Luke and Leah's Wedding

My cousin Luke got married last weekend and the weather could not have been more perfect for an outdoor wedding! Here is a quick family picture before the wedding started!
Presenting to you for the first time... the Mr. and Mrs. :) Congratulations guys!!
The cute couple!
Leah and Ava
Cami and Carter enjoying some hors d'oeurves
Carter playing peek a boo with cousin Joeli while we were eating dinner
Their first dance as a married couple. I just LOVE this picture :)
Leah and Cristian
Cristian and cousin Brady
Tori and Ava
Another cute picture of the happy couple
Ava pretending to be Sleeping Beauty
Girl Cousins welcoming Leah to the family :)
Cutting the cake (they both work at Starbucks now and they met at their first jobs at Forza coffee... hence the coffee aprons :)
Cousin Clair dancing with Carter
We got to take home one of the center pieces since we have a fish tank. Cristian was very excited about his new goldfish!!

Carter is 23 Months

Aug 16th Carter turned 23 months old, so this post marks the last time I will ever count someone's age by "months." Carter is talking SO MUCH more now, is starting to express his opinions, and even has used the potty for #2 a couple of times!! One funny thing about Carter is that he only identifies secondary colors... green, orange, purple.
Carter has picked Buzz Lightyear as his theme, and we're going to do his birthday party at the Fair this year! Can't believe invitations go out soon... he really is going to turn 2 whether I like it or not.

A Walk to Remember

Last Friday it was Ava's turn to go on a walk with Great Nana. Ava was very excited for her special time with GN and watched for her out the window. They walked to our local favorite breakfast place where she ordered pancakes, sausage, and a hot chocolate.
Thanks Grandma Jayne for treating my kids to a special morning with you! They both really enjoyed it :)

Baseball

Cristian has been playing a summer season of baseball for the past 7 weeks. (next week is his last week, although we'll be missing his last game). He continues to really enjoy baseball and is pretty intense about the sport. Last week he had quite the cheering section at the game, not only did Nannie, Grampie, and Auntie come, but also Aunt Lisa, Uncle Curt, Megan, Paula, and Abby, and cousin Scott. It was the perfect night for a baseball game... still really warm even at 7:00pm.
Cristian up to bat, I love that you can see the Mountain in the background :)
Getting ready to run to second base
Big smiles
Big swing!!
Enjoying some ice cream from Baskin Robins after the game :)

Family Reunion Part 2

Our Family reunions always follow the same tradition each year. First gathering is always a Friday Night dinner (usually at a pizza place), Saturday morning we always play a softball game (North vs South), and then Sunday afternoon we meet somewhere for games/activities, dinner, and a talent show. It's fun to watch my kids get so excited about these family reunions now! Ava was the standout athlete on our team. She definitely impressed EVERYONE with her baseball skills. She really is quite the slugger... seems I have 2 kids that are naturals at the sport.
Cristian celebrating our team's victory with cousins Samantha and Karly
Yes folks, even my grandma took a couple swings. At almost 80, she can still smack the ball for a base hit.
Team North (all the Washington Cousins)
Here is 1/2 of team South... all the Oregon and California cousins.
Carter enjoyed driving this jeep around, one of the fun things they had out to entertain the kids at the afternoon portion of the reunion.
Ava inside the barn
Ava outside the barn
Carter and Ava going for a spin around the yard
Cristian enjoying the waterslide they had set up
playing with water guns
another pic of Ava
...and another, LOL :)
Carter walking around with his belly out
cooling off on the slip-n-slide
Ava taking a turn
My dad, Uncle Don, and cousin Bill
Family hovering in the shade chatting.
Cousins (and Aunt Denise) playing (they had a lot of activities and games inside the barn)
Uncle Dan and cousin Nancy playing ping pong inside the barn
Carter, Ava, and Clint playing in the jump house
Carter and Clint posing for a picture
Cristian really having a lot of fun!
Ava getting ready for the talent show
Ava sang a song about a Lady Bug for the family talent show and it was the most adorable performance. (The song is from the play, Goin' Buggy that Cristian was in back in May) When she first got up there she had this nervous look on her face (pictured above) and I thought for a split second she might run off the stage and hide, but when I looked at her and said, "Ok, go ahead and start" she just started singing and warmed up and did wonderfully.
Cutest lady bug I've ever seen :)
Singing her little heart out
Big Smile when she got a standing ovation!! This girl is going to love to perform!
Cousins Sam and Karly performing a dance to a Lady Gaga song
the middle girl cousins performing a little spoof on each others' families. (The Tom Absher Family, my grandpa's sister Pat's family, and my grandpa's other sister Doris' family) You definitely had to be there and know our family to understand the humor in it, (so I won't try and explain) but everyone was laughing.
My cousins performing their "Sassy Friend" skit
Carter playing with his cousin Maddie. (Technically I think they are 2nd cousins once removed... my mom's cousin Paul has a daughter named Melissa (who is my age), and this is her baby girl.
Carter giving her a hug
The Ross family skit
Ava seems to always end up being the center of attention, LOL... here she is dancing with some cousins, and she was definitely showing off her moves!
And her flexibility
and her gymnastics :)
My mom and her girl cousins (and sisters)
Our family
The pastures outside of the house/barn where our reunion was at
Carter and I took a walk to look at the cows
The location of our reunion
It was a really beautiful spot to have a reunion, in the middle of no where, Roseburg, OR :)