Goodbye PopPop

One of the sad moments of this summer was the loss of our beloved, PopPop. Aaron's grandfather, Hank "PopPop" Weyand, passed away suddenly in June. Aaron and I decided to make the trip down to California with Maycee to say our last goodbyes and love on Grandma Mary and Aaron's other set of grandparents, Ken and Jean. It was a poignant way to spend Father's Day, but we were able to gather with the many friends and family of Pop Pop to remember his amazingly funny and sometimes crazy life. All who knew Pop Pop loved him and he will truly be missed.

One of Pop Pop's favorite things to do when he came to visit Alaska was go halibut fishing. Aaron and he spent many a days on the water fishing. Those memories are very special and we are grateful that Grandma Mary and Pop Pop were able to go on many Alaskan adventures with us.

Maycee got to meet Grandma Mary for the first time and we all enjoyed watching them get to know each other.

We were also able to make a quick trip to Santa Barbara to see Grandma Jean and Grandpa Ken. They are both in their very golden years and it was bitter sweet to see them. Grandpa Ken is in the late stages of Alzheimer's and it was very difficult to see the effects of the disease. We love them both so much and pray that they will continue to enjoy life.

It was beyond sweet to see Maycee with her great grandparents and the smiles she brought to their faces. She was the hit of the retirement home!

We couldn't go to California and not get Maycee's feet in the sand and surf, so we made a quick trip to the beach on the way back from Santa Barbara. She wasn't too impressed and I personally think she likes our beach at home better. It was a quick trip, but we were happy to be able to reconnect with so many relatives and will be telling Pop Pop stories for many years to come.

Swimming Lessons

Since we live on a lake, Aaron and I both want all the kids to be proficient swimmers. Haylee, Brady and Jaron all have it down and swim quite well. The little girls, however are not friends with water.

Before we started lessons, Chloee would not put her face in the water...at all. After lessons, Chloee had progressed to a level 3 swimmer, but then regressed to a level 1 after a bad day with her teacher, Mr. Luke. The last thing she needed to do was jump in the deep end with a life jacket on. She was so worried that water would go up her nose that she was terrified and stood at the water's edge forever. Mr. Luke pretty much threw her in and needless, to say, he needed to rebuild her trust for the rest of our sessions. She did however, end up learning how to blow water out her nose, swim small distances with her face in the water, and dive for toys. Good enough for now.

Jolee proved to be a tougher nut to crack. Not even Mr. Luke could get her to be brave. The farthest she progressed was to ride on Luke's back once.

I did manage to get her in the pool a few times to practice kicking, but she would have nothing to do with the teacher.

This is how she spent most of the lessons...gotta love this girl!

Bear Paw Fun

As far as our summer weather went, it pretty much stunk! May was beautiful, but June, July, and August broke all sorts of records for rainfall. It's a good thing we have had a beautiful fall. In June, we headed up to our old stomping grounds in Eagle River for the Bear Paw Festival. We started the morning at the parade and got lots of candy. The kids had a great time watching the parade with all their cousins. We did get a break in the rain long enough to take the kids on some rides.

Daddy with a couple of his girls...

Abbi, being the dare devil she is, convinced her older boy cousins to take her on the kiddie roller coaster. You can't see much of her, but she is comfortably squeezed between her two favorite big boys.

Notice the ominous black clouds in the sky? Abbi toned down her inner thrill seeker to ride the elephants with Jolee. They are too cute.

Miss Chloee is trying to be patient in line...not one of her strongest character traits. After we blew most of our money on the rides, it was off to face painting and ice cream. Jolee wanted a butterfly...hold very still, Jo!

So pretty! Jaron, of course wanted something crazy...like a blood-thirsty dragon.

Yep, we are proud of this guy! We had a great time despite spending way too much money on junk, but made lots of fun memories with the family and that is what summer is about.

Been too long...

So it has been WAY too long since my last post, but we have been busy enjoying the last of our Alaskan summer. I have so many things to share I don't know where to begin, but I figured just getting something posted is better than nothing. So we are going back to mid-May when the cub scouts designed and launched bottle rockets. They LOVED this activity and it was a great physics lesson as well.

Jaron is always good for a funny face shot. He is pushing with all he's got to inflate the pressure gage for launch.

Ready for launch!.....

...and BLAST OFF! His bottle actually flew really far and he had a blast. So glad I can share experiences like this with him, even if I have to wear a dorky uniform.

Dancin' Machines

It's official. My dancing genes have made it through the gene pool and into some kids. This summer, I enrolled Chloee, Jolee, and Brady in some dance classes to see if they would like it. I have always known that Chloee and Brady have rhythm and talent in the dance department, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well all three took to dance.

Chloee and Brady took hip hop classes and were amazing. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera on the hip hop day, so I don't have any pics of them. Chloee also did ballet and Jolee did a ballet/tap combo class. Chloee is extremely flexible and while hip hop is her favorite, she shows great promise in ballet as well.

Jolee took right to class, even though I was nervous that she would be too shy. Her teacher was awesome and really made learning fun. Jolee now knows how to:

Pleeay (totally misspelled that, but I don't know French).

Arabesque...

and tap heel, toe across the floor. We are so excited that our kids have found their passions in life and so look forward to seeing their talents grow. Recital is in May...be sure to mark your calendars!

Isn't she cute?

When your the sixth kid, you get lots of perks like a constant play buddy, lots of hugs and kisses, and your needs being catered to by all your siblings. There are however, some downsides. Case in point, the following:

Brady thought Maycee would look cute in his Napoleon Dynamite wig so he plopped it on her and we all got a good laugh at her expense. Maycee didn't seem to mind to much, she even cheesed it up for the camera, but I'm sure she won't appreciate it when she sees these photos when she is a teenager. Sorry Maycee, but we couldn't resist.

Jaron Turns 9!

Our Jaron turned nine officially today, but we had his big party on Saturday. Jaron is our water boy, so naturally he wanted a party at home on the lake this year. We prayed for sun, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Our summer thus far has been filled with clouds and showers, but that didn't dampen the fun at Jaron's party. All in all, Jaron had a great time and we enjoyed spending time with all the family.

In keeping with tradition, Brady made Jaron's birthday cake with a beach theme. Complete with water, a huge beach ball, surfboard, and lochness monster. He did a great job and is learning more tricks with every cake.

Present time!! Jaron loved the legos and all the water toys he received.

Grandma Lynn gave Jaron a pair of swimming gloves which he put right to use in the lake.

They look great and work great too!

Jolee and Abbi loved getting to use their umbrellas. See, rain isn't all bad.

We had a great surprise with "Christmas in July" from Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Ron with a paddle boat! I have wanted one forever, and now that we live on a lake, it is a must.

Works great and is so much fun. The kids told me it was relaxing...as long as you know how to steer it right. The last activity of the party was busting up a huge pinata. I found this at Sam's club and it was so fun watching all the kids take a whack at it.

Aaron's making sure Chloee hasn't knocked loose the rigging.

Go Brady!

Thanks big sis for helping Jolee.

And finally! The kids shared the spoils pretty well and all had a great time. We are grateful for another year with our sweet Jaron and the many blessings we enjoy every day.