Visit from Grannie

At the end of July we had a quick visit from my mom.
She only stayed for 3 days, but we packed in the fun and enjoyed every minute of it.

Picking raspberries in our backyard for Family Night

Our raspberry bushes produced 6-8 cups of raspberries every few days

The kids showing off a few tricks for Grannie

Relaxing on the grass.

Rexburg summer temps make every moment outside a good one.

 

 

 A favorite tradition that my kids had when we lived in Arizona was "Grannie Days" --

they would each get a day (or half day if schedules were tight) to spend with Grannie.

It was something they all looked forward to. So when Grannie comes to visit

they always try to push for a Grannie Day. Well since we only had 3 days total --

we opted for "Grannie hour" (or two). The kids love the one on one time with Grannie.

How often do kids in a big family get the undivided attention of a loving adult?

Sadly, not often enough.

Sadie & Grannie are foot mopping the floor. I love how my mom incorporated work or tasks that needed to be done into her Grannie Time so that she was being helpful to me,

yet the kids were still having a fun time. Brilliant.

Of course....story time.

 

Colby and Grannie chose to make some goodies.

 

And the miracle of miracles....Grannie turned Colby into a "Reader."

Colby could read before, he could even read quite well, but he never WANTED to read.

After a few sessions with Grannie and a Magic Tree House book, he was hooked.

He is now addicted to the series and races through the books on his own. Yay!!!!

 

 

Mason & Grannie played games for his special time.

Here they are playing some Air Hockey.

 

There are no pictures of Renae's Grannie Time because they went swimsuit shopping for Renae.

That was a huge load off my back...swimsuit shopping in late July is hard --

most everything is super picked over and nearly gone.

And shopping with Renae can be challenging too... so thanks mom, I owe ya!

 

 

 

We spent an afternoon at Rexburg Rapids -- our little waterpark.

It isn't big, but the kids have a great time and it isn't very crowded, so that is nice.

 

For my GRANNIE TIME (or MOM TIME) we stayed up late and accomplished two big things. Unpacking my china cabinet...no small task.

And making 2 batches of raspberry jam. Delicious.

Funny story, we ran out of pectin and had to run to the store at 11:00 at night

and then ran out of raspberries and had to go out back and pick more by flashlight at midnight.

Good times. Great memories.

 

 

 

Renae's Birthday

In our family, Renae's is the last birthday of the year. And it is almost 3 months after the rest of us...so sometimes it seems like a long wait for Renae. Usually I start calling her her new age, months before she actually reaches it. So it seems like Renae has been 10 forever.

This was Renae's year for a friend birthday party. She wanted a Luau themed party. A quick trip to the dollar store for some leis and simple decorations and we were all decked out. We played Hawaiian themed pictionary and charades, ran in the sprinklers, and played my kids' favorite party game "The Candy Bar Game." The girls all had a lot of fun.

I added this picture because I thought it was so funny. I came out with my camera to snap a few pictures and the girls all screamed, ran, and hid. Aren't they too young to be camera shy?

Can you spy them?

Opening presents with friends

Renae chose a cookie pizza over cake. That's my girl!

I love how she is crossing her fingers and closing her eyes as she makes her wish.

It must be a BIG wish.

This is the girls playing the Candy Bar Game.

When it is your turn, you have to dress up then try to open a candy bar

with gloves on and using only knives. It is SO hard. But so funny to watch.

Renae finally got her bit of chocolate!

On Renae's real birthday we had a quiet family dinner & ice cream sundaes.

But in our house "family" includes Renae's BFF Mairin. She is part of the family now.

Renae still really loves Pet Shops so she got a bundle of them from family.

But I'm predicting this is the last year she will be "into" them.

She was also super excited about getting some new earrings.

But I think in some ways, this gift was the best (and the picture is pretty cool).

For siblings, my kids usually just re-gift something of theirs that they think their brother or sister would like. Renae had recently lost her Harry Potter wand -- and she is SUPER into Potter-mania right now. So Colby wrapped up his wand and gave it to her.

It was so sweet and thoughtful. And she was really excited about it.

Watch out, I think she is putting a spell on YOU!

4th of July

We had a great Indepence Day. I love the ease and simplicity of this holiday. It isn't overly commercial, there is no crazy shopping or costuming...it is just about patriotism and family.



 

 

We gathered to watch the Rexburg 4th of July parade...

one of our favorite small town events. Notice anyone missing?

Mason is marching in the parade!

He was a member of the Madison Summer Band and got to march while playing the trumpet.

It was a fun experience for him although I think he missed catching candy at the parade.

After the parade Mason and his band played a short concert of patriotic favorites at a nearby park.

 

 

 Also after the parade, we met up with some dear, dear family friends of ours, the Hamiltons, 

that were coming through Rexburg on their way to a Family Reunion in Yellowstone.

We only had a few precious hours together but we all made the most of it.

These two little girls are only a few months apart and were buddies when we lived in Arizona.

They picked right up where they left off and were thick as thieves.

The big girls had a blast too and enjoyed getting matching flags painted on their faces.

 

A group picture of all the kids crashed in our basement --

taking a break from the fun & craziness.

 

 

We decided to stay low key this year and just do our own street fireworks.

Our next door neighbor joined the party and brough A TON of cool fireworks out.

In addition to our little show, there were some pretty impressive displays

 of questionable (illegal?) fireworks just up the street shooting high into the air

that kept us all oohing and ahhing.

 

We loved having the Hamiltons visit us, even if it was only for a day.

Some friends are so close that they feel like family...that is how I feel about Mandy and her family.