I find myself especially thankful this month to have all the Gherkins nearby. This is almost unheard of for military families...to retire and have 10 kids living within easy driving distance? It's a miracle. Once a month we pull away and celebrate. This month Bre and Krista have birthdays (I think a new year is to be celebrated but haven't asked them how they feel about me publishing their ages these days. I'll ask first. LOL) We also celebrated Father's Day - and we had no anniversaries this month.
Singing Happy Birthday to each other.
A funny thing happened when it came time to blow out all the candles. Krista did it in one (possibly 2) shots. Bre got the giggles...and the candles burned...she finally got them all out. Seventy-four candles makes a lot of smoke.
We have done different things for the meal portion of our celebrations. This month Allie suggested everyone bring their favorite casserole dish. I think this was the easiest yet...and there was plenty of food. We had Pigs in a Blanket Casserole, cinnamon roll casserole, pasta/ham/cheese casserole, chicken alfredo casserole, green bean casserole, tater-tot casserole, chips, potato salad, macaroni salad....dirt cake and ice cream cake. I also had to face that fact that we need TWO ice cream cakes for these celebrations in the future. I even wrote in my hospitality journal so I remember.
We weren't sure what the weather was going to do - it turned out great and we were able to play and eat outside. The ThermaCell's seem to have been working well today.
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| Some of the tribe |
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| Papa and Benny |
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| Bre, Trudy, Alex, Liv, Ava |
I was happy Jamin could make it. He ran out and showed a home here in Palmer but was able to spend most the time with us. As a realtor this is his busiest time of the year. We were also thrilled Krista, Luke and the kids were here.
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| Carrie, "the boys", Krista and Jamin |
I am happy to report July's family gathering will be dip netting...and we won't have to be careful to catch rear shots of Little Buddy or blank out his face. We will be his. Yep...all official and legal. THAT is going to be an awesome celebration.
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| Little Buddy |
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| Liv brought her friend, Ava. |
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| Danny is a meticulous driver |
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| Noah - 5 months |
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| Hello sunshine! |
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| Larissa, Noah, Carrie, Cy, Bre & Trudy |
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| Allie, Stacia, Alex, Nolan, Jared |
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