Great Lakes 7.21.16

We met my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins at a mall.  Our original plan was to meet with them at a park, but it was in the 90's this day and very humid on top of that.  It was so nice to see everyone!

Great Grandma holding baby Joel.

My cousin Nicholas and I.  I hadn't seen him for about 5-6 years!

My cousins Nick and Allison.

Uncle David

Joel got so comfy!

It was some time after this point that we lost Joshua.  He was playing in the play area and suddenly he was gone.  My heart was pounding and I was about to enter freak-out mode when a lady asked me if I was looking for a little boy.  I said I was and she told me where she last saw him.  I walked in that direction and another lady stopped me and asked if I was looking for a little boy with a plaid shirt on.  She said she just saw him in a dressing room in a store.  Ahhh!  So I rushed over and there he was, held in the store clerk's arms.  He was fine.  No tears.  I was like, "There you are!"  I assume he thought he was heading in our direction out of the play area, but he went the other way instead and just kept on walking.  So scary!  I thanked those two ladies (they are mothers of young kids too).

Joshua playing in the cars.

Jeralyn really wanted to ride the carousel so Great Grandpa treated them to a ride.

And then we had ice cream...because what is a Keller get together without ice cream?  *wink*  These are my people, for sure! *smile*  xoxo 

One last photo before concluding our time together.  I love and miss them so much!

Gramma Mary 7.19.16

I can tell this was one of those hot summer days in Michigan (the kids look hot).  Jeralyn would step outside of the air-conditioned house into the heat and she would say, "Is it hot out here to you too, Mom?"  It was like she wanted to make sure it was really happening.  I guess what's what happens when you are from Southeast Alaska where you have mild summers and it doesn't get very hot.  She loved the heat and the sun!

We did a little photo shoot with Gramma:

It's so hard to get everyone to look at the same time.

Oh Jeralyn!

The Leow's visit & trampoline antics 7.18.16

Our friend's Pat & Sara and their twins, Garrett and Olivia were in Roger's City while we were visiting Quent's family, so they drove over to spend the day with us.  It was so wonderful to see them since we haven't seen them since Jeralyn was 13 months old.

We went to a park to play and have a picnic pizza lunch.

And then later we had dinner with them at Smith Acres and then played on the trampoline before saying goodbye to them.  We are hoping to do another vacation with them soon.  It was so great to see them!

Good times with good friends!!

Insta-Michigan July 2016

I had some photos on my phone that I shared on Instagram (when I used to have an account).  I wanted to share those photos too.

My dad holding Joel.

My sister Amanda and I.  She's going to graduate from high school in 2017 and it's just crazy to me!  She's the same age I was when she was born (17 years old).  Love this girl so much!

Someone (*cough* GRANDMA) gave Joel a mohawk after a bath.

Aunt Harriet holding Joel.

Aunt Margaret feeding Joel.  He was pretty popular.

Natasha feeding the blind calf.  It was born that way and I hear it's doing really well.

Because you never out grow baby toys.  Right?

My friend Rebekah.  She's married to Quent's cousin, Brandon.  She and I were friends before were ever related.

We had a very short but very sweet visit with my friend Carrie and her daughter, Maggie, at Chili's on our way back down to my parent's.

Quent and I saw a Detroit Tiger's baseball came.  It was so fun to experience this with Quent.  And it was HOT.  Hot. It was *only* 75 degrees when the game started, but when it ended it was 83 degrees.  I drank 2 of those Icee drinks and tons of water.  We were practically melting in the direct sun.  When you live in Southeast Alaska, 60 degrees feels warm, so we were HOT.  Everyone else was hot too, just for the record.  The Tiger's didn't win this game, but it was a really great time!  My mom watched the kiddos (thank you!!).  It was like the best date ever.

My little man and I smiling at each other in the mirror.

And this is a little sneak peak of more pictures to come.  Sweet baby Joel fell asleep in Great Grandma's arms.  xoxo

Hello Smith Family 7.16.16

This was everyone at the reunion:

Jeralyn is making a goofy face.  There were 2 other group pictures like this one that Natasha shared with us, and in the other photos Jeralyn's eyes were closed and she was sticking her tongue out.  *shaking head* *sigh*  Kids these days!  It's so hard to get a decent photo of a big group like this.  Thank you, Natasha!

Smith Family Reunion July 15-17, 2016

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Michigan mid-summer was to go to the Smith Family reunion that is held annually on the 3rd weekend of July.  I've been wanting to go for years, so this was our chance.  I also wanted to go during a year when all of Quent's aunts would be there.  This was the year!

Aunt Natasha holding baby Joel.

Quent's cousin Tiffany with her daughters.

*cluck, cluck*

Sooooo many blueberries.  Some family members would spend 5+ hours every other day picking blueberries.

Yours truly (among the blueberries).

In the evening a group would go to watch and feed the calf (it was a twin that the mother rejected because she didn't want to feed two babies).  I think it's name was Baby.

Baby was super friendly and was like, "Got milk?"

Yes, Grandpa has the milk.  Everyone took turns feeding Baby.

I think Josh was "mooing" here.

I really enjoyed visiting with everyone and getting caught up on life.  Pictured here (from left to right): me, Aunt Janet, Aunt Margaret, Aunt Ronetta (Marty's wife), Aunt Harriet, and Uncle Marty.

Joshua LOVED all of Grandpa's farm equipment, especially the tractor.  He may have snuck up onto the tractor a couple of times.

Getting ready for some family photos before some of our group was leaving.

Pictured: Janet, Harriet, Margaret, Marty, Peter, and their cousin Joan.

Smith siblings reunite!  Janet lives in Wyoming, Marty and Pete live in Michigan, and Harriet and Margaret live in Texas.

Not sure what was funny here, but I love the smiles.

And here is our loud, squealing baby.  He seems to really enjoy being around people...and lots of people.  The more people, the louder he gets.  He had so many happy, loud, screaming squeals coming out of him that Quent would put his stroller away from the group.  It did work to quiet him down.  Silly baby!

This was one of the times he sneaked up into the tractor.

And it looks like he knows how to operate it.

Jumping on the trampoline.

I went out one evening to see what all of the feeding the calf was about.  It was so funny because as Grandpa called the cattle toward us, Jeralyn called it the "cow parade".  It was just like a parade...of cows!  It was fun to help feed the calf.

Jeralyn and Leah sitting on top of Grandpa's truck.

Margaret, Doris (Grandma), Harriet, Peter (Grandpa), and Janet.

One of the many meals shared together.  I believe this was the last breakfast of the reunion.

Saying goodbye to more people.  I don't like goodbyes.

And then we had a church service.  Quent's cousin Brandon shared a song with us.

Brandon's (and Rebekah's) daughter Leah.

After the church service we sat in a circle and shared about our year.  There were tears and laughter and every in between.

Grandma holding Joel.

Grandma kisses!

Aunt Natasha and Jeralyn laughter and tickles.

Another cow parade.

We had the most wonderful time at Smith Acres with all of the other Smith's.  xoxo