Happy 60th Grandma!

This past Saturday Janet turned 60!  Dan and Janet invited lots of family and friends out to their house for some pool fun, games, golf cart races, jungle tours...I'll explain later, and water gun fights.  I didn't mention the AWESOME FOOD!!!!!!  For meat let's just say they had grilled chicken and burgers, smoked pork, smoked beef, BBQ pork, and BBQ beef...and that was just the meat.  I'm sure you can imagine what other yummies we had!  So good!



Here's Grandma taking her seat and closing her eyes for the reveal of her birthday present from us and Jody, Tim, and Ayden.

...an Iowa State bags set.  Jody had a friend make the wood structure and bean bags and then she did the decals and painting.  It turned out so cute.  This will be the perfect addition to our Iowa State tailgating experience this fall!

Grandma and Grandpa got a new pool for the kids.  Isaiah was all over loading up water guns.

Ava LOVED swimming in their hot tub that was filled with cool water.

For this one she said, "Watch this Mom!." 

Grandma helping Isaiah open bubbles.

Jerry and Judy Hand...Dan and Janet's neighbors.  They've lived by each other for a very long time and are great friends. 

Ayden working on his Bags technique.

Jody is a complete pro at this...I wonder if she practiced while she was making it!  She put so many bags in the hole!  I need to get more pointers from her!

Andy having a go at it.

Tim trying too!

Miss Ava trying out one of the cool bubble wands.

Miss Harley...she's turning 13 this year.  She loves being around people and is such a good dog!

Isaiah joined his sister in the hot tub.  They thought it was funny to make big splashes at people as they walked by.

Tim and Great Grandpa chatting.

Aunt Deanna and Andy...Deanna, Tim and Leita came back from Bettendorf to hang with us. 

Let the water gun squirting begin!

Great Grandma and Judy looking at the quilted Iowa State bag that Judy made Janet.  This bag is so big and perfect for bringing stuff to tailgates!

Jody and Uncle Tim enjoying a cold one together.

Janet, Darrell, Rayla, Great Grandma, and Harley

Ava doing a little ring toss.

Look out!

Deanna wouldn't be Deanna without her big smile! 

Kirstin was playing Bags against her boyfriend Bryson.

I forgot to mention the practice golf balls they had.  Ayden was working on his swing.

Ava and Grandma

Dan painted this sign on an old car trunk.

Isaiah and Grandma getting ready for a little golf cart race through the jungle.

Grandpa and Ava are ready to go too!

Tim and Ayden are set also!

Tim and Great Grandpa playing Bags together.

Ah...that "Jungle" that lurks throughout the backyard.  Dan and Janet hide tons of animals in the bushes and trees and the kids love searching for them.  In this picture Isaiah is trying to unload what he found.  The kids always bring a load home and then we bring them back again.  We came home with eight that night.

Eating dinner and loving that yummy food!

Mommy and Isaiah playing catch.

Of course my camera battery died and I didn't get a change to take pictures of Uncle Alan, Aunt Karen, and Great Grandpa Knaphus.  I also missed the golf cart water gun fights.  Almost everyone was drenched by the time it was over.  I'd say that Uncle Darrell won the award for getting the most wet.  He had squishy socks and shoes by the time that event was over.  We had such a fun time and the weather was overcast and perfect.  Happy 60th Janet!

***Random thought...Andy was reading this book yesterday that Grandma and Grandma Richardson have and it said that today is National Vanilla Ice Cream Day!  So enjoy yourself a nice scoop...Happy Monday!

My Three Happy's:

1) Watching the kids get so excited about that water gun fight.  They would take off on the golf cart, find people to shoot and soak, and then go back to the pool to reload.  This went on and on.  They had a blast and fell asleep within 3 minutes of driving home.

2) We picked 10 ears of sweet corn from the garden so far.  It was so crisp and yummy.  I planted it in sections this year so it wasn't all ready at the same time. 

3)Vacation Bible school starts tonight.  The kids love the songs, games, snacks, story time, and crafts.  It's an ocean theme this year.  They are excited to go to church this week.

My Favorite Thing:

-Do you have any idea how many different types of ribbon you can find these days?  Oh my!  My classroom is a pirate theme and it's all black, red, and white.  I went to Hobby Lobby the other day and stocked up on polka dot, striped, plain...you name it.  They have so many different sizes and styles.  Ribbon does so much to add that little decorative detail.  Ribbon...my new favorite thing!