Friday, August 21, 2009

Petersen Reunion

We went to the Yoder's house for a reunion with some of Brian's relatives. Uncle Pete and Aunt Liz and Grandma D were there. Their two boys, PJ and Matt and wives Kristen and Kim and their kids, Brian's brother Chris and Michelle and their kids, us, Bethany and Brian's parents. 24 people! People camped out around the house in tents, we ate tons of food, sat around the bonfire each night, watched slides from when everyone was younger, went tubing, and just had a great time together!
Arrival: the kids loved playing on the tire swing after the long car trips Setting up camp.
(We slept inside because we have the youngest kids, and also a baby... and Brian had just camped out for a whole month and had had enough! :)

Ham roasting over the fire.
Linda going through the slides to find ones with the Petresens.
Tractor Ride with Poppa
Uncle Pete jumped in too!

Look at all that food!!
Dinner time. We spent every evening around the fire... eating dinner, reminiscing, making smores, and just staying up really late talking... especially about PROMO FEET! :)

Another birthday celebration for Brian.
Some presents for Daddy. Kristen makin' bacon.
Natalie said, "Daddy's a good pancaker" (pancake maker, I guess? :)
Allie and Evan
We went to the local pool one afternoon.

Snack time.
Cousins Doing pushups... can you tell they have military dads? :)

Playing Cornhole--A fun beanbag toss game. Brian is actually making a couple sets with Penn State colors... I'll post pictures once they're completed.
Look carefully and you can see TWO on the swing!
Love this one of Adam
Evan loves to scoot to the edge of the blanket to play with the dirt, sand or grass or whatever he can find. He's trying to crawl already but I'm not encouraging it... I like that at least one kid is still not mobile! We had grilled chicken, potatoes and corn one night.
Tubing Day! Hooking up the trailer to our jeep.
We were all tied together as we floated down the water.
Trying to get everybody in a line.
Couldn't take the camera in the water so we didn't get too many pictures but here we are ready to get back out.
Time for a snack while we pack up.


The kids loved playing inside the tubes.
Last breakfast. Look at all that bacon!

The kids spilled dried pasta all over the dining room!

Time for goodbyes!
It was pouring rain as everyone was trying to pack up... thankfully God waited until the last day before letting it rain come! We had great weather!
Kim holding the umbrella for Matt
All the girls playing ring-around-the-rosie. Poppa and Adam
It was great to get to know some of Brian's relatives better (he has so many more than I do!). Hopefully we'll get to see you all again soon. Family is wonderful! :)

Blake and Brian's Birthdays

Brian was gone for the whole month of July at an Army ROTC camp near Seattle. I won't even pretend that 30 days is anything compared to year long deployments...but since Daddy's been home so much this past year, it felt long to us! We didn't have any communication until a couple days before he came home so I think that's what made it harder. But we stayed busy, and Brian was busy (and did really well!) and we were ALL happy to see each other when he got home!

Brian's birthday is August 6th and since we were going to be at his parent's house over it, we just had a small little party to celebrate their birthdays as a family. Since I knew were were going to be having cake at the Yoder's, I made a pudding dessert in special dishes with candles. The kids loved having such a big bowl! (They of course didn't finish it all, although Blake almost did!)

Time for more presents! Yay!

This was from the Yoders... he was so into ripping open the paper, he threw the box on the floor and grabbed the next gift! We had to make him go back and open the box--he didn't even think there was anything in there!
Thanks for the clothes and the airplanes! :)
Daddy's turn!

Brian is taking a German class this semester so I got him a little primer in preparation. :)
Blake got fun bouncy balloons that the kids are loving!
Blake is turning into a big boy now. He recently moved into a toddler bed--he and Evan share the "boys room" together now. He gave up pacifiers (that he only used in bed anyway) and is on his way to being potty trained. He's talking a lot now... our running commentary of anything and everything that's going on. He loves practicing his new words. We love you Blake and are so glad you've been part of our life for 2 whole years now!
Up next: Reunion at the Yoders with the Petersens!