MN Birky reunion

The Birky reunion was held at Tam and Cal's house...which was so nice to have there. 

We left our house VERY early Friday morning, and got in around 2 pm. 

Jonah and Mitch..You don't like carrot debris on your head, Uncle Mitch??

The kids all had fun rolling, riding, running down the hill.

Friday evening, we had a pig roast and then evening entertainment/games provided by Brent and Darren. 

Saturday, after breakfast..an Amish man came and gave buggy rides to the "siblings" and Grandpa. 

We divided into groups and did a scavenger hunt, with the ending being a bear hunt with Margie.

In the afternoon, we went on a hayrack ride (3 racks full is too much for those two poor horses..so one rack was horse-drawn and the other two by tractor) through the Stanley and David's field.

We stopped for a game of human foosball.What a set up...it was very entertaining to watch both the players and the spectators. Then, we moved out to the pasture..where some played softball, and the smaller kids went to the church to play on the playground.

Noah was so happy to get a ride in the tractor with Brad.

In the evening, we had some entertaining games...quite entertaining to observe. And then later in the evening, we had time to talk...or play games...or have a Norwex demo (Cal made an excellent assistant!) It was nice to be there and be with family.

Sunday, we had a church service under the tent. It was rainy, but worked out really well with the way it was set up! We had a very tasty home-cooked meal from Davids family for dinner. Then we took some family pictures and that wrapped up the reunion weekend!

Noah and Great Grandpa Birky

Natalia - Camille - Jessica (me)

 Three cousins...having babies, due October/November/January.

The Great-Grandchildren with Grandpa

The Grandchildren

We were glad for the time to get to see family...very special that we can get together.

July moments

A rundown of our month so far...

There has been some hot days...definitely worthy of popsicle breaks.

Fun with Grandpa

A typical breakfast for Jonah...yogurt, or cereal with yogurt (instead of milk)

Always welcome a snuggly little boy

 Oh Noah. The excitement of a toad is something I do not understand. It is entertaining to watch you build a sand house for a toad, and then it figures out how to hop out.

Noah's expressions, phrases, logic, and explanation for things has become QUITE amusing. He has a thought for everything.

And especially when he adds in a, "Did you hear me?" or "Do you understand me?"

I took Christian along to a check up for Jonah, and asked him about his snoring and breathing. Our Dr then referred us to an ENT Dr. He was very brave and grown up for his appt. When the Dr looked in his throat he said, "Those are substantial." So 3 seconds later, he was explaining what and when a tonsillectomy would take place.

He was treated with a birthday cake donut for his good job at the check up...

and a consolation treat for needing to have his tonsils and adenoids removed next week!

I treated myself too ;)

This month I signed up to be a Norwex consultant. Not sure what all that will mean, other than I get to use products to clean without using chemicals. I was wanting too many things, so I decided to just sign up and get things for way cheaper/free!

Care for an example of a basic fix....this is BBQ sauce smeared into carpet.

With a wet Envirocloth (the basic Norwex cloth), it came out. 

I'm a fan of the stuff. And I really like it doesn't require chemicals/sprays/inhaling things that make me cough, sneeze, or wheeze!

You can check out the products here ...

www.jessicahershberger.norwex.biz 

How is it already the middle of July!!! We have much yet to do this summer break!

OK trip

Our good friends, the Yoders live in Oklahoma now. They have for awhile...and we have not all been down to visit them. So sad. So we fixed that. 

These little goobers are about 5 months apart..and they are ornery boys.

Sitting like this..he looks like he wouldn't ever think of getting into anything, or jumping off things. 

Basically, he's a little angel child.

The kids played, while the big boys built a chicken house :)

Big or little, everyone got a popsicle break.

 It rained lightly off and on. Overall, they all got along really well. 

Braxton and Noah in this picture were in the middle of a discussion/argument of who was the "daddy" and who was the "boy".

 I'm so glad we could swing down for a short visit. I miss you dear friend(s)!

Thanks for a good time, Steph.

July Fourth

We don't go all out for the 4th of July...but its still made fun for the kids (and big kids)!

Uncle Mitch letting Noah light "his" fireworks

Jonah was just a cautious observer...which I was just fine with.

When did this boy get so BIG! Lighting his own fireworks like he knows what he's doing.

All the family came over to Mom and Dad's for supper. I brought a festive cheesecake :)

I love how he is so focused, and his tiny little fingers are trying to pull that string.

They put on QUITE the show. I don't remember it ever being so deluxe and long. Very impressive Dad and Brent.

They are ALL getting big.

It was entertaining to watch them, and hearing their reaction to the firework, announcing the "name"..etc.

 Possibly the most exciting part about the 4th, was that Ben purchased himself a truck. 

Oh my goodness. This has been an ongoing search...that has finally come to an end. He found it on Craigslist, a King Ranch (that has been loved on)...and Mitch went with him to finalize the deal. However, as it has been in the past, it is very helpful that Ben speaks fluent Spanish. There seems to be quite the population of Craigslist sellers that speak spanish only.

 I'm glad he's happy about the truck..I will now refer call him 'The King'.

God's at work

We got home very late, or rather early in the morning...and were quite tired. The boys went over to Mom and Dad's for a bit so we could sleep. 

Later on, after supper I noticed one of Noah's lenses was missing from his glasses. He had no idea where it was. We had an all out family search party upstairs and downstairs going on. We had no clue how long they had been like that, other than we knew he had them both this morning. I finally decided to just go over to Mom and Dad's to check there. I walked to the back door, and just glanced over the basketball court, and there he was lying...unscratched! A true miracle all around...Cleo, didn't touch it, it was left just lying there in plain sight, AND the storm that was about it blow in waiting until I found it!!! 

As I was leaving their driveway, the clouds were rolling in, so I took a few pictures.

God is good.

Michigan Family Trip [Day 8]

Today, we had plans...plans to hang out at the beach here in town and just relax.
BUT...the weather had different plans that what we were wanting.
It was COLD and super WINDY!

After about 30 minutes of trying to convince ourselves that it was really alright...and it really wasn't. Poor Jonah's eyes could hardly open because it was so windy and sandy. We decided to go back to our place. And instead of hanging around and staying inside the 'tiny' house watching TV...we chose to pack up our things and head back home. I was slightly disappointed, as I wanted to check out the Cherry Festival that was starting tomorrow morning in Traverse City. But, really, in order to "check" it out on our way out of the state, we would've probably been there half the day. It worked out alright, and we were on the road before noon.

We stopped somewhere in Illinois at a Cracker Barrel. It was time to stop. We made a decision after supper, to change the boys in their pj's and continue onward toward home! 

It wasn't all flowers and rainbows, as Jonah was seriously ready to get out of his carseat for the last several hours. And it was POURING rain the last 1 1/2 hours. But, we made it home safe and sound, around 3 am.

We had a very enjoyable vacation...with lots of snippets we'll remember for a long while!