A Very Busy Week

Note: This is another really long post. Lots of pictures.

Sunday is a day of rest and for that I am so thankful. This past week has been a busy one for us and the down-time that came after church today was so welcome.

Last Thursday, July 2, Brent and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. We had discussed going away for the weekend but ended up just going out for the evening instead because of the holiday. (Whose idea was it to get married right before a big holiday anyway?!) Let me just take this opportunity to say that I love my husband, he is perfect for me. Brent, thanks for all you do for me and the kids. Thanks for your patience with me, I know I'm not an easy person to live with. Thanks for 11 great years and eternity to come. Mom, thanks for staying with the kids so we could go out.

Friday marked the start of our holiday celebrations and a family reunion. My aunt Launa hosts a BBQ every year in her backyard on the 3rd of July and then we watch the fireworks when it gets dark. She lives right below the stadium so the location is perfect. (Of course I didn't take my camera, so no pics of this party.) Damon was so excited about the fireworks. He kept asking if it was dark enough yet and was afraid he was going to miss the show. I'm happy to report that after the fireworks ended, it only took us 20 minutes to get home. Much better than the hour-plus it took last year. Launa and Ron, thanks for a great party.

Friday night's activities continued on Saturday. My mom comes from a family of 7 kids and all of the siblings were in town over the weekend along with many of their kids so we had a big party at my mom's house with the clan. We started with a pancake breakfast and spent the day playing outside. The morning was really cloudy but the sun came out after lunch it warmed up so we had a great time playing in the water. We also had a water balloon fight, an obstacle course, a guess-how-much-candy-is-in-the-jar contest, and a treasure dig for the smaller kids. Oh, and tons of food. Here are some of the highlights:

Andy was pretty much in charge of making sure the water toys were working properly.

My kids had so much fun on the water slide.

Andy, Mallory and Alli.

My mom. Brent shooting some hoops.

Uncle Doug gets drenched. This was a much-deserved reciprocation. Earlier in the day Doug took a bucket of water and stood on the deck and dumped on all the people sitting below on the patio, including Grandpa. I tell ya, I've never seen two teenage boys run down a set of stairs so fast! Way to go Justin and Jorgen!

Mom's family.

If prizes were given, I would have won the prize for being thrown in the pool the most. My little brothers are mean and sadly, they're not so little anymore. I'm sure in their minds I was deserving of this and it was payback for all the mean things I did to them growing up. As you watch this video, note my sweet little son trying to defend me and save me from his big mean uncles.


At one point Eddie decided it would a good idea if he and I threw Andy in the pool. We ganged up on Andy and managed to drag him to the pool but he was too strong. When Eddie realized we didn't have much of a chance against Andy he turned on me and I went in again. Traitor! Eventually I had some cousins come to my rescue. Thanks, Amber, Amie, Justin and Jorgen!

Andy finally did get his turn to be throw in. And it sure took a lot of people to make it happen.

My big little brothers. (You know Andy, most people try to suck their gut in during a photo op., not stick it out.)

Carson

Its probably time to retire these swim trunks, as the elastic in the waist no longer works very well.

Mom had a little pool filled with wood shavings and prizes. The younger kids had fun searching for treasures.

What a great way to celebrate the 4th of July. Thanks, Bartletts, for a great reunion. Let's do it again sometime.