Family time in May

It was a wonderful treat to spend time with much of our extended family during May. Here are some highlights ...

Just Hanging Out
Aunt Amy gave Ian a second-hand, looong stuffed snake (his top birthday wish-list item, of all things!). He has slept with this snake in his top bun ever since!

Jaden, Cody, and Ryan helped Kim make (and sample) some brownies. :)
 


One morning, while Ian was still in kindergarten, Aunt Amy, Kim, and Grammy took the littler boys to Boucin' Bears. Even Grammy bravely did some jumping! We all had a lot of fun!


 

 



 
bubble time...
 
cuddles with Grammy...
 



 Special Events

 We were happy to be able to witness Jason's installation at Salem Lutheran Church as their Director of Children's Ministries. Their church has a neat practice of "praying over" people with special needs and celebrations. It was so touching seeing so many kids and adults praying for Jason and his family.

After the church service, we were able to feed the geese that live in Salem's retention pond and then take a little tour of the facilities, including getting to see Jason's new office!





Moving Help
Jason, Amy, Jaden, and Cody moved to Texas around Mother's Day. (Yippee!) We didn't provide nearly as much help as we would've liked ... but we did help do some unpacking one Sunday. Even Ian really got into finding pairs of shoes and putting them together in Jason and Amy's closet.

Mother's Day
What a treat for us to get to celebrate with both of our moms on Mother's Day!  The newest mom in our family, Chelsea, made a delicious meal for us all to enjoy!










Child-Watching
One benefit of living close to family is being able to baby-sit for each other. When Kim (and Nathan) attended Ian's end-of-year swim party, Aunt Amy watched Ryan. Ryan was thrilled to spend time with his cousins and aunt. They pretended Jaden and Cody's beds were rockets and gathered lots of toys to take with them and played with play-dough, along with other things. :)

Celebrating Cousins' Birthdays
Until this year, we had never been able to celebrate a birthday with any of our nephews or niece. We look forward to many more celebrations! Amy has helped Kim decorate multiple cakes for Ian and Ryan. Kim was thrilled to help return the favor. The bus and garbage truck that Amy masterminded came out super cute! Most importantly, her boys loved them!

We all enjoyed the "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go" birthday party as well.

Aunt Amy and Uncle Jason had lots of fun activities planned for their birthday boys and guests, including decorating their own cars,

a scavenger hunt that included finding and sorting cars of various colors,

and a match-the-vehicle-to-the-driver car game (which Ryan wanted to do three times).

The most elaborate activity was a crazy car obstacle course in which the boys and their cars had to complete various challenges designed by Uncle Jason ... crawling through tunnels,

making deliveries within the city,

zooming underneath the drying rack,

maneuvering through snow,

and getting a car wash.

Before a yummy dinner, cake, and gift-opening, Chelsea and I got to read the boys (including the babies :)) a couple of car stories.

What an awesome party! (For more details on the activities in the party, check out my sister's blog. She's one clever gal!)