Father's Day festivities

Heading for the weekend visit

Garrett officially buckled into the forward facing carseat for his trip home. Such a sweet smile. He was so ready for his afternoon nap here. Hope they are having a blast with their Mom and Dad!

Saturday Shopping Trip

We had in mind what we wanted to buy Har for Father's Day. It was a new set of tools but first we had to look around just in case there was something other than that that we should pick up. Hayden found some clamps that Har might need.

We bought him these!

This is the set that we settled on. I'm pretty happy with our choice. I'm sure Har will be pleased that he doesn't have to hunt down bits and pieces of his poor depleted tool set that he got more than 25 years ago.

This set is right up his alley. "A place for everything and everything in its place". Krystle looked on and Har informed her that these were tools, not toys. That she and her sisters used to take his sockets and pretend that they were families with Dads, Moms and kids that went on vacations and traveled around the house.

The finished set. Now we are ready to get it initiated on the car or the van or the other car....

Father's Day outing

Our "little family" as we refer to the 3 youngest. The 5 oldest are the "original" family. Put them together these days with all the in-laws and grands and it is one really "BIG" family!

We were able to have half our kids + one son-in-law join us for lunch.

Courtney being difficult. "Sisters... Sisters... There were never such devoted sisters..." I love having 5 grown women in our family! Pretty soon we will have our 4th granddaughter to add to the group. Wonder if Alyssa and Logan's little one will be a girl in keeping with the boy-girl-girl pattern that we started. We shall hear fairly soon as an ultrasound has been scheduled for the middle of July!

Har's 30th Father's Day! Celebrated with lunch at the Olive Garden.

My newest cutie haircut

Courtney wanted her hair cut short. So when we got back here after lunch I snipped it for her. It looks really cute. It's gonna be cool for summer.

Charlie even liked it. So that counts for a lot!

It was a really relaxing day.

Which is something Har needs every now and then.

Hope all the dads out there had a wonderful Father's Day! Especially those 3 guys that are the Dads of our Grands. You are Supermen!

The Ultimate Gift

Bushels of Blessings

These are some of my favorite flowers. They aren't blooming yet this year but as I was looking through photos for this post I decided to include this shot. These hydrangeas remind me of Joylynn because of their color. Our first three girls that got married had hydrangeas associated with their weddings. Joylynn had them decorating her bridal shower, Alyssa had them decorating the reception that we had at Overlook Park, and we brought some to decorate at Cherise's outdoor reception. I love them in any color!

A year in pictures

It was pointed out to me that I have very few photos of Joylynn with Garrett on this blog. I tried to find some to walk through this past year. Joylynn and Jess blessed us with our 7th grandchild a year ago! The ultimate gifts: life and love!

Isn't this such a sweet and tender photo of the new mommy!!!

This picture taken at his two month check-up showed the mutual admiration they have for each other.

Five months old and again, you can see the connection Garrett has with Mommy.

Christmas 2010, Garrett is 6 months old. His momma helping open gifts while he checks them out.

Pizza night the day Garrett turned 7 months old! Nope he couldn't eat any that night.

Zoo trip at 8 months old. Happy and cozy in his Tigger stroller.

Vanna White wannabe!

I know this photo doesn't have much to do with Garrett but ... here's Joylynn the day our car showed up. We sure are enjoying this vehicle!!! We hit the jackpot on the bonus round with that one.

One year is a carseat milestone

Gar is still riding in his infant seat facing backward in our vehicles but it's time for a different seat so we can start facing him forward. I think he will like it so much better.

Doesn't he look like such a big guy?

Birthday Boy and Momma

He is such a happy, happy baby. He knows that he is loved and cherished. Isn't that the greatest gifts we can give our kids?

Thanks J & J for letting us share him.

Sum-Sum-Summertime Begins

Heading for 2nd grade

Wyatt just completed the 1st grade! He got a most excellent report card. He had a wonderful teacher this year. I don't know if we could have found a more perfect one for him if we hand picked her.

Thank you Mrs Peck! It was a great year.

Is he taking off for 2nd grade or trying to keep from leaving first? He embraced everything about school this year. Even got himself up and dressed on his own for the last couple of months. Though telling him he could have some computer time before school if he was ready early enough didn't hurt :O)

Ready for the Road...

or not?

Katie was so beside herself crying when Lyssa was getting the rig packed for their road trip to Sisters. She is much happier being buckled in with her pacifier, baby, blankie, giraffe and what every girl needs: a couple pair of shoes!

Rowan and Max are also settled in after Rowie kicked off his shoes for the trip. That Subaru Tribeca is such a great vehicle for their family needs and their road trips, especially with the built in DVD player!

This rig however has had a few glitches since they got it. They finally have it fixed except for a few more tweaks needed for optimum performance. However, when everyone was buckled and ready to go, it wouldn't start! :P After a call to Har, a consult with Michael Young, and a look at the engine- TA DA... It started! Then we determined that the ground connection to the battery was totally loose. So after tightening it up, Mrs Goodwrench was on her way with the kiddoes and pooch. They arrived at Logan's parents' place just fine with no more problems.

Tea Party Time

The girlies were begging me to have a tea party for the past few days. So last night I brewed a pot, we got out the "sugar blocks" & milk and had a lovely little get together.

Year end celebration with the guys

After getting the kids handed off to Harlan last night, the boys and I headed to our Neighborhood Grill and Bar aka Applebee's!

These guys deserve huge kudos for getting through this school year. It was our most difficult one so far. Though the final grades aren't in they are both going to be doing better than a 3.5 grade point average. Good job GUYS! We are proud of you!

They know how to order tasty food too!

First Haircut

Since all of his siblings have gotten their summer haircuts, it was time for Garrett to get trimmed up too. His momma was on hand to hold him still and Grampa loaned his belt for added stability. It was a team effort for sure.

As you can tell he loved it! He actually did not pitch too much of a fit but I thought these pictures were adorable!

Speaking of adorable... what do you think? So stinkin' cute! And happy too.

My how they've grown!

I was watching Danika swinging out on the porch and marveling how tall she looked sitting there and then Genevieve joined her.... that girl's legs are growing so long! We set "little" brother in the middle of them. Even he looks bigger today.

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I have a feeling this is going to be the summer of the huge growth spurt for Cam. He'll be thirteen in August and that was around the time Rylan shot up 6 inches in less than a year.

We'll keep you posted if the grocery bill starts inching higher ;0)

Make-believe and play time

Our house was overrun with Super Heroes

Captain America!

Spiderman!

Thor!

They had such fun! Played for hours and hours switching characters among the three of them. Thanks Goddy! and thank you Rowan! You are good at sharing your treasures.

Littlest play group

As I mentioned in my previous post, Katie loves all of Garrett's new toys. The classic clock was a hit this morning. Katie was playing with it while Garrett was occupied across the room. I wound the music box and Katie was like the Pied Piper, her younger cousin stopped what he was doing and headed over, following the music.

I think we have more baby equipment and toys around here than we had when our kids were little. Definitely a kid friendly place.