Family Get-together

On Sunday, January 11, we enjoyed lunch with Uncle Keith, Aunt Traci (Matt's sister), and Cousins Samantha and Sydney after church. Here are a few photos of Jay and me that Traci took. Jay is holding on to Sydney's shirt string loving the tug-of-war and her twirling in and out while he was holding the string.

One of Jay's new favorite activities around the house is to "play" with/on the dining room chairs. As you'll see from these photos he LOVES this activity. He bobs back and forth, kicks his legs and squeals with delight. He'll do this for as long as I let him.

This past weekend we traveled to my home town in Eastern Washington to celebrate my Aunt Donna's life. The burial and memorial services were very nice and the meals and time spent with family and friends was terrific.

A picture of the family gathered for the private burial service.

Pastor John doing the burial service.

Donna's Mom's gravestone is immediately in front of the cremation stand.

My Mom played the piano and Mom's best friend Anita played the organ.

My brother and twin sister and I played a medley of songs to close out the service.

I'm not sure you can see it well, but the bench with the flowers in the middle is especially nice. When cousin Amy was helping her Mom pick up branches from her yard, Amy was going to toss them. Aunt Donna wouldn't let her saying, "I want to keep them and do something special with them." Without Donna knowing, her kids arranged to remove the branches from her collection place and hired a guy to bend and make a bench out of them to place in her yard. It is a neat looking branch bench and my cousin's wife, Connie, did a beautiful job with the floral arrangement for it. In fact, Connie arranged all the bouquets for the service.

The buffet potluck luncheon following the service.

Hank and Bryce (both are 4 years old)

(My cousins' kids - 1st cousins to each other)

They were terrific playmates - what a hoot!

Below is my Grandma (my Dad's Mom - Jay's Great Grandma) surrounded by some of her other great-grandchildren.
Here are a few photos of Jay enjoying a bath at Grandma's (my Mom's home).

And here is a video of Jay talking. As you'll hear he has added "da da da da" to his repertoire this past week.

I thought this photo was appropriate to end this blog entry. It is of Jay tuckered out after a big weekend seeing lots of family. I think the sweetest pictures are ones of kids sleeping peacefully - especially so if it is YOUR kiddo.