Family Get-Together, The End

All of my siblings were at my parents' house on the last Sunday in June.  It was fun to see everyone and watch all of the cousins play together.  There are currently 16 of them (plus babies in heaven!).  We all went to Mass together, where Fr. Brian concelebrated.  After Mass it was time to play and eat together, and play some more.

I didn't see Anthony's funny face until after I took this picture of him with his cousin, Clara, who is exactly 2 weeks younger than he is.

Dan and Dominic, with Fr. Brian.

The swinging tree got a workout that day!

Lunch on the porch - Catherine, Emily, and Anthony.

My sister, Beth, with Andrew, Daniel, and Joseph, and Clara in front.

Dominic, Thomas, William, and Matthew.

Thomas in front, Anne and Isabella behind, and Patrick in the back.

Clara wanted her very own picture.

My mom with the inside eaters.

My brother, Fr. Brian, with the special cake made for him by my sister-in-law, Sarah.

We decided to get a picture of the grandkids.  First location did not work.

All of the grandkids, including baby Isaac in the back with Patrick, who is the oldest at 12.

Joseph was not happy about something.  Here Anne is comforting him.

Got everyones face!

And got the grandparents in!

The Crazy Cow Caper

On the Sunday morning of the weekend we spent at my parents' house in June, some of the kids went outside after breakfast before it was time to get ready for Mass.  One of the kids came running in saying there was some animal by our car, and they thought it was a baby cow, and it was outside the fence.  So we all went out to see.  Lo and behold, there was a newborn calf, which had somehow gotten through the fence, sitting down in the corner of the front yard.  The owners of the cows rent my parents' pasture so they have a place to keep their cows.

The kids were entranced by the little calf.

Anthony had no fear.

I think they wanted to sit and play with the calf all day.

We have since had a few requests for a baby cow as a pet!

The poor thing was mooing for its momma.

When the owners came with their ATV, Dan picked up the cow and placed it in the back, with the help of my brother-in-law, Paul.

Paul climbed into the back with the calf to hold it down while they took it out to the momma cow.

Heading out to the cows.

The calf is out and free.

Momma cow and calf are reunited.  A happy ending!

Family Get-Together

On the very last weekend in June, we travelled to the Kansas City area to visit my family.  All of my siblings and their families came at some point over the weekend.  Father Brian, who is currently a chaplain in the Air Force, was shortly going to be deployed to the Middle East, so it was nice for all of us to be together before he left.

We got to my parents' house on Saturday morning.  My sister, Heidi, and her family from Texas were already there.

Cousins eating lunch on the front porch.

Andrew and Matthew.

Playing games in the backyard.

Who's going to catch the ball?

Anne on the new horse swing.

Catherine and Anthony.

Hold on!

My sister and her youngest.

Anthony liked the six-toed cat.

Anne see-sawed with Grandma.

After dinner, it was time to make s'mores.

First we had to get everything ready.

Boys and fire.  Kind of scary.

To be continued...

More June Pictures

In late June, we picked all the cherries off our cherry tree.  Last year we got one cup of cherries.  This year we got enough to make a cherry pie!

Cherries were pitted and ready to go!

The pie with a cherry on top.

I barely managed to get a picture of a piece of pie before we ate it all.  It was yummy!

Catherine used her little patty pan to make a tiny apple pie with the leftover pie dough.

We went to Lego Club at our library at the end of June.  I can't remember what the theme was, but the kids sure had fun.  

Joseph and a new friend, with their creation.

Dominic with his Lego build.

Do you see a kid near the top of the tree?

It's Joseph!

We had a wild storm roll through one evening and this is what it left behind:

Our tomato plants had a lot of green tomatoes on them, so one day I made some green tomato salsa: 

It was tasty.

Then, on June 28, the girls came excitedly rushing into the house:

They were so proud!

Our very first eggs!

Pictures From June

In mid-June, there was a day when the Schwan's truck stopped at our house.  The driver was lucky that Dan was already home, because I probably would have just sent him on his way, especially as it was just about time for dinner.  Dan has fond memories of Schwan's from his childhood, so the kids were excited when he got a box of ice cream treats.

Orange sherbet push-ems!

Also in the middle of June, the twins had their regular dentist cleaning and checkup.  Joseph was very upset because it wasn't his turn.

The protest.

By that time in June, we had had our dog, Biscuit for a couple of months.

Anthony and Biscuit.

Anne giving Biscuit some attention.

Time for basketball:

Joseph took a shot.

Dominic studied the basket.

And the shot went in! 

Does this look safe?

Much better.

It is amazing how killdeer birds will make their nests on the ground, then when something or someone approaches, the mama bird will start making noise and dragging her "broken" wing on the ground trying to lure the threat away from the nest.  The kids liked seeing that in action.

One crazy bird made a nest right in our driveway!  See the egg?  Eventually there were three.

A few garden pictures from the second half of June:

Catherine watering the cucumber plants.

The garden looking all fresh and new!

Rows of corn.