On July 3rd we went to Nyssa for the Barlow family reunion. It happens every year around this time and we used to do it in honor of Grandpa Max's birthday. Since he is passed it is still, sort of, in honor of him but mostly a chance to get together. This year not a whole lot of people could make it but it was still fun to visit with those who were there.
Since the Peterson get together was the next day we decided to stay the night and since Bob and Alisons house was filled to the brim with siblings and their families staying the night we called up Jeremy who was in Florida with his family to see if we could use their empty house to sleep in. They were gracious enough to say yes and so Kefford and I left our kids at Alisons to have a sleepover with their cousins while we went for the peace and quiet of Jeremys house ;).
They have two cats and I laughed when I saw what the cats have been doing to entertain themselves while the family was away.
I bought Avy and Rylee some cute 4th of July shirts from Target and one day while at JoAnns I found some really cute material to make skirts for my girls. Avy's was perfect to wear on the 4th and matched her shirt perfectly.
Rylee wore hers with a pair of pants with stars all over them that I had cut off to make shorts. They were Rylee's favorite pants to wear but had to stop when they got too holy. Turing them into shorts was the perfect no brainer!
At the Peterson Party Ryker found some cousins to play his Magic game with. It is nice to have family to play with.
Water balloons were flying everywhere for a while so I made sure to stay out of the action. I let Tami borrow my phone for pictures since hers was not cooperating.
Since Grandma and Grandpa Peterson have both passed on the siblings had to do a lot of cleaning and going through their things. Alison had taken a bunch of Grandmas costume Jewelry and put them in baggies for the great-granddaughters to pick from. She did it by order of age with Kenedy going first and then went down from there. Everyone got something they were happy with and I love that they have something to keep to remind them of their Great-Grandma Marge. The rest of us were encouraged to look around and pick anything that we would like to have. That was very difficult going through their things, it felt personal and invasive, and even though I know this is what they would have wanted it still felt wrong. We did find a couple of things to take home and I am glad to have somethings of Keffords Grandparents to remember them by.
We had a delicious dinner and then we hung out and visited while waiting for the fireworks to start.
Charlotte and Kenedy
The kids got to play with sparklers and Aunt Juli had made little gift bags with necklaces and bubbles and different fun and festive things for the kids to wear.
Erin was still in town visiting so she got to come with us to celebrate the 4th. It was a lot of fun having her here and I hope she comes again next year!
Finally got them to cooperate and they are a really cute group, in my opinion of course ;)
As everyone started gathering and sitting to watch the fireworks it was fun to see them gravitate to sitting with their cousins and Aunts. I love the close relationships my kids have with their extended families and I will always encourage it!
