Cousins, cousins

Last week Will and Bruce spent a few days with their cousins and Elizabeth had her cousin Joy stay with us. This summer our kids have been able to spend a lot of time with their cousins and they have loved it! There are 29 grandkids on my side and 25 on Aaron's side (#26 is on the way) so there is no shortage of cousins to play with. Holidays and summers are always so fun for the kids!

Naomi didn't indulge in any smores, but she did have a few marshmallows - whole!

I'm seeing blue

I've started to paint our entryway/hallway in our house. We have 31 of these beautiful squares to trim out. After I get all of the trim painted white, I get to go back and reverse the tape so I can paint the walls.

I'm thinking it might be a good time to invest in Scott stock. Today I went through a roll of tape in a matter of minutes. This is going to be a huge project!

new shoes

Apparently, Justin is not the only one who likes his new shoes. Naomi is now 18 months and so much fun. She's into trying on everyone's shoes and loves to wear beads. She's such a doll!

Vacation pictures

We made our annual trek to Idaho this year and happily made it in record time. We drove (actually, Aaron did most of it) 27 hours with only a few potty breaks and one restaurant stop to arrive at Grandma and Grandpa's house tired, but amazingly happy. We feel pretty fortunate to have good little travelers. Here are a few highlights from our vacation:

• Playing with cousins
• Sleepovers with cousins
• Swimming with cousins
• Cousins
• Gertie's pizza
  
• 4-wheeler rides
• Impromptu concert on 4th of July
  

We spent a day in Salt Lake City and took the kids to Temple Square. It's been years since we've been there. The kids really loved all of the tours and loved seeing all of these places they had only ever heard of or seen on TV.

Reunion with friends from Toledo - these kids all used to play together when they were in pre-school. It was fun to see how big they all are now.

Can't ever get enough time with Grandma and I think she feels the same way about all of the grandkids. Madelyn wouldn't even get out of the car at our first stop because she was on the way to Grandma's and didn't want to get out until we were there. The kids love Grandma and Grandpa!

Will's birthday

Will celebrated his seventh birthday Sunday while we were in Idaho. He is the only one of our children who has a summer birthday so he has been lucky enough to celebrate while we are on vacation several years.

Will was very specific about his cake - he wanted a cake made out of cupcakes. He's had several friends bring these to school to celebrate their birthday and thought they were so cool.

Not only did Will get a DSi for his birthday, but it's the DSi "XL". He was pretty excited. He has used it to take pictures more than I think he has used it to play games. If nothing else, it kept him busy on our long drive home!

Here's a picture of Will when he was about a year old enjoying a sucker. Will is definitely the most photogenic of all of our children. He just beams when you take his picture. He's always been a very loving boy for the most part. Aaron has a brother (I won't mention names) who was nicknamed "The Incredible Hulk" when he was young (maybe still?) because when he gets upset he would rage. This would be Will. He is very happy and loving, but you don't want to see him mad.

Will had a busy year being six:

• completed kindergarten
• had surgery to correct his club foot (first of our children to have surgery - hopefully last)
• lost numerous teeth
• played soccer and learned to swim
  
• now refers to himself as one of the big kids and thinks he needs same rights as his older brother and sister
• got his first suit (he loves to dress up)
• learned to read (still working on this one a little)

We love you, Will!

Buddies

I haven't had time to go through pictures from our vacation, but I wanted to make this quick post. This is a picture I took today of our boys with their good buddy, Carson. These boys have been inseparable since we returned from Idaho. Today while I was getting ready, I came out of my bathroom and found the boys all laying on my bed watching TV. This is not normal behavior for them - they are usually busy playing outside - they must have needed a break!

It's a first

I think for the first time in my life, I'm ready early. Car is packed, kids are ready to go...just waiting on Aaron to get home from work. Hmmm, should I take a nap? I have a feeling I'm going to need it. Okay, I'm not ready THAT early and the kids are much too wired to allow me to sleep anyway. Looking forward to seeing lots of family and friends the next 12 days!