mom's sisters where able to make it to the wedding, so that was awesome.

 My mom with Dillon, he wouldn't dance with me, but he would with her.

 My cousin Betsy and I (and my brother Heath).  She is one of the cousins from the family we are supper close to.  She lives in Arizona, so I don't get to see her as much as I would like.  I didn't hang out with her enough when she was here.

That was Ivan's wedding.

Vaden Reunion

This last weekend we went to the Vaden family reunion.  It is the first one since my grandma passed on, she was the one who used to try to get all of her children together.  There are 8 of them, so sometimes it proved difficult, they were all there this time.  I realized how much as a mother you want your kids to get along and be together. Then, on the other hand as a sister I realize how hard it is to do that. 

This is our little cabin we stayed in.  It slept like a millon people, but it was only my mom and dad and my family.  My other siblings we not able to make it.

The kids, and adults got prizes, this is Truman with his awesome strechy hand thingy.

The kids painted birdhouses for a craft, and the girls made these cute head bands like Elleree is wearing.

We played tons of games, this one seems to have been an all boys affair.

Now I see how Jason always wins.

The girls also got to make these cute watermelons that are behind my cousin Patrick Swayze, I mean Tucker.

I got to see cousins, aunts and uncles that I only get to see once a year normally.  It is tons of fun to catch up. 

This is my cousin Spencer, I am really close with his family because for two summers his parents put up with us in Seattle while we were nannies.

This is what he looked like when I was there. Super cute right?  Sorry Spencer I couldn't resist. HeHeHeHeHe. 

It was just great to see all my family, and I know that my grandma would have been happy to see all of her kids, grand-kids, and great grand-kids together.

4th of July 2012

Once again we headed to Mackay for the 4th of July.  We almost missed the fishing pond in the park, but we made it.  I did not however get any pictures...bummer.  I got some awesome pictures of our fireworks though.

 Mister man was very tired

 I put this picture in because, I rarely have pictures of me, I am always taking them. I want to prove to my kids (in the future) that I really did do things with them.

 Beckett cracked me up the entire time.  When the older kids started throwing POPS Beckett tried throwing the rocks on the side of the road, he thought that was what they were throwing.

 Most of the fireworks made him a combination of terrified and fascinated. 

 He had a really bad head cold, combined with a few milk duds, and viola.

 This is my favorite: Before

 and After. Love it!!!

 Elleree danced around the whole night.

 Truman tried to take the fireworks apart.  I swear Jason almost died trying to get some of them to work after Truman pulled out the fuses.

 At first Beckett was afraid of the sparklers.

 Then he was okay if dad helped him.

 Later he thought they were pretty cool.

 He had battles with Elleree, and waved that thing around with abandonment.  I was scared for him a couple of times. 

Dillon and Truman like to pretend they were fighting with wands like on Harry Potter.

 Then Elleree danced some more.

 I tried to get some cool pictures with them when it got dark, but they would not cooperate.

I did get this one with Jason. 

Reading Reunion

Earlier this June we went to the Reading reunion, which is actually the Larson reunion, because it is all of Jason's mom's family.  I forgot my camera so I had to use my phone. I only took like two pictures and they are very high quality.

 We had it at the Blackfoot pond.  We spent most of the day in the water because it was so hot.  But we were all over that.  Here is Dillon with his cousin Josh.  These two are so funny together.

It was fun to see all of Jason's cousins, and hang out with all of Jason's siblings too.  We are not all together very often, so when we are it is pretty special.  Here is Elleree in a tube with Jason's cousin and niece in a boat behind.  It was a good weekend, and we all really enjoyed ourselves. 

Sum Sum Summer Time

Mostly I don't know why I am so far behind but I am...

At the begining of the summer we were all about water skiing.  We went a couple times a week.

 We did some bonding, and Beckett found that he loves gum.  Look closely and you can see it in his mouth as he says cheese.

 We are trying to get Elleree on the knee board, she loves it as you can tell.

 We have also been working on getting Dillon up on one.  So far no success, but I think by the end of summer we will have some.

 Beckett has also found the rear view mirror and loves it.

 Mostly he just loves himself in it, hence the kissing of it/himself.

 I will tell you what I love, him in his awesome glasses.

 He will keep them on forever even while he is feeding his face.  Crack me up.

 Most days end with the kids and me being exhausted.  You may ask why this is the only picture I have of Truman.  It is because despite his bragging to everyone, he really only just rides in the boat.  We have to make him try and do anything, besides tubing, and even then he whines if we go to fast. 

 Dillon really loves to ski though, and he does it forever.  I love that he likes to do it!

 The kids have played in our cool pool.

 Once again, why is a tummy so cute on little bodies, and not so much on me?

I think they are had fun despite the small size of the pool.