Princess Tea Party 8.27.16

Jeralyn has changed so much between her 4th and 5th birthdays.  She went from a princess-loving girl to becoming very interested in learning about dinosaurs.  She still likes princesses, but it's toned down a lot.  She still prefers wearing dresses, but she will (all on her own) pick out jeans/pants and a shirt.  A week before her birthday party, she said she wanted to have a dinosaur party.  I told her it was too late since I already had everything for the tea party planned.  

I kept the party pretty simple.  I love decorating and picking a theme, but I didn't want to go crazy.  She had 3 friends come and they had a really great time together.  They played a couple of games and ate princess food. There wasn't actual tea (strawberry lemonade).

Jeralyn's most favorite friend, Abby.

These photos are a little out of order.  This is when she was opening her gifts.  Olivia (to the very left) helped me make this party happen.  She was my helper and she was wonderful!

Left to right: Jen and her daughters Alaina and Airea (spelling?), Olivia, Abby, Aurora, Jeralyn

The girls decorated tiaras when the party started.

I made a princess cake.  It's my famous (ha!) "baked Alaska" with a Barbie stuck in the middle.  The Barbie was a little too tall, so I improvised without even having to chop her legs off.  Ha!

Samantha putting Abby's tiara on her.

Princess Jeralyn.  See Shelly?  She's still a very important member of this family.

We did a little photo shoot.  It was fun and the girls were laughing super hard.

Happy 5th birthday to our sweet and exuberant and very happy-go-lucky girl!

Chunk of Love 8.19.16

Feeding the Baby 8.15.16

I believe this was when Joel started eating baby food.  He didn't really care for it, but after a few days he was all for it.  Joshua did the same thing when he was a baby.  I started Joel on baby food almost 2 months later than I did with Jeralyn and Joshua.  I didn't want to travel to Michigan and worry about high chairs and feeding him. He was totally fine with waiting.

Helmet Expressions 8.9.16

This girl and her expressions.

Hydrangea 8.9.16

A few years ago we bought a hydrangea and planted it.  And it FINALLY bloomed!!  It's one of my favorite flowers.

Swinging Joel 8.9.16

Poor Joshua never got to use the baby swing due to our garage project.  So he finally got to use it when Joel gets to use it.  All of our kids have loved this swing.

Baby Joel...

Kindergarten for JP 8.8.16

We started our school year early.  We were ready and eager to get started.  I plan to do school year around (with lots of breaks).  The first week felt a little rocky for me, but we eased into it and she's enjoying her year (and I am too).

Blueberry crepes 8.6.16

It was Blueberry Festival day in Ketchikan.  Quent and I were both volunteering some time for the festival that day, so he picked an early morning time at the blueberry crepes booth for the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad.  He brought home some "samples" for us to enjoy for breakfast.  Yum!  I volunteered some time later on that day to make cotton candy for Ketchikan Theatre Ballet.  It was a SWEET day!  Get it?  Ha!

Wrangell Visitors 8.5.16

Our friends Nate, Alicia ,and their kiddos Luke and Lily, were in Ketchikan for the weekend.  We had them over for dinner one night.  It was a fun visit and was fun to think back to those years we were wishing and hoping (if they read this they will know what I'm talking about). xoxo

Playing Dress-up 8.3.16

Joshua asks (yes, he asks) Jeralyn to dress him up...or maybe he asked me to put the dress on him this time.  It's so fun to watch the kids play together, even if Joshua makes his daddy shake his head.  Ha!

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!!