Memorial Day Weekend Part 2

After the guys went fishing, we all got a turn in Grandpa's big boat. I failed to get a great picture of the boat by itself, but it's HUGE! We all went except for Grandma and McCoy.

Jimmy and all the kids at the back of the boat.

Jimmy and Erika

Chase's first boat ride!!
Chase finally crashed out!!
When we got back, Grandpa took Kennedy on another ride!

Check out Chase's new wheels!The next day wasn't nearly as perfect for playing on the lake but with eight kids, we knew we needed to help them burn some energy somehow. So we put our heads together and came up with some fun. We started off with splitting them into two teams and off on a Scavenger Hunt and then on a Treasure Hunt. The third game was an obstacle course. I'm not sure who had more fun, us putting it together or the kids tearing through it....

The final game was a spoon/golf ball race. After the kids had their turn, they convinced us adults to race, girls against guys. I never turn down a challenge and the feeling must have been mutual because before long the six of us were racing across the lawn with golf balls on spoons. Keep in mind that Grandpa has a bum knee, Erika has back troubles, Casey's knee has been giving him problems and I had twisted my own back the day before. But we sucked it up for the kids and put on a great show :o)

Notice Grandpa nursing his knee!

It didn't seem to slow him down much!!

Here's our sweet boys....McCoy and Chase, they are two months apart in age.

Isn't this classic? He has some hilarious expressions!

Goal accomplished....worn-out kids :o)

This was at home the night we returned from the trip. Chase laid his little head down and he was out, it was so sweet!

Memorial Day Weekend Part 1

I'm back! Not just in blog-land, but home too. We've been traveling. A lot. Like over 2500 miles in 3 weeks. That's a lot, especially with 4 kids 8 and under. But we all survived the 3 big trips we took within 4 weeks....and now it's time to tell about them!

Memorial Weekend was our shortest trip, if you call a 4 1/2 hour trip short, ha! We spent the weekend at my FIL's home and did plenty of relaxing and fishing (well, Casey did plenty of fishing.)

The kids always love going to Grandpa and Grandma's and it was nice to have the long weekend to enjoy it. Besides my two girl's weekends to Camp Kitaki, this was the first weekend Chase and I had been out of town since our trip to South Dakota six months ago. We were definitely due for the trip and it was a good trial run for the two big vacations we had planned for June.

One of my favorite things to do at their cozy home on the lake is to have a short photo session with each of the kids. I took several pictures of each of them by themselves, taking advantage of their beautiful landscape and unique props on their land.

Sweet and Sassy, Miss Kennedy...

Corbin...(yes, he's doing what you think he's doing...)

Kyndal Noelle...

Chase, always on-the-go these days!

As I mentioned, LOTS of fishing, check out Corbin's catch of the trip, "It was THIS big, Mom!":

Admiring their work...

Three generations of "Dee's" Larry Dee, Casey Dee and Corbin Dee

I will be back soon with Part 2, promise!

May Wrap-Up

We just returned from a four-day weekend in South Dakota at Grandpa and Grandma's. Before I roll out a post on that, here's a snapshot of our last few BUSY weeks!

On Mother's Day we participated in "Baby Dedication" at our church. Our children will be baptized when they make the decision in their life to follow our Savior. When they are babies in our church, we have the choice to participate in a dedication ceremony in which we choose to lead them in their faith. We enjoyed celebrating on stage with our friends Clay and Maria Livingston and their baby, Catherine.


I was spoiled with several homemade gifts from my sweet ones...

A card and roses from our in-home daycare!

The card and my favorite chocolate.

A recipe book from Corbin, made in Mrs. Martin's class.

And art from my oldest! I love these kids, I'm the most blessed Mom in the world :o)

Chase has been busy with finger/table food. He gets pretty frustrated now when we try to eat something without sharing it. I'm pretty selective on what I let him eat still, so that just adds to his frustration :o)

Loves his Cheerios!!

We celebrated my sweet niece's 2nd birthday. Isn't her tutu adorable? I can't believe how much she has grown!!

She was all over the cake!!

So much to celebrate...the next day my nephew graduated from Malcolm High School.

And that evening we recognized my sister and BIL's 10th wedding anniversary. What blessings!

We have had many fun evenings just hanging at home too. Sidewalk chalk in the driveway, hikes and walks, lots of bike riding and baseball in the backyard. We have a very active family, so this spring/summer weather couldn't get here fast enough!!

We also spent a Saturday morning helping with a Food Band food distribution downtown. I have been trying to find ways for our whole family to volunteer together and after several months of mulling it over we decided to just try it out. Casey and I were amazed at the arrangement and how much food was given out to hundreds of families. All of our kids dove right in and kept busy the whole 2+ hours of the distribution.....Chase slept most of the time in his stroller :o)

The girls and I will likely help again this weekend while the boys head to Corbin's 1st t-ball game.

Speaking of.....Kyndal wrapped up volleyball last Sunday and the next day softball season kicked off at her 1st practice. I was surprised at how much the girls developed over the year. It should be even more fun to watch them this summer. Her games will be on Wednesday nights and Corbin's will be on Saturdays.

We have a couple big trips coming up, along with two birthdays. June will be even busier than May! Have a great week!!