Summertime Fun!

What an amazing summer we have had! It has been jam packed full of fun and adventure. Be prepared for the large amount of pictures in this post! Since I am such a slacker, I decided to put a bunch of things into one post.

MEETING BABY TRISTAN

Some dear friends of ours, Ben and Wiesje Bryan recently moved to Denver and shortly after they got settled, their sweet little boy, Tristan arrived. So I loaded up my kids and Jo and her kids into the van to go meet this special boy that we have all been praying for for a very long time. It was a great trip until we were almost there and Sarah threw up all over due to car sickness. So the welcome was not quite what any of us were expecting, but Tristan was just as adorable as we knew he would be! Westy loves babies and this one was no exception.

It was so good to see Andi again too. She loves Tyler and followed him around everywhere.

This is the difference of 10 months in the life of a baby! Asher seemed huge!

These two are just about the same age and great friends. Such cute kids!

WICHITA 2011

We took our annual trip to visit my sister and her kids at the end of July. I drove down by myself with the kids and though I was pretty nervous about it, it was one of the best trips I have ever had. The kids did great! We were pretty happy to be there by the end of 11 hours though! Of course the kids had a blast together despite 2 of the kids randomly throwing up. Not sure why that happened but I am thankful it wasn't more than 2! We headed to the zoo on the day Weston was sick, but it didn't seem to phase him at all. I tried to make him sit in a stroller, but he wasn't having any of that and ran around with all the other kids. Note the green bowl I made him carry around and the smile on his face:-) How many kids does it take to weigh as much as a gorrilla?? Apparently a few more than we have!

All the kids messing around.

A marshmellow was happened while we were there......no one was hurt, but there were a lot of laughs!

Tyler lost his first tooth!! He was so proud!

We went to a really great swimming pool on a really HOT day. I am telling you, it is HOT there all the time! This Weston after a long day of swimming. That kids LOVES to swim! He even got to go down the tall slide all by himself. He is not scared of much that is for sure!

Asher was one tired baby after the swimming day. He loves the water too.

BACK TO WYOMING

After a week we all headed back to Wyoming. Miss 8 year old Katie rode all the way home with me and took her job of taking care of Asher very seriously which I loved! We looked for license plates for all the states and we didn't get them all, but got quite a few. We listened to "Adventures in Odssey" and it made the trip go faster. They stayed at our house for a while before heading up to Wheatland. While we were all there in Laramie, we went up to Vedawoo for a picnic. The kids had a blast! Angie climbed through a rock.......and didn't even get stuck!

Stairstacked trouble right here! Lane, Weston, and Adam.

The king of the mountain.

A bunch of kids climbed this rock. Oh and Uncle Tom and Aunt Angie too.

Daddy and Asher. DOWN TO WHEATLAND

Harvest was in full swing down on the farm, so we headed there to get in on the action (and to cook a LOT of food for a LOT of helpers!) The kids loved riding on the combines, and in the wheat trucks. One afternoon Weston climbed on Old Grandpa's combine and it took 5 strong men to get him offf when it was time to go home for a nap. Well, maybe only 1 insistant Mom!

Aunt Jo had the fun idea that all the kids should tie dye a tee-shirt. They had a blast and the shirts didn't trun out 1/2 bad either. Here is Weston with his gloves on and just about to start the dying process.

Asher was not allowed to touch a dye bottle, so he played on the couch pillow instead.

All the finished products on some of the cutest kids in the entire world!

Playing tug-a-war with Grandad.........................

Grandad won even though he was vastly outnumbered!

SURPRISE!

At the beginning of the summer I decided to organize a surprise party for Muzzy and Grandpa. I wanted all of their grandkids to get together for a picnic and a much needed visit since we couldn't all get together at Christmas last year. We pulled it off without a hitch (although Dad almost had to "break" their car so they couldn't go to another family reunion that I knew nothing about until the day before!) They were surprised and so very happy. And all us cousins enjoyed seeing each other too! This is their faces as all the Thalkens came into the room.

The surprise standing in my parent's living room!

Then we all headed down to the river for a BBQ and some fun from our past. The kids loved the river

Weston

Asher in mid-splash.

Grandpa, Muzzy, and thier 7 grandchildren. Becky, Debbie, Tom, Christy, Angie, Heidi, and Lisa.

And with all the great-grandkids.

FINGER PAINTING

The kids missed their cousins when they had to go home, so we decided to spend a morning finger painting. They had a blast!

And Weston ate a chocolate chip cookie and almost fell asleep. What a fun and tiring time! It was worth all the work and all the late nights wand skipped naps. What a wonderful family we have!