Ken's Birthday

Sunday was Ken's birthday. Expecting a quiet dinner at home, he was surprised when Nicole and her family, and Andy and his family came walking in right behind Grandpa Ray.

Everyone around the table getting ready for cake

Aunt Jean trying to talk Mariah into sticking her fingers in the cake before we sing

There weren't enough candles in the house to celebrate...so we used the next best thing -- Super Candle!

Ken and Mairah "blowing" out the candle

Mariah getting her fingers into the bumble bee

Mariah drawing pictures

Molly and Maggie trying to be a part of the action in the back yard

The guys getting ready for horse shoes

Ken throwing a shoe while Elzo cheers him on

Andy's turn while Mac tries to hold back the dogs

Steve's turn

Maggie wants to go for a swim

Nicole and Mariah

Gail watching from the deck

Molly really wants to play

Steve throwing Mac into the pool...should have taken the cover off first!

Jacob taking a shot at horse shoes

And it sticks into the ground

Jason taking it all in...hope that hand tastes good!

Mariah blowing bubbles...check out the way she's eyeing the bubbles!

Look at all the bubbles!

Elzo

Molly's turn to blow bubbles now?

Mac taking a turn at horse shoes

Now this one was way off target!

The sun beginning to set over the mountains

Now time to roast some marshmellows....

Mac getting a stick ready

Gail getting her marshmellow ready

What's with the hair?!

Gail in the sunset

Check it out!

Burnt marshmellows are the best!

Maybe Steve has had a few too many sweets

Mac was proud of his two flaming marshmellows

Everyone seems to be catching the fire

And for my next act, I will swallow the flaming marshmellow

Jacob with his marshmellows

Molly wants some too...

Gail and Ken hanging out on the deck

Mariah's pictures

While Nicole was taking pictures, Mariah wanted to as well. Here is a small sampling of her pictures. All pictures have not been edited...

There was someone on the deck that Mariah wanting to take a picture of...now I'm not sure who that was!

"I want to take a picture of Daddy"

Check out Maggie

Good bark shot

And here's Molly playing in the yard

Can't forget the trees

"Can I take your picture Aunt Nicki?"

Father's Day

We had a BBQ for Father's Day.

It was the first day the pool was set up in the backyard and the water was still really cold. That didn't seem to bother the kids though.

Mariah and Allison playing in the pool. Mollie really wanted to go for a swim...

Mariah was a little shocked by the cold water

But she wasn't sure she was ready to get out

Before she did she made sure she took all the toys with her

Mariah and Allison splashing each other

Ken, Steve and Jacob watching from the deck

Allison decided to run and jump in...then got out as quickly as she could!

Mica, Mariah and Allison trying to warm up

Ken making burgers and brats

Grandpa Ray enjoying the evening

Mica getting ready to blow bubbles

It took Mariah a little bit to figure out how to make the bubbles work...

but once she got the hang of it there was no stopping her

Niko and Mica playing in the yard

Not how most people play baseball....

Allison, Nico, Jacob and Mac

Steve hanging out for a minute

Grandma Gloria

Jessica and Jason

Grandpa Ray opening up his Father's Day gift

Jason, just hanging out

Birthday Dinner

For her birthday, Ken took Gail out to dinner. When they arrived, she was surprised to here him say "Party of 10" when she thought it was just the two of them for the evening. Nicole, Steve, Jacob and Mac along with Andy, Jessica, Mariah and Jason were all there to help celebrate her 50th birthday!

Ken and Gail

Nicole and Jason, now 1 month old

Molly and Maggie enjoying the Thunderbirds

Sunday dinner -- you never know what you are going to get...

Mariah in her new princess dress

Show me some attitude...

Mariah kept saying "Pretty, pretty, pretty" as she would bend over and get nose to nose!

Kris and Mariah

Kris and Todd

Mac and Grandpa Ray

Kris couldn't decide which glass she wanted to drink out of...

so why not both at the same time?!

You can't leave one piece of apple pie behind, now can you?

Wendell and Karen

Before Andy got to the house, Jessica was complaining about how she did not like Andy's beard. It was time to get rid of it. Nicole and Kris decided to help out. While Nicole was taking a few pictures, Kris was so nice to offer to take a picture of Nicole and andy together. Little did he know there was more to it...

With Kris manning the camera, Gail grabbed the beard and Nicole grabbed the scissors...

Just enough gone to make it necesary to get rid of the rest...

Looks like a little hair landed on his plate.

Since it was pretty uneven we decided to cut the rest for him.