Visiting the Groves in Kentucky

The girls and I had a great time in Kentucky with Granny Jean, Boopy and Uncle Turk (aka Austin).



Vivian presents (little) Clifford.


Granny Jean and Vivian.


Uncle Turk with Clifford, that's his dog The Dude's dark brown head at the bottom of the photo. Apparently I didn't take any photos of Boopy with my camera, except this one of his elbow. Sorry dad!

Grandpa Jack's visit

Sabine with Anna and Grandpa Jack



Using Bret's new (birthday present from Jack and brother Kevin) fishing rod to...fly kites in the backyard. Love multi-use presents...




Vivian and Sabine enjoyed going through the box of hats and other treats brought by Grandpa Jack.

LIFE was Good!

Somehow...we forgot to take our camera out until the last 24 hours of the conference...these are from the final picnic at Esther Short Park and the Barefoot Boogie the night before...good times were had by all!

Oh...and blocks

The girls often are doing other things while watching TV...

A few favorite toys...

This is what else we were doing in the busy month of May...

Connectagons from Magic Cabin


Kapla blocks...


and Wedgits...(found a full BIG set at Goodwill this winter...score!)

Music nights

We spent many nights (and one brunch) in April and May with new-found musical friends...These photos were from a dinner party we had...

LOVE little Ben with his 1/2 size banjo (and tie dye shirt)


Not the best photo, but you can get an idea of the parties here...


And Sabine, helping Daddy on the bass...

We're Back!

It's been a long time since posting...I know...it's been about equally long since I went to Jazzercize (stop laughing...it's a good work out! They've even sent me 2 postcards to entice me to come back...which I plan on doing once I get rid of this pesky, lingering cough).

So...what have we been doing?

May was a whirlwind of fun with visits from Kristin, Al and Acacia (from Jackson, WY), Margareta, Hamish and Fenna from BC, Canada, traveling across the river to Vancouver, WA for the wonderful Life is Good conference, then welcoming Bret's dad (Grandpa Jack) for a visit to Portland, and finally a trip to Murray, KY to visit Grannie Jean and Boopy (my parents)...the girls and I actually flew there on Sat, May 30...so that was only 2 days in May...but it still capped off a busy month! Bret joined us in St Louis to see 2 of my brothers/sister-in-laws for the second week of June, but more about that later.

This is the puzzle Kristin and I completed during their visit...Al was re-reading the Harry Potter series (in reverse -- which inspired us to start reading it (not in reverse) to Sabine, who's loving it).





And some random kid creations that I found on the camera.