More pictures from the end of July

Kylee, Emma, and Olivia enjoying popsicles while Tina was at a Dr.'s appointment. The baby will be here any day now!

Olivia kicking at Aunt Jen on the hammock. They had quite a lot of fun on the hammock together. As did the couple of people who fell off it over the weekend. I was kind enough not to put those pictures on for all to see.

Aunt Jen found these rocket balloons and they were a blast! I'm not sure who enjoyed them more Olivia or Andy and Aaron. A pain to blow up, but once you do you let them go and they fly everywhere and make a cool sound.

My two kids in the pool together!

A Visit From Uncle Aaron and Aunt Christy

Andy's brother Aaron and his wife Christy were up this past weekend from Southern Georgia. They drove up in time for Papa John's 66th birthday, and Aaron's 20th class reunion. Man is he getting old! Olivia was so excited to see them and is already asking for Aunt Christy to come back or to go down to their house. She's decided they need to fly next time because they live too far away.

Getting kisses from Aunt Christy

Wiping off those icky kisses from Uncle Aaron

Swimming in the Bronstetter's pool. Look out, Daddy is lurking in the waters below.

Riding the John Deere with Aaron

It was wonderful to have all the family together for quite a few days and too many meals. We headed to the Essenhaus one evening to celebrate early John and Esther's 40th wedding anniversary. We also had some good home cooking meals, celebrated John's birthday and delectable desserts made by Jennifer. And Aaron and Christy treated us all to a meal at a Mexican restaurant as well. Olivia had them out playing Frisbee in the backyard with her regularly. It was great to see everybody together and I know Olivia just loved almost every minute of it. Now that they are gone I can get back to eating a little healthier.

Some Men Never Grow Up

I never claimed to have married Andy for his smarts, but he could always make me laugh. Today was no exception to that. He had me in tears from laughing so hard at his stupidity. Upon hearing that Jadon attempted to ride the Little Tikes car down the slide, Andy questioned, "It fits?" To which I replied, "Yes, and he went flying when he actually put his feet up." Well, I knew the wheels were turning before I even finished that sentence in my husband's childish brain. I knew he'd never fit inside the car, so I figured it'd all work out. Perseverance, has always been another trait of Andy's. If he has an idea, you better be darn sure he's going to find a way to make it work. So after realizing he wouldn't fit inside the car, he realized that his legs would fit through the back window. Here are some photos of his attempt at being a kid again.

"I can make this work"

"Oh crap, is it too late to turn back now?"

"What was I thinking?"

Olivia didn't even seem at all surprised that her daddy had that much stupidity in him. She was quite amused as well. We all had a good laugh, although Andy's tail bone is still recovering.

Summer of the Monkeys

One of my favorite books growing up was Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. Who would have guessed I would have an event in my backyard one day that could be titled the same? Elizabeth's 3 older boys came over for the morning. After eating pancakes, watching Peter Pan and playing at Congress School, we played around in the backyard. Jadon frequently is bored at my house because our toys are too babyish for his liking, but he never seems to run out of ways to make them more enjoyable for himself. On this particular day he decided to play around in the Little Tikes car. I ran inside for something real quick and came out to find him riding it down the slide.

The protector in me told him this was not the safest thing to do, but the adventurer in me said "well, you have to do it one more time so I can get a picture of you doing it!" Of course he conned me into doing a few more times, but no injuries resulted (yet, wait until my next blog entry).

Of course Olivia wanted to try it too, but was fine when she was told no.

The monkey gang

Fishing in the Mourning

My Uncle Patrick Doyle, passed away last Wednesday. He was diagnosed with MS in 1983, and I can't ever remember him not at least needing crutches to walk. His long battle is now over, but it is sad seeing the Mighty Doyle Clan now down to 6 remaining. Friday was the first day of visitation, but we had so much going on that day that I didn't go up until Saturday. So I mourned his passing on Friday watching Olivia fish. This was her 2nd time fishing. I regretfully have no photos from her first experience since she went with just daddy and mommy was not there with the camera. (Just so everyone knows she caught 7 fish the first time out and her daddy only caught 1!) Andy's best friend Stevie was up from Florida for the weekend so we went to his parents house to enjoy some time on their lake and a nice visit with his family. Olivia only caught one on this day before she decided she'd had enough and it was time to swim.

After the cast

Reeling it in

Oh boy

Look at my catch!

Later that day my Aunt Julie, Uncle Pat Dewell, and cousin Jennifer came down for a visit. It was great to see them and in Sturgis for a change. They hadn't been down here since my wedding. I got up before bright and early the next morning 4:00 AM to go pick up my sister and baby James for the funeral. We met my dad in Marshall and left my car there and the four of us headed up together. We arrived at the church in time for a short visitation before the funeral started. It was great to meet my cousin, Christopher Johnson for the first time. My Uncle Patrick was a bit of a ladies man in his day and was dating a woman named Ilene from Scotland while stationed there in the Navy. He never married her, but they had a son together that unfortunately my uncle didn't stick around to be a part of his life. Christopher and his family live in Virginia and he went to Alpena about 12 years ago to meet my uncle and other family members. They have kept in correspondence to some extent. I am so glad to have gotten the chance to meet him. He seems like a wonderful man and fits right in the family. I think the funeral was especially hard on him because he has to be grieving so many more things than just the loss of his father. My thoughts and prayers are with him at this time. We also learned while at the church that my Uncle Duane who passed away in January's mother died as well. On the way home we stopped in Lincoln to attend her visitation briefly. She was always so energetic and full of life all 95 years she was with us. She led a wonderful life. We made it home safely later that evening and are hoping to not have to go up to Alpena for any reason other than a joyous one for the rest of 2008.

National Ice Cream Month

For those of you unaware, July is "National Ice Cream Month," and as a family we have been celebrating it almost on a daily basis. We have a small little ice cream shop a few blocks away, that Olivia requests to ride her bike to daily. She also likes going to Howe, IN at "Happiness is Ice Cream," which happens to be the frequented place by my family as a child growing up. She got nana and papa to take her there last Saturday. Currently Superman and Blue Moon are her favorites, but Cotton Candy has been moving up in the rankings. I don't think she has a found a flavor of ice cream she doesn't like. We have been driving papa John around a lot since his hip replacement surgery and we stopped for ice cream in Nottawa as well, another favorite ice cream shop of the locals.

This is what happens when you aren't paying attention to what your children are doing. The bucket is full of water as well.

The cousins came over for a bit this afternoon and enjoyed a romp through the sprinkler. The boys got to take their shirts off so Olivia joined suit. Hers was already soaking wet since her dip in the bucket and playing with the hose, but she couldn't be left out.

Even baby James got in on the action for a brief accidental moment.

Seeing Double

Life has been good lately. No real news, just enjoying some time being home with my little Olivia and getting to be "mom." I treasure each day with her. She is definitely on another mommy kick, constantly asking me for snuggles, which makes my heart melt. Her line that she asks me frequently each day is, "Mommy, do you need snuggles from your daughter?" and then she giggles. It's adorable, and of course I answer "YES!"

Just a few photos I snapped of Olivia admiring her reflection in the mirror. I love how children are so drawn to their own reflection. I thought the photos were priceless.

My favorite

Olivia is definitely a momma's girl, but loves to help out her daddy. Here she is sporting a tape measure, pencil behind the ear, and one of daddy's brown sugar pop tarts in hand.

Fireworks on Martini Cove

Sparklers anyone?

We headed up to the Alpena area Thursday evening and stayed at my Uncle Jere Timm's house in Hillman. Olivia was excited to see Jere and especially Turtle and Logan. Turtle is my cousin Erica's dog, and Logan is Jere's dog. Turtle is quite scared of most people especially children, so Olivia didn't get quite as much interaction with him as she would have liked. Logan on the other hand she spent a lot of time with. Jere's house is on a golf course so Andy headed out golfing Friday morning. I stayed back and planted Jere's newly purchased flowers for him while Olivia played in Jere's jeep with Logan for about one hour, just talking up a storm to the poor dog. She finally found someone who would listen and not complain. Andy locked his keys in his truck at the golf course so we got a late start after MacGyvering our way into it. Next we headed into Alpena, where I picked up my old bedroom set that I had one at my cousins' auction. Then we headed down to Tawas to stay at Joan's cottage on Martini Cove. We had a great stay and got to visit with many family members. Aunt Ruth and Uncle Mike were at their cottage and Uncle Jim and Aunt Judy had a house full with my cousin JC, his wife Michele and their beautiful Princess Leah, and my cousin Amy and her two children Andrew and Addie. My Uncle Patrick who has battled MS since 1983 has taken a turn for the worse and was admitted to the hospital in Alpena. Judy and Joan headed up there on Saturday to see him and help out my Uncle Jere Doyle who was staying with Patrick. They returned in the early evening on Saturday where we had a cookout and watched the fireworks put on by a neighbor. The Martini Cove fireworks beat many little town firework displays that I have seen in years past.

Olivia watching the fireworks with Joan and Scott. I love the expression on her face!

Time for bed after an exciting, yet exhausting weekend.

Dog Days of Summer pictures