Memorial Day family B-que

Saturday seemed the best day for all the family..so that's the day we all got together. We spent the first half of the day getting the hot tub cleaned up and running. It's been off since last fall. Then weeding the strawberries and other minor clean-up projects.

After naps. We started on dinner. Doug grilled up his famous Burgers & hot dogs,. We had all the usual B-Que stuff with them. Tressa made a smores brownie dessert that was very good.

The kids even got in the pool for awhile. but, it just wasn't hot enough and the girls really started to shiver and look cold. Madison had just learned to pull her self up to a standing position. (a big event for her!!) so she tried doing that in the pool. Isabell like to get in and out. When climbing back in she would grab hold of Madison and pull her over into the water trying to get back in the pool. It was so funny!!! Sorry no picks. But we do have video!


The big boys hit the basketball court. Melia played with all the little ones. She really misses Peyton and Madison now that she lives in Lacey.

Tressa watch the action from the new swing she and Jesse bought for the front yard.

Erica and Madison played on the grass. it was a pretty casual gatheringWe wanted to play some boche ball, but the little ones wanted the balls and Peyton was picking them up and chucking them. They are really heavy...so in the interest of safety, we put them away

Later we moved inside and watched a movie. it was a good day. Lots done and lots of family fun.

Hope every one has a good Memorial Day. As we think of the sacrifices made by men and women we don't even know, so that we can all live in a free country with the safety that allows us to gather our families around to enjoy these kind of days, we are grateful to their efforts and dedication to this nation and the people in it.

Popcorn time

As a life long lover of popcorn I'm happy to see the trait being passed along to the grandkids. Peyton is such an avid connoisseur of the corn that he comes running any time I get the popper out. He likes to sit on the counter next to the popper so that he can get the first kernel to hit the bowl. He will remain on the counter until it's all popped and has been buttered and salted, then he goes where the big bowl goes.

Peyton loves to share a BIG bowl of popcorn with grandpa!

Isabell is new to the world of mass consumption of popcorn. Until last night I had not given her much more than the occasional broken off piece free of any of the husk shell. Last night that all changed.

Jesse and Isabell enjoying popcorn while watching the Mariners

While trying to monitor her progress in eating a piece of popcorn she was busy stuffing 3 or 4 more pieces into her mouth. Once she got into my lap where the big bowl was she was all business. At one point I ran a mouth check of the kids to see if I would share my water with them, Peyton was all clean but Isabell had corn stuffed into her cheeks like she was saving it for the winter time. She did manage to eat all that she put in and that was quite a bit. I can see more nights of popcorn for her in her future and I imagine she will get to be like Peyton and coming running any time she hears the popper working.

Isabell stuffing the corn in as fast as she can. Peyton seems more concerned that the mariners might lose...again.

Hooping it up

We decided to play some hoops in the driveway after the Mothers Day b-b-q. It turned into a dunk fest with everybody getting into the action.



Isabell roaming the court, with Peyton on her heels!

They girls -Erica, Melia and Tressa watching the guys!!
Isabell had the one hand hang on the rim action down. She loved being up by the rim and out on the court. No matter where I set her down at she immediately ran back to the court to get into the action and up by the rim. Peyton was much the same way he tended to hang out right by the hoop waiting his turn to get picked up and the chance to shoot the short one. Madison was a bit more methodical in her approach to the basket, once she got her hands on the ball she didn't want to let go of it. The bigger boys also got in on the action and even the old guy had to get out there and show them how it was done. Of course whenever you get boys together it soon turns into a contest of some kind and our was who could cover the most distance and still get the dunk down. The fan support ran from Erica telling Nate not to hurt himself, they have to be able to make the Truck payment. to Melia telling Spencer to go for it now, no matter what. he has until the fall to heal up. When the thrills and near spills were done I won the distance title, not bad for a chunky guy as my Aunt Linda calls me.

You can tell the boys have adapted well to life in this family they waited till the camera was ready and were sure to face the right direction to get the best photo by Dee Dee.

Jesse-



Above -Spencer
Below Nate-

Madison took a hit in the head from a missed shot by Jesse, but a little pudding dessert on dads finger made things all better!

Design center

It is official now Isabell has moved out. Oh yeah Spencer and Melia moved out with her and while I miss them too, it's not nearly as much as I miss Isabell. For some reason they don't seem to do as many cute things as Isabell does and they aren't nearly as much fun to crawl around on the floor with.
Now that Melia has vacated the big room, Tressa is working on making it her own, and I mean HER OWN. She drew up plans for where to put everything, they went out this weekend and bought a new toilet, floor tiles, molding for the bathroom, are redoing the counter top, new paint
through out the bedroom and bath as well as putting up curtains.















Some before and after shots. They aren't finished yet!!

It looks like she plans to be in it for awhile.

That will be good because Peyton and Morgan boy to be named later and I have many things we need to do before they move out.

fun videos

Thought these were really fun videos I wanted to share with everyone! enjoy!

My baby is moving out!

Spencer , Isabell and the famous cardboard couch!!

With each child there has to come a time to cut the apron string so to speak. This tends to be a freeing, liberating experience for your child and as a mom anyway, a heart wrenching experience. Dads tend to be in the middle somewhere. At least Doug is. You know it's good and right. But some how that doesn't always make you feel better. And my baby is taking her baby..who we've become a little attached to! The first night they were gone, every little noise I heard, I kept thinking that must be Isabell.

This is Melia and Spencer's new apt.

The kitchen

Isabell checking out the cupboards Isabell seems to be happy about new apt.

The good news is, well for me at least, Melia and Isabell will be living here till the middle of May. That is when Spencer is done with school. Melia needs a sitter for Isabell. So me and Spencer dad will keep up our weekly routine of watching her till Melia is out of school. On Friday's Melia will go up to Lacey to spend the weekend with Spencer, then come back on Mondays and start all over again. I'm sure this will be very hard on the two of them. But, having their own space will make up for part of it.

Nice TV stand!!!! Aahh ..first apts!
Spencer and the cardboard couch. Even has places to sit his food!

For me and Doug it gives us alittle bit more precious time with our granddaughter and with Melia. I will really miss her when she makes the final move. Being the baby and a little bit of age between her and the twins and Tressa, gave her a different perspective on things and gave me and her a different kind of relationship then I had with the other girls( at least before they left home)( Jolene is you read this you may know what I mean). Of them all she is a spiritual rock and got me more than the other girls at times. I will miss all the talks that we have. Guess there still is the phone. And I do work up north alot. My trips home from work my take longer than they use too!