Family BBQ

My brother Walter & his wife Katie and their two adorable girls were in town this last week. We had a Family BBQ and all the kids had fun on the big water slide. We have eleven grandchildren in our family and most were here to have fun together. Missed you Nathaniel, Alisa, & Danielle. Garrett loves his four wheelers, and always the binky in his mouth.

Gavin up on the slide for the 1st time this year, taking it slow.

Beautiful Baby Girl Bella, so cute, and always so happy.

Great smile from my baby boy, Garrett.

My brother Walter, his wife Katie and Bella. Missing Emma, but what can ya do?

Sisters, Emma & Bella.

Cousins, girls just hanging out.

Aunt Tonya letting cool Bella, wear her shades.

Emma pushing two boys at once, girls are so strong. Girl Power!!

Both boys were saying Cheese to the camera.

Such a great picture of Aunt Ginger and Bella.

Playing Hoops

We had fun playing hoops, finally got another ball so the boys each have one.

Garrett is now wanting to run around with his Batman Cape on a lot, just like Gavin did. Gavin is a pretty good shot, made it in almost every time. Crazy how fast they grow up.

And as you can see in the back ground, we are getting new neighbors. Looks like they have three kids, a boy Gavin's age, a girl around 6 or 7 and a new born. So I'm pretty excited for the kids to have some friends to play with their age.

Crazy, Dumb Bird!!

So the last few days, since Father's Day we have had some problems with birds getting into the fireplace. When Austin stayed over on Father's Day, that next morning when he woke up, from sleeping on our sofa, he was saying very seriously....I think you have rats in your fireplace. I was saying to him, No, no rats in the fireplace, then we hear all this scratching like little rat feet. And I look at him and he looks at me like, I told you so!! It was so funny you should have seen his face. So Joe proceeds to open the fireplace flu (sp?) and let the bird fly out, he caught him and let him out the back slider door. Well almost everyday since, this bird (I think it's the same Crazy, Dumb Bird) has gotten stuck in the chimney and I've had to let him out. He almost got it when our cat, Garfield snapped at him, but I got the bird out the door fast without any injuries (I hope?). We may try and experiment and mark him somehow and see if it's the same bird the next time.

Hanging out with Austin

We had fun hanging out with Austin on Father's Day this year. He stayed overnight while my brother was at the Hospital recovering from getting his appendix removed the night before. It was pretty sad for my Bro to miss out on Father's Day, but he is doing better and on the road to recovery now. All the boys had fun playing the new Ghostbusters game, Austin wanted to make it to the part where you destroy the marshmellow man.

This is such a cute picture of all the boys in a row playing the game.

The next morning Austin came up with the idea of doing fake haircuts using Gavin's Batman Cape, as the Hair cutting cape. And they used a fake plastic knife for the cutting. Funny Boys!

Check out the the spiderman gloves Gavin has on, we got them from my sister a few days ago. He hasn't taken them off since.

Father's Day

I made Joe a chocolate cake for Father's Day, his favorite. The boys gave him his present and watched him closely open it. I made the cake on Friday, and on Saturday I made a big Father's Day breakfast....then Sunday he got his present. So it was a weekend full of fun. The boys love their Dad so much, he's the best Dad I could have asked for, for our boys.

Relay for Life 2009

I had the opportunity to walk for the American Cancer Society in their annual Relay for Life celebration. I was in a Team with my Mommy&Me group called Mom's in Motion. I raised some money for the cause and did some walking too. We had a great time listening to music and chatting with the other teams. There was a team from my old work, Horizon Credit Union there, so it was great to see some familiar faces. Thanks for a great time Kelly and Kari.

Funny Hats

The other day Gavin and I made some fun Party Hats while Garrett was napping. I made one for Garrett that had a 2 on it and Gavin's had a 4 for their ages. And when Garrett got up from his nap they both put them on and ran around the house together, it was so cute. My silly boys! :)

Just hanging out!

We have had some really nice days lately, so the boys and I go outside a lot and swing and slide on our swing set. There are some fun pictures of the boys hugging and playing Joe's little piano that he had growing up. The boys are really best friends, they have their moments but for the most part they get along great. Garrett is really ready for his 1st haircut now that it's getting hotter out he's really sweating with all that hair. I just don't want to do it, then my baby is really grown up.

Katelynn Faith's Funeral

My sister and I flew to Utah this weekend for my nieces funeral. It was my first time flying (yes ever), and I think I did pretty good. I sat at the window seat and tried to take in all the views. Taking off and landing was not all that fun, but I did it, and now I can say I've flown.

Katelynn Faith Greene was born on April 1st 2009 to my brother Nathan and his wife Leta. They have two children, Nathaniel and Alisa. Katelynn had issues with her Heart and Kidney's, and she was very prone to infections. Katelynn put up a real hard fight, but on May 24th 2009 her parents decided to take her off the ventilator because her organ malfunctions were not compatible with life. It was the compassionate thing to do as her parents. She just couldn't take anymore, and with the help of a ventilator she lived 54 beautiful days with her Mom, Dad, brother and sister. I am so glad I had the chance to go and see her and say goodbye. Thanks for coming with me Ta.

This is my sister Tonya, (left) and my brother Walter and his wife Katie, & daughter Bella.
This is my nephew Nathaniel, he looks just like my brother.

This is the beautiful Alisa playing in her room, she is my niece.

Another beautiful baby girl, Bella, she is my niece.

Emma and I at the funeral, Emma is my brother Walter's daughter.

My mom and I, and the two little Greene girls.

Nathan, Leta, Nathaniel and Alisa all sang a song together at the viewing.

Katelynn Faith, precious baby girl. We'll all miss you.

Getting ready to send off 54 balloons for every day Katelynn was with us.

Leta and Nathan explaining the symbolism of the balloons.

My sister Tonya and my cousin Becky. Looking beautiful for the camera.

Goodbye Little Katelynn we'll remember you forever, your Mommy and Daddy love you.