The 4th 7.4.16

Another beautiful 4th of July in Ketchikan, Alaska:

We stopped by the food booths to get our "meat-on-a-stick" and lumpia before watching the parade.

Before the parade started, Quent took Joshua to see the old cars.  Josh loves cars, so he was pretty excited about this.  Doesn't he look like he's on a mission?

The parade started and the kids quickly learned that if they waved enough, candy would be thrown and land at their feet.

Joshua was a go-getter when it came to getting candy.  He had more candy in his bag at the end of the parade than Jeralyn.

Baby Joel was enjoying the parade too.

Getting sleepy.

It was shortly after this when I felt his body slump and I realized he was sleeping, all during the loud parade.  Silly baby!

Super Happy Baby 6.30.16

Excuse me if I've posted before (trying to figure out what hasn't been posted).  He is such a happy baby...except when he is not.

Ballerina Fairy 5.14.16

I'm taking a break from summer photos to post some spring photos.

Here's Jeralyn after her Spring Gala performance:

Olivia is why we Jeralyn is in ballet; her inspiration.

After we came home, Quent took Jeralyn outside and had a little photo session.

Park with Grandma 7.11.16

After visiting family in Dorr, we went back to the east side of Michigan and stayed at my mom and Al's house for a few days before Quent and Joshua arrived.  On one of the days, we went to a nearby school playground.  Jeralyn and Grandma played while I pushed Joel in a swing.

Great Grandma 7.10.16

It was so wonderful to see my grandmother.  We stayed a couple of days with her and it was so fun for her to meet Joel. It was hard to say goodbye.

Dorr, MI 7.9.16

 One of our first stops in Michigan was to visit my mom's family on the west side of the state.  Dorr, Michigan is a little farming town near Grand Rapids.  We had an "open house" at my grandmother's house and my family came and went all throughout the day.  It was so wonderful to see everyone.  I really made a point to try to get in a photo with everyone.  And here's proof:

My cousin Pat, with his wife Cassandra and their son Liam.

My Aunt Barb and I.

My Aunt Denise and cousin Nicki.

My Aunt LouAnn and I.

Me with my cousin Alena.

Baby Joel chilling out on a blanket in the yard.  We were thankful for a good weather day where it wasn't so hot.

My cousin Jenell, Adam, and Jenell's kiddos.

My cousin Keith.

Jeralyn playing with her second cousins.

Me wit my cousins Angela and Amanda.

Cousin Trisha, her husband Scott, and their little guy, Ryker.

Uncle Tony, Aunt Kathy (with Jeralyn), and my cousin Zac with his wife to be, Kelly.

Ryker looked so much like Eli to me.

Aunt Barb holding Joel.

Me with Uncle Ken.

Friends in faraway places July 5-6th, 2016

Jeralyn, Joel, and I flew from Ketchikan to Seattle on our way to Detroit (Quent and Joshua were flying almost a week later to meet us).  During our short overnight stay in Seattle, my friend Rhianna and her daughter, Aubrey, picked us up from the airport and we had dinner together.  It was so nice to see them!  They are no longer a 5-minute drive from the Seattle airport, but now an hour drive.  So it was so sweet that she drove all that way, just to see us.  We realized that we met almost 4 years before to the day.

After dinner, they drove us to our hotel.  We spent a few minutes visiting and snapping photos in the hotel room before they left.

Aubrey, Joel, and Jeralyn.  Such fun!

This is a photo I took of Jeralyn and I on our flight to Detroit.

Joel did great with flying.

Sassy Jeralyn waiting outside for Grandpa and Grandma to pick us up from the airport.

Beginning of July, 2016

We are very behind on updating our blog.  There are photos that need to be edited.  But that could be awhile...so I'm going to do what I can in the meantime (aka posting pictures late). 

These are some photos I took with my phone in the beginning of July:

Jeralyn slept with some sponge curlers in her hair.  Silly girl!  I remember doing this when I was younger.

Most Saturday mornings, Quent makes pancakes for the kids.

Quent took this picture of Jeralyn.  I think it does a really great job of representing this girl, who is so full of life.

Happy girl with happy curls!  She definitely has her mama's hair because they didn't stay long.

Squeaky clean, and super cute baby after his bath.