Zach's totally awesome birthday party!

We made up for Zach's traveling birthday by having an awesome laser tag birthday party at ZapZone. You can see my stellar birthday cake making skills with Zach's baseball birthday cake. He thought it was awesome!
Zach has been hoping for a laser tag birthday party for over a year, and the reality was just as fun as he hoped it would be! Any game with strategy, really cool gear and teams with a flag, and he's in!
It must definitely be a boy thing! Based on the very high decibel level that they were describing their amazing moves and comparing scores, I would say they all had a good time!
There's nothing like glow in the dark to make everything much cooler!

Finally- food storage!

Will gave me this great food storage unit for my birthday in February. We finally put it up in July. We are so on top of it!! I am really excited to get all of our food storage organized in our food storage room. The only problem is, the kids will actually know what food we have down there now, and it might disappear faster now!

A traveling birthday

Zach had an interesting 9th birthday this year. He turned 9 at 1:36 am and wanted to be awake at the exact moment. We were traveling back from Missouri and he set his alarm. The alarm went off on his watch, but he didn't wake up. He was all the way in the back of the minivan where we couldn't reach him and so we just got to listen to the alarm for awhile. We finally got him to wake up, celebrated by singing and eating a cookie, and he was soon back to sleep. We got to Grandma and Grandpa's in Indiana after 2 in the morning and got up to go to 9:00 church. We barely made it through Sacrament Meeting. Dad was sitting next to me and the only time I think that he was awake was when I poked him. We gave up and went back to mom and dad's and took a long nap. Grandma helped Zach's birthday feel a little more like a celebration when she made him homemade cinnamon rolls. Every time we see her, he begs her to make them, so he was happy!
I love this picture of the kids with Grandpa sitting on the front porch of their house. They love their grandparents!
Ashley and Natalie felt sorry for Zach that he would spend his whole birthday in the car driving back to Michigan, so they planned a little "car party" for him while we drove, complete with confetti (we're still finding remnants!!) They made up a game they played with him and then watched "National Treasure II" on the DVD player.
We're so glad that Zach is in our family. He definitely adds a mischievous spirit, but also a sweet one. We needed a boy in the family with all these girls. He keeps the girls on their toes with his teasing!

Our Fun Fourth of July!

A vacation with the Herveys just wouldn't be complete without Robert making us his fantastic ribs! We went to Meramac State Park where Robert and Amy were great hosts. They knew just the right places to go and what to do. Roberts ribs were heaven, even for me (and I'm not a big rib eater) and Zach couldn't have been happier.

Has anyone seen Glen or Zach!?
The kids had so much fun playing! I loved just hanging out with family and talking with mom and dad, Amy and Robert and Will. Elise is a mommy's girl and never strayed far from my side.
Afton and Ashley made a very cool fort, but come to think of it, I never saw any kid ever actually go inside it. Of course we had to make the best of the typical brother/sister rivalry and play boys against girls in capture the flag.
We brought our stomp rockets, and I don't know who had more fun doing it- the kids or the adults! I think that Ashley was the best at getting them to go really far, but I think that there at the end Will was catching up. Grandpa liked the hand-held rockets, and Mom and I had a good laugh acting like kids and shooting each other with the squeeze rockets.
We ended our picnic with a great game of softball, and it was fun to see that I could still hit the ball. Will and Grandpa hit home runs every time. We had to remind Ashley and Zach that it was all in good fun when they got a little too competitive!
We all watched fireworks together in a little tiny town and loved spending time together. We sure wish we could see the Herveys more often. It was a great 4th! Happy Birthday America!

The Guys' Night Out

Our first night in Missouri, the guys got together for a great guys' night out, while the girls stayed home and had a pizza and movie party. Will scored four tickets to a Cardinals game, and they even got to be in a suite! I think that the endless supply of wings and brats may have excited Glen and Zach more than the actual game, and Will and Robert enjoyed the game, soft seats, food and good company.

Swimming in Missouri

We had so much fun visiting the Herveys the first weekend in July!! It was so much fun for cousins that don't see each other very often to spend time together. We went swimming in nearby Union, and because of the threat of rain, had the pool nearly to ourselves. Since Kristine and Natalie were the most timid in the water, they were a perfect pair (and so cute, too!).
Glen and Zach were so glad to have a boy somewhat close to their age to hang out with, especially since they are both always surrounded by sisters! They got along great!
Ashley and Afton were inseperable! They are both so cute and interested in the same things, and only a month and a half apart in age.
Hollis is quite a little swimmer and showed us her great backstroke. She a little smartie, too!
Elise and Will had a great time together as well. Elise loved the slide and went on it over, and over, and over. Amy and I loved spending time together, too. I have such great sisters, who are also my best friends. Her little Will is cute enough to steal a few hearts!

Fun in Indianapolis

My sister, Sarah, and I enjoy spending time together. I also love hanging out with my sisters Michelle and Christine who were also there, but were busy chasing kids. We took all of our kids to "Jump and Play" where the kids were in heaven. I loved snuggling my cute little nephew!

Zach, David, Ashley and Brayden are cousins that have a really great time together. They wish they lived closer and could hang out more often.
My cute nephew, Garrett, never stopped running, jumping and sliding. This was a perfect playground for a little boy who's autism makes this kind of environment heaven!
Natalie and Rachel are our two little princesses. They wouldn't believe anyone who told them otherwise!!
Elise loved going up and down the bouncy blow ups, especially with big sister, Ashley. Here she was brave enough to go down on her own.