Yay for Cousins!

It is hard to believe I'm old enough to have nieces and nephews who are teenagers.  (Actually, maybe it just means my siblings are old, not me?!)  Steven is a Senior this year and will go to college next fall!  Wow.  Rebekah turns 13 in a few weeks; for her party, she wanted to watch all eight Harry Potter movies!  So, her very devoted mom agreed to do a three day Potter-a-thon before school started.  Only problem?  Those pesky younger siblings would just be in the way.  Solution: ship them off to Aunt Amyanne and Uncle Kyle's house! 

It turned out to be a great solution.  We loved having them here and having excuses to go play.  And having seven kids definitely has some advantages: they all play together!  (Well, maybe cousins get along better than siblings.)  The only one I really had to worry about was Andon.  The meal times were a little more chaotic, but definitely fun.

For Family Home Evening, we went hiking at Magness Tree Farm, a Department of Forestry learning center about 10 minutes from our home.  We took a picnic dinner, then went on a short hike.

(Here's the classic picture of Andon and Kyle you've already seen lots of times this summer.)
 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading before bed.

Kylene and Alaina.

Here's our pre-hike photo back at the farm.  Notice Lee being silly in both photos.  That kid has got personality! 

 

We love having cousins so close and have such a wonderful time whenever we are together.  I'm thankful families are forever.