Jetting through July!

 Well, it's so hard to believe that the end of July is upon us, and in a little over a week, my children will be embarking on a new journey....Jesse and Claire to a brand new school....and Claire beginning Kindergarten.  The whole idea of the sweet little baby girl we met for the first time 4 years ago about to embark on a great journey is a bit scary to us.......she's ready!!! But are we????

Anyway, we have thoroughly enjoyed our summer and thank God every day that Lance is able to provide for us so that we can do these things for the family.  We were also blessed this summer with the presence of our neice Keri, who is a sweet little girl who loves to hang with us and just have fun!

Here's Keri making one of many desserts the kids made on their own this summer!  Here she is making Brown Sugar Pound Cake!  It turned out beautifully!

 The kids' favorite part of cooking.....

 Jesse & Keri have been teaching Claire chess this summer.....can't wait til Claire whoops Jesse fair and square!

 
 Well, we took Jesse, Claire, and Keri to St. Louis this week for a fun little trip.  We absolutely loved the City Museum and yes, that is me climbing all the contracptions and slides and so on....I felt like a kid again...complete with mud and rust stains all over my clothes after like 50 slides!

 Claire and I zooming our way to Lance.

 The biggest ball pit ever....Claire had to be lifted out by a worker the balls were so deep and large....she had a blast!

 If you ever want your child (and husband!) to have a great night's sleep, simply make them do a life sized hampster wheel for a few minutes......

Jesse waiting patiently to pet a manta ray...he did, and loved it!

 Our view from Busch Stadium.....wonderful night and the Cardinals won too!!

 Of course, we couldn't leave St.Louis without letting all 3 kids visit the arch and ride to the top...so that's just what we did.  We actually thought either Claire or Keri would see the little pods that take you to the top and bail out, but they both hopped in and rode right to the top!  Great views and the kids loved seeing the whole city and the Mississippi River from there.

Our last stop before heading back home.  As soon as we arrived in Memphis, the kids and I repacked, and headed back in the car the next morning for Murfreesboro, where we visited my aunt and uncle and cousins!  The kids had great fun swimming, eating sushi, and visiting the Murfreesboro Discovery Center.  Unfortunately, I have no photos of that because I was buzzing around Nashville with my aunt fabric shopping!  So much fun!  Well, a couple more fun things headed our way this coming week, so stay tuned for lots more pics!!!

Love, Gretchen

20 Year Class Reunion!

 Well, the big 20 year was this weekend! We had a meet and greet at McGuinness Pub with the alumni and lots of our former teachers.  It was the best time!  The reunion continued Saturday morning with a picnic at the Mud Island Riverwalk with alumni and children.  The kids all enjoyed meeting each other and playing with all the water soakers down the Riverwalk!  Here some of us old buddies having a great time on the river!

 Lauri and I at the Hollywood Disco, where we had our actual reunion party and dinner.  So much fun was had, complete with a disco ball and old school music!

 Old girlfriends together again!

Friends since 2nd grade!!!

Bartlett 2011 Champions!

 Well, Lance & Jesse's Team did great in the end of season tourney last week and made it to the finals Monday night.  They played a great game and won against the Dodgers.  Way to go Tigers.  We were really proud of Jesse.  He really stepped up and got a run himself, and brought in 3 RBI's.  He was really tickled at how many family members and friends came to see his last game of the season...what a great one!

 The team celebrating after the game...such a great group of young men!

 Jesse with cousin Patrick, who helped Lance as 3rd Base Coach for the game!

A relieved Lance and son!

More to do in June!

 Well, Lance had a great Father's Day that started off with church, spending time with his dad, and visiting my dad as well!  The kids picked out all his presents......great effort kids!

Cousin Gracie at Jesse's Baseball game this week...such a cute little ham!!

 Jesse waiting for his turn at the plate...

 Jesse brought our neighbor Brennen to the zoo today, and they loved feeding all the hungry birds!  That never gets old!!

Posing for a picture and cooling off at the same time!!

More Vacation Memories....

 Well, my dad took Jesse to Pensacola for a day trip to the Naval Air Museum.  For anyone that knows Jesse, he is crazy about planes.  He loved this trip with his Grandpa and had a great time, along with cousin Jack.  Jesse especially loved climbing in the cockpit of this fighter plane.

 More pictures.  My dad rarely comes to the beach with us, so it was great to get some pics of us all!

 All the guys on the trip.....

 It is a rare occurance when the 10 cousins all get together at the same time, so this picture was a fun one to take. Youngest to oldest, left to right......I hate that I'm to the far right!!!Currently 8 of the 10 cousins are living in the Memphis area...yay!!!

The gal picture....Most of us just stay in our coverups and bathing suits from morning to night...isn't that what vacation's all about?!!!


Hope you enjoyed some of the photos...lots more events coming up soon!  Love, Gretchen

Family Picture.....all of us!

My mother's side of the family goes on vacation together every year.....that means all my mom's siblings, all their children, and so on....Unfortunately, we've lost a few precious family members over the last few years.  But among those losses, several more blessings have been born! So enjoy the picture of my big, beautiful, and crazy family.  My poor sweet brother Tommy's head is obscured by mine, but you might still be able to pick him out!

Fun in the sun !!

Well, we just returned from a wonderful vacation to Orange Beach for our annual trip with my entire family...and I mean all 40 something of us. We had a great time and met up with old friends and new ones too!!

I think some of the most fun Lance had on this trip was thowing the old football around with Jesse...and turned out to be a game of like 8 throwing it all around the beach.....great times were had and Lance was proud of his old arm.....

Claire was a non-stop playing and swimming machine on the beach. She slept sooo well!!

Jesse tossing ot around with all his cousins and dad.

Little ham!

My Grandmother came along for part of this trip and really enjoyed herself. Showing off her moves in the sand with Claire!

Claire loved swimming in the ocean with Aunt Cathie and Uncle Charlie. She started getting brave and standing on the boodie board by mid-week!

Jesse and Lance took a day trip to Fort Morgan and had a blast. Jesse explored the fort inside and out....taking a break on this cannon.

Well, more pics to follow. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!! Love, Gretchen