more summer randomness...

now that thanksgiving is almost here, i figure i

better get my butt in gear and catch up

on some blogging. 

or at least attempt to. 

*** *** ***

I love these pics of laura in her waitress uniform.

once again, she held down two jobs...keeping

her very busy all summer.

her waitressing job was in a very fancy and popular resort just

a few miles down the road. 

she enjoyed it and made great in tips -

but was glad when october came and that job came to an end
 and she was able to slow down a bit. 

papa wayne reading to james one evening...

having a toddler in the house for most of the summer

made for some very interesting moments!

since shasta was on bedrest and jon works out of town all week,

it was most logical for shasta and the two kids to stay with us during the week.

for the most part it went quite well - but we all had our moments!

but we all did what had to be done and everyone helped out the best we could

and we made it work.

i love these next pictures too...

 emma & elsie & james with a few of their little friends...

running around and dancing and being goofy in the setting sun

{followed by a family bonfire for the rest of the evening}

i'm rather missin all those carefree summer evenings right about now.

 

 

 

and i found this next pic on the computer -

must have been uploaded from lisa's camera or phone...

she and jordaan, coming back from one of his summer basketball tournaments

which had been held out-of-town...

its so cute of the two of them.

and laura cracks me up with her {almost} daily chalkboard messages...

sometimes it's just a random note to all of us, sometimes an inspirational or funny quote,

and sometimes a drawing...

on this day she apparently decided to play weatherman! 

too funny! 

and here are a few phone pictures that lisa took of me -

she & i were just foolin around and being goofy.

i forbid her to put them on FB or instagram.

{instead, a few months later i put them on my blog myself! ha!}

and i rather like the filter she used since it makes

me look practically wrinkle-less!  ;)

a family snapshot of my honey and his two brothers and one sister 

along with their parents...

it was the first family picture thats been taken in several years.

my honey is the bearded man, of course.

and i love this next picture too.

our fourteen year old taking the time (and patience)

to swing for a bit with his one year old nephew, levi!

levi adores colter.

all the little boys in the family

adore their uncle colter.

and colter is so good and patient with all the little ones.

now if only we could get him to be that good and patient with

his younger sisters...

{sigh}

somewhat of a family pic taken with the phone -

{with just the kids that live at home now}

it was one of those impromptu moments where a decision is made in two seconds

and no-one really had a choice.

and it turned out really cute, if i do say so myself.

and lastly i'm adding a picture of my two babies -

just because they're so darn cute...

and yes, i believe this was a self-portrait

taken with an older sisters phone.

these girls adore their sisters iphones and they 'steal' them whenever

the opportunity arises so that they can play games and check instagram and so forth.

and of course, take pictures of themselves and other randoms objects.