June/ home to WA

As soon as we found out Lance was IN this year we started planning a LONG trip home in June--our last hurrah before school. Lance quit at Costco at the beginning of June. I am sure emotions were mixed--Costco in a variety of locations has been home for years! but the only emotion I saw was disbelief and excitement! He has wanted to be done for soooo long, not because he hated it (he liked it some days:) but because he so badly wanted to start on his next journey--where he wanted to be. 

Brandon and Brittany were moving to Colorado and because Brittany was with child:) they asked Lance if he would help drive out their cars. Lance didnt even hesitate and was down for the road trip...it meant a few days less work and a few days less vacation and a toll on his hip sitting for the drive but thats what friends do for friends and Brandon and Brittany have been great friends! Lance agreeing to drive across country didn't surprise me, what did surprise me was him volunteering to take Ben:) Lance was gonna fly from Colorado to WA to meet up with us and Bens ticket would be cheaper from there than from KY plus, and I quote, "I couldnt deprive him of a fun father son bonding road trip" :) That, I could not, but I was nervous. Lance is an amazing dad but I had never been away from Ben--ever!

Ben did great! Literally no complaints! He truely is a remarkable two year old!! He especially LOVED the stop in Lawrence to see Aunt Brooke and Uncle Jakey (& Cotton)! He even got to tour the KU facilities and stand in Jake's locker:)

Its so fun watching Ben play with his cousins as he gets older. He was so excited to see everyone! 

We got to see one of Cole's last baseball games and even got to be at his Banquet:)

It was perfect time for new Grandkid pics and the perfect Father's Day gift for Grandpa:)

Rach did a great job! I LOVE how they turned out!

  

such cute kiddos and perfect for an unplanned photo op--we all had red packed and just ran with it! 

Later we headed over to ROYAL for some fun with the Berg crew

Blake and Ryan made for some fun little photo shoots:)

Ben LOVED all of the Thomas's toys (scooters, bikes, motorcycles:) The Harley looks tougher when the pic is in black & white:)

Debra has all of Lance's toys and trucks from when he was young and Ben was in heaven! 

 

Blakely meeting Grandma Erma (Lance's maternal grandma) 

Too bad Debra is not in this pic for a generation shot:)

Chicos Pizza and picnic at the Thomas's

The kids all had a blast jumping on the tramp and running around together

dogpile!

Me & my Blakey girl                                     Me & Kate

 

 

The Bergeson babies: Kate (oldest, far right) Ashley (next, far left) 

then Blake and Ryan, who are a month apart:)

 

We got to update the grandkid pics on the Berg side too and they turned out great! 

love the black and white and even with 13 kiddos, we got some with mostly smiles:) 

the Berg boys                                    the Berg girls

My sweet babies:)

We decided to bless Blake in Royal and were thrilled to have a weekend with so much family (sad to be missing some but such is life with a big family like ours) the Parkers came over to Royal a little early for a fun weekend on the farm.  

Wiener Roast at Chad & Marnie's

 

A ride in Grandpa Paul's truck around one of the fields

giving rides in the tractors and earth mover

  

Tara and Rachel put together an awesome fun Family Olympics. They had tons of games and prizes and the kids had an absolute BLAST!! They had a balloon chase (which was even better with the unexpected windy day! all of the kids ended up in the orchard), they dug for sour candies in rice crispies NO HANDS!, gunnysack/pillowcase races, frisbee throw challenge, cheetos toss onto a shaving cream shower cap, the cookie challenge, pin the sticker on the poster, etc. etc....They did a great job--fun times!

Family Fun Olympics!

 

 

 Blake's Blessing Day

It was a beautiful day surrounded with friends and family.
Lance gave Blakely a beautiful blessing.
Overwhelmed with LOVE for this sweet family of mine. 

  

My mom made Blakely's gown and it was BEAUTIFUL!, perfect, and so me! 

Just what I wanted, simple, classy and timeless! 

Blake loved it too! look at her pose:)

 

Ben was bound to be bored out of his mind when we returned to KY after all of the WA fun and games, tractors, earth movers, trampolines, power wheels, boats, cousins, grandparents, etc. 

What more could a little boy ask for!

Had one last trip to my parents cabin as we now know it and have grown up with it! My mom inherited this cabin and my parents put soooo much money and work and love into maintaining the cabin for us and their grandkids. My cousins all still come to it too when they can. It is my haven, my heaven on earth:) So many fond memories and I cant wait for many more. My parents are rebuilding the cabin so that many more memories are possible. 

 
Throwing rocks in the 2012 creek (the storms and run off from St. Helens transform it every year)

 

I got a new phone and temporarily lost a lot of pictures from UP so for now this is all...

walking Chambers Bay with the family just before heading back to KY.

My boys snoozing on the plane:)

 

Blakey too---everyone but me:)

Home Sweet Home back in KY

i love sleeping babies

Sunday afternoon wrestling matches     Enjoying some yummy BBQ ribs