Carly's Berkeley Presentation - Rare Family Road Trip

I wish I could adequately explain how rare it is for my family to hop in the car and go on a road trip.  I mean REALLY RARE!!  SO to have gone on two road trips within one week is similar to pigs flying in the sky.

But Carly is part of a really cool program at Westminster called the McNair Scholar program, and they were flying to northern california to present on their research projects. She asked if we could come watch her.  

All the stars aligned and mom, dad, me, Lindy, Kristy and Kylee hopped in the van and drove the three hours North to meet Carly at UC Berkeley, and then out to dinner.

It was a really nice and smooth day!  I'm really glad we took the time to do this together.

Last Visit to Grandma NaDean / Great Gram

So, my grandma (or great gram, as the kids call her) has battled Alzheimer's for 10 years.  What a long, horrific illness.  But she has been able to stay at home that entire time with some amazing caregivers (Tiana and Rebekah).  

My mom kept saying all she wanted for her bday was to visit her mom, as she knew the end was drawing near.  We were able to go the day after her birthday.  And I found a 15 passenger van for us to rent, so we didn't have to drive two separate cars!  (it's a 4 hour drive each way).

It ended up being a beautiful trip. My Aunt Kelly (mom's sister) lives about 20 minutes away and brought her kids over to see us, too.  

On our drive home, there was an accident on the freeway that delayed us over two hours.  So we got home really late...like 2:00 in the morning.  It was such a long day, but very worth the memories.

I had to note this.  My girls took this picture in my Grandma's back living room (where we always stayed when I was little)...and apparently I carved my name into a brick when I was younger??? I mean, I don't recall doing that at ALL, but it looks like I did!

A Few Random Cousin Pics from Summer 2016

Mom/Grandma's 62nd Birthday and Dance Show

Some birthday pictures with Mom/Grandma after church!

Last summer (2015), the summer dance show was out of control type big. And took literally like 100 hours to prepare.  This summer was just way, way too hard to try and match that level of show....with moving and remodeling.  

But, even with a scaled down version, the kids did fabulous and put on a beautiful little dance show for Grandma's bday!  

Face Swap!

This summer, one of our biggest entertainments was the Face Swap app.  I mean, it provided hours and hours of laughter.  There really is no explanation necessary....the pictures speak for themselves!  LOL