Everyone came home!

We were so lucky that everyone was able to come home for Jared & Nikelle's wedding! Brian and his family came on October 11th. They were able to stay until October 20th, so they were here for the wedding and open house.  Cindy and her family arrived on October 17th and left on the same plane as Brian's family early in the morning of the 20th. It was so awesome to have all 13 of us together even if it was for a short time, I'll take whatever I can get!

Here they come!

 

Annie is sooo big!

 

Swinging on the red swing.  Maden was pretty patient while Annie got a turn in "his" red swing. I didn't get a picture of him in the red swing, he looks huge in it.

 

We left that same afternoon and headed for Burley.  We were staying in a hotel in Burley so we could be closer for the wedding the next day. Maden and Annie woke up about 5:00 in the morning. According to Maden, it was wake up time in Pennsylvania!

 





We're all dressed up and ready to go to the temple. Cousins Jackie, Ryan and Samuel came to the temple to tend Maden and Annie.

 

Waiting outside the temple for the Newlyweds to come out.

 

Still waiting.....

 

Here they are! Maden couldn't wait for the photographer to get finished so he could go tell Nikelle thanks for marrying Jared so she could be his Aunt!

 

After the pictures, we went to Gerties for a wedding lunch. Jared was determined to have Annie like him, so he took the opportunity to hold her when she was tired.

 

We went back to the hotel to chill out a little before the reception.  Maden piled pillows to make a tower on Courtney.  Jared and Nikelle stopped by for a few minutes, Maden was thrilled that Nikelle came there.

 

Some pictures at the reception.  Maden loved the candy bar.  He also liked sneaking into all the pictures.

 

A few wedding pictures.  Such a nice day!

 

This is how tired a little bub gets after a big wedding day.

 

In the hot tub with Grandpa and Daddy.

 

Maden loves to help in the kitchen. Grandma Beth came and helped make chocolate covered grapes. They were delicious! We made muffins and noodles for chicken noodle soup.

 

Annie likes helping her mom play the piano.

 

Maden was so happy that the neighbors cat came over to play. He loved playing with a string and the cat.

 

Cousin Porter came to play. He taught Maden everything there is to know about tractors and combines.

 

I was so lucky they were here for my birthday! Maden had asked me a few weeks earlier what I wanted for my birthday, I told him the best present would be to have him at my house.  He told me that I got my wish!

 

We went to play air hockey with Grandpa Chin Chopper.  At first he liked to watch the puck go in the hole in front of him, but when he understood that Grandpa got points when that happened, and he got points when he put the puck in Grandpa's hole the game changed! Love his "smile".

 

Annie had fun playing with some different toys.

 

We went bowling on Wednesday.  A funny thing happened, Celia bowled a really good game, I think her score was about 190.  Brian still had 5 or 6  frames left and jokingly said he would have to strike in every frame to beat her. Well, much to Celia's dismay he did! Celia was not thrilled, in fact she was kind of mad. (Don't blame her) No one expected him to get that many strikes!

 

Maden got to help Grandpa mow the lawn.

 

He had fun helping with the lawn mower and four wheelers.

 

Brian and Celia took the 65 out for a spin.

 

Jared and Nikelle came back from their honeymoon on Wednesday. Maden was glad to have Nikelle read him stories before bed.

 

Annie watched as Daddy and Grandpa did some repairs to the 65. We did some sidewalk writing. As you can see, it was not very warm.

 

Maden and I went to Courtney's school.  He taught the kids about odd and even numbers, they were impressed. One of the kids said you are really smart.  Maden told them that he wasn't smart about combines.  They were having a Run for Riverside that day, Maden ran about 6 laps with Courtney, then he  played on the playground.  He loves going to 9 year old school.

 

Shopping at Keslers with Grandpa.

 

Cindy's family came! Of course she found the neighbors cat. We did some sidewalk painting.

 

Yep, she kept finding the cat.

 

On Friday, we all went to Texas Roadhouse of course!

 

Then we all went out to Chet and Becky's "farm".  Annie loved the puppy, but not the cats. The pup loved Sydney too. Surprise, surprise, Cindy found the kittens. Maden got to feed the horse an apple.

 

Brian, Randy and Jared loaded some hay up in Blue to haul closer to the cows.

 

Maden and Porter had a great time rolling a tire down a little hill and chasing after it.  Getting the tire to the top was hard work for little boys, but they did it over and over.

 

We watched Jared milk LC, then they got to feed the calves.

 

Celia was the only one that would drink the fresh milk. She said she really didn't like it too much.

 

Sydney pushed Annie in the swing and Maden got to jump on the tramp.  There sure are a lot of fun things to do at Chet and Becky's.

 

Before the Open House on Saturday, we had Brandi Simmons come and take our pictures. We took them in Matsuura's back yard and used the 65 for a prop.  Maden wanted to climb the tree, so Grandpa helped him.

 

This is a couple of the pictures we had to choose from.  They turned out real good I think! It was so great to have all 13 of us in one place all together!

 

I didn't get many pictures from the Open House, so here's a few.

 

 

Sunday morning, bright and early, they all flew home.  It was so fun to have everyone here! I love being together with everyone!