Travel & Vacation: Spending Time with Family in Kansas
The plane was delayed due to rain, but now we are ready to go. Two little chickies all buckled in….one snacking and the other one with her nose already in a book. Thankful that the girls travel well.
The girls and I recently flew out to Kansas to spend some time with my family. We stayed at my parents house, but thankfully we were able to catch up with quite a few people while we were out there visiting. While we were in Kansas Jake was traveling with work so he was managing to stay busy too.
The girls even got in on the last part of my parents church’s VBS, which included getting wet with water balloons. I think the highest temperature I saw during out week and half in Kansas was 113 while it was hot the wind helped make it more tolerable.
A cooler full of mammoth water balloons for VBS game time the next day!
Lots of little water balloons too! I think by the end the count was somewhere around 300 water balloons. The kids loved it!
Karlie picked a variety of flowers from Grandma Penny’s gardens and displayed the flowers in a pie dish. They actually lasted almost the entire time we were out there!
Brina made a blue cat while Brandon is working on some blueberry cookies!
Karlie is busy socializing and creating play dough goodies too! Grandma Penny made some homemade play dough for the kids. They loved it (and were asking me to make some a couple days ago)!
Beautiful purple flower along the road in Harlan, Kansas
Some of my Great Grandma Viola’s rose bushes were blooming near the Kelly’s Store and the Post Office in Harlan, Kansas where she used work. She planted the roses many years ago and yet they continue to bloom every year! Grandma Vi had an amazing green thumb (something I did not inherit, by the way)! She loved flowers and I thought it would be appropriate to stop to snap a quick picture of one of her pretty roses while I was in the area!
Brina and Brandon hanging out in their giant tent they built downstairs in Grandpa Russell and Grandma Penny’s basement!
Three silly kiddos hanging out in their fort tent while chomping on some “spicy” candy Aunt Renelle brought for them to try!
One of the girls favorite places to visit when in Kansas! A view of my parents house from the top of Windy Point.
Travel & Vacation: Visiting Our Grandparents (part 2)
The girls had a wonderful time up in Vermont with Grandma Kay and Irish. Thankful for an opportunity to spend some time with Jake’s Mom and grandparents.
Earlier this year we were able to fly up to Vermont to spend a long weekend with Jake’s Mom and grandparents. We were blessed to have a good trip, plenty of snow, safe travels, good memories, and lots of fun. The girls weren’t ready to go home when the weekend was over, but it was time to get back to school again. The day we left was the coldest day, but we ran outside for a few quick pictures before we had to head back to the airport!
Hanging out with Nana and PopPop in Vermont (aka Grams and Gramps)! Karlie and Brina had a blast. We took this picture on the front porch right next to the big snowdrift!
Last morning in Vermont, we had a great trip!
Karlie’s card that she made for Grandma Kay. Very cute, I especially like the creative “pop-out” heart!
When we came down that morning this is what we caught Karlie doing…yup, playing a game on Grandma’s Kay cell phone. Somebody got them hooked on it the night before!
And what do you think Brina was doing at the same time?! Yes, Grandma had introduced Brina to a new game and she was hooked within the first few seconds of playing! Oh boy!
Daddy, Brina, and Karlie building some cool items
Sweet Nana and PopPop
Travel & Vacation: Visiting Our Grandparents
Playing in the sun room
We recently had an opportunity to go to Vermont and spend some time with Jake’s family. The girls had a blast playing games, doing puzzles, reading books, and more! They thought it was awesome having a dog in the house too and loved leading Irish around as well as learning how to give her various commands. It was a nice relaxing weekend with Jake’s Mom and grandparents. Thankful for a chance to spend time with them and have fun.
Brina hanging out near the stove with Irish. Hmmm….seems like Irish should be the one in that bed? She thought Irish’s bed was a soft place to sit. Irish was a good sport and didn’t seem to mind sharing.
Craft time! The girls loved doing crafts and were often found at the table cutting, gluing, coloring and more!
Jake and Gramps – Wonder what they are up to now!?
We made a stop by Eatons Sugar House in South Royalton, Vermont
Glad to see the bridge is back up and working again. It was taken out with a flood over a year ago
The river looks a little icy today, don’t think anyone wants to go tubing this time
PopPop looking great
Travel & Vacation: Celebrating in Vermont
Birthday cake! Doesn’t the birthday cake look beautiful?! Grandma Kay made the cake and did the main layer of frosting and Brina added all the colorful frosting and goodies to the cake. It looked pretty and tasted delicious! 🙂
The girls had a four day birthday weekend since they didn’t have school on Friday or Monday so we made a quick trip up to Vermont to spend some time with Jake’s Mom and grandparents. We celebrated the girls birthday during our visit which was a lot of fun. The girls enjoyed spending time with their grandparents. It was a great trip packed full of a lot of good memories. Grandma Kay gave Brina some good tips on cake decorating which Brina loved (she was tickled pink that Grandma let her decorate their birthday cake).
Brina decorating her and Karlie’s birthday cake
Karlie all smiles. While Brina was decorating the birthday cake Karlie was happily picking up the toys and cleaning.
Brina loves helping in the kitchen, decorating the birthday cake was a big hit with her
Karlie discovered a cool toy in Grandma’s stash while cleaning up! She thought the helicopter was pretty amazing!
Grandma Kay showing Brina how to do another neat trick with the frosting!
Sweet girl having fun
Brina so proud of her decorated cake
Karlie having fun!
Brina had extra frosting so Grandma let her decorate some cookies. Daddy eating one of the cookies Brina just frosted.
Happy Birthday Sweet Girls!
Look whose eight! Grandma Kay found some really cool number 8 balloons that the girls loved!
Travel & Vacation: Snow Days (part 2)
Karlie hanging out in the snow fort
The girls were so happy to have time every day to play in the snow while we were in Vermont. We went sledding, on walks, built a snow fort, started a little fire, had a snowball fight, made snow angels and more! We were thankful to have some time with family up in Vermont this winter. It was a relaxing time full of great memories!
Brina getting ready to do a snow angel
Karlie working on her snow angel
Brina sliding down this hill without a sled just on her bottom
Karlie collecting sticks
Family Celebrations: Catching Up with Family Over Spring Break
Cousins Riding Together on the John Deere Gator! Fun Times! The girls and I had the opportunity to go visit family over their Spring Break this year. We had a lot of fun spending time with Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and more! It had been a few months since we had been in the Midwest yet I was amazed how much the girls remembered. They LOVED seeing family and spending time on the farm. Each night they would crash from their busy schedule but they would be up early the next morning ready to (as Karlie put it so nicely) “Go explore more of Kansas!”
I am thankful the girls have an opportunity to spend time with my parents and all four Grandpa and Grandma’s on my side of the family. Each one has a special place in my heart and I am thrilled the girls get to have such wonderful memories of them as well. It has been a nice adventure full of old and new memories. It was such a blessing to see so many family members throughout our stay in Kansas!
Here are just some of the exciting activities we participating in during our stay in Kansas (I hope to have some more pictures to show in a few days):
- Riding Horses – Brina and Karlie LOVED Sassy
- Playing with Dogs, Cats and Farm Animals
- Watching them Work the Calves
- Easter Egg Hunts
- Kids 4 Truth Activities
- Spending Time with Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins
- Playing with family and friends
- Riding the Gator
- “Hunting” (Brina’s paraphrase) for Corn Cobs for the Horse
- Coloring Easter Eggs
- Crafts
- Seeing Grandpa’s Big “Sprinkler” (Center Pivot)
- Lots of Pheasants
- Seeing a Coyote chase the Pheasants
- Gathering Eggs in Grandpa Verlyn’s Hen House
- Feeding the Turkeys
- Homemade Food (including special Waffles)
- Hot Chocolate
- Helping Grandpa Russell on the Farm
- Shooting Uncle Lee & Uncle Josh with Nerf Guns
- Puzzles
- The Big Hole
- The Pet Cemetery
- Grocery Shopping with Grandma Penny
- Reading Books with Grandpa Russell & Grandma Penny
- Planting Flowers
- Learning More About our Family’s History
- AND SOOOO MUCH MORE!!!!!!!
The girls and I had a grand time seeing so many family members and spending time in Kansas. A big thanks to everyone for a super fun trip! It is a Spring Break that the girls will be talking about for years. And yes, they found out that Easter does come to Kansas too! Although we made a lot of wonderful new memories during our trip the girls are ready to see Daddy again. Hopefully he is ready for us!
