More fun with great friends from here and Co.

Our good friends for many years now, Jim and Nancy, who live here in Rapid City and their daughter Leslie and Ryan and 2 children  from Colorado were over for a cookout and s'mores.   We had a great time and the weather was nice. 

 Beautiful children, Claire and below Ellis.

 Roasting marshmallows for s'mores.

Claires very first s'more,  she liked it a lot and did a good job of eating it without a mess.

Fun company in June

 June 21 -24 we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my nieces, their husbands and 3 children.  It was so nice to have them visit from ND.
            We enjoyed fun time in our yard, home and a few of the SD attractions.

 Amber and Sean with their 3 children.  Looking forward to fun at Storybook Island.

 Angel and David are just as excited to be at Storybook Island as the children.

 Digging, digging and more digging.

 Brayden is prince charming and the twin girls are princess's.

 David and Angel had fun with their Nephew and Nieces.

 The train.

 Story Book Island gate and castle.    Below their just peeking over the edge, next time they will be much taller.

 Uncle David with Brayden.

 Happy Birthday celebration for Sean

 

 Fun in the back yard.  Brayden took the bottom picture.  Good little photographer.

 YUM!  Roasted marshmallows and S'mores

 The children loved the pond and spent much time playing with the turtle, frog and water can.

 Above,  Brayden sitting on the famous "Picture Rock" from years ago.  Below Angel reminiscences of years ago when she was a little girl and had her picture taken on this very rock.

 You cant come to Rapid City without a visit to Dinosaur Park, high over the city.  

 All 7 pose for a picture with the big T-Rex in the background.

 You can see how high up and the beautiful view of the city from all sides.

 Yes, they are twin girls,  not identical but they are still hard to tell apart.  Such big smiles.

 Jeff and me with the children in front of our house. 

 We had so much fun we are looking forward to when they can come again for another visit.  

 WATER was the entertainment and fun on a warm afternoon. 

April Round Robin part 3 of 3 Nebraska

 After being snowed in at Watertown, SD. for a day, we made our way to our Oldest daughter's family.  We thank God for the guidance and protection during our many miles of travel.  It did turn out that April was the month to be away from Rapid City where 3 major snowstorms hit while we were gone and dumped more then 3 feet of snow.  We thank wonderful friends and neighbors for taking care of our snow removal.  

 Once we arrived at our daughters, my husband Jeff could present our youngest granddaughter with a wood stick horse that he had been working on during the winter months.  She loved it and immediately named him "LEVI"    Who would have guessed. I would have thought with the light main and ears and pink rope it might have been a girl horse with a girl name, but no,  it was a "HIM".
  

 We saved the March Birthday gifts to personaly deliver in April.   Wow!  Our 14 yr old grandson got his very own "DUCK DYNASTY" t-shirt.  socks and wait a minute, what was in the socks?

 A "SNARK"  that can be used to tune his guitars and mandolin.  He has become quite the musician and picks up on playing different instruments very quickly.  I know he got that from his Papa Jeff.  

 Next birthday would be our 11 yr old granddaughter.  She loved her new green t-shirt and "CLUE GAME" and also enjoyed the Hula hoop with lights.  Below she poses with her special grand surprise gift from her mom and dad.  She got to pick out special look alike characteristics and order an American Doll.      

 I think she did an excellent job and  YES, she dose look a lot like her.

 Another winter project that Papa Jeff had been working on was repairing this older violin and putting new strings on it.  He figures if they have the instrument, someone will learn how to play it.   She was able to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star before we left for home.

 The four oldest grandkids were practicing a lot of piano, getting ready for the spring recital.  

 Here is our youngest grandson trying his hand (or rather his waist) at hula hooping.  He did a great job at it, at one point he even had 2 hula hoops going at the same time.  

 OK, I know it was a little late for Easter but you know Nana's with fun things,  We just had to have a Easter Egg hunt for the kiddo's.  Lots of fun for them and for me.  Each egg had a special surprise inside.

 Some were hid in rather strange places, like the purple egg in the exhaust of the family Suburban.

 This is Rusty cat.  I am not real sure he knows he is a cat.  He certainly enjoys riding in the stroller.  Even being buckled in.  He is our oldest granddaughters cat but the whole family enjoys him.

 Nana just had to pick up a few cute things for the kids at the store.  And yes, even the older kids got something.  Batman Fedora, Ferry princess t-shirt with stripe pants,  The older kids got jeans and sun glasses.  

She is ready for the Concert.  black skirt and white blouse, and boy can she sing!

 I had the great privilege to watch and listen to our 3 older grandkids sing in a home school concert.  It was great, way better then I could have imagined.  It consists of 3 separate choirs with a total of 100 voices or better.   They sounded so good, I would encourage them to make CD's to sell.

 Sporting that new  Batman Fedora. 

 Play time,  We had fun playing  MAKEOVERS! 
   Makeup is always a big hit with little girls.

 Our oldest granddaughter is not only beautiful but she is such a big help.  Here she is helping prepare Cinnamon toast for breakfast while I made the scrambled eggs.  OH,  I don't think I mentioned that Jeff and I got to watch the 5 children while their mom and dad attended a conference in TX.  It was a great time, busy but GREAT.  Mom and dad had lots of notes, charts and schedules all organized and printed out which made our busy schedule a lot easier for both us and the grand kids.

 Would you believe Papa Jeffie just happened to find a pink guitar for our sweet little granddaughter.  She was overjoyed.    She had to have a little patience while he put strings on it and got it tuned up for her.

 This is  TOBY DOG,  he spends most of his time outside.  

 Our grandson trying out his new BAT that he bought.   It looked like it worked quite well.  We weren't able to watch one of his games as they had only started  their practice for the year.  I hear he is doing quite well for his team though.

 OH NO!  Look who found her brothers fadora.  CUTE AS A BUTTON!

 Strings are on and time to try a tune.   Play that pink guitar!

 Papa with 2 of his special girls. 

 Mom helps tie the "white belt" for Ninjutsu.  He and his oldest sister really get into this sport.  I not so much.  It looks to me like it would hurt a lot.  They learn a lot in their weekly lessons

 NOW SHE WOULD RATHER ROLLERBLADE!   It has my vote.

Striking a pose.  

It was a great trip to visit many loving family members.