liv's 8th grade graduation 6-24-10

 finally!  a few people have asked for liv's grad pics (here they are fleur, traci, mom & liv!).  it was such a privilege to have my dad & mom here...it's not every day that your papa & beppe visit from washington state!!

jake & mom (beppe)

 mady & liv

 liv & ash

 liv & pop-pop

 liv & her daddy...a little pep talk perhaps? ;)

 liv & grandma honey

 liv & 'bepps'

 liv & the parents

 beppe, liv & papa

oh, mother of pearl, this is an amazing picture of liv & mr. & mrs. densel!

 mel & liv

 jess & liv

 jessica, mike & liv

 ashley and livie

 mr. brennan & liv...i just can't find words to say about what she feels about him.  the kids LOVE him~he's so real!!

she got her diploma!  only 4 more years to go!

 we were busy thursday...they let me do their hair! 

(sure beats lucia's $80 up-do!!)

liv

 ashley-roo's doo

my absolute favorite usherette...ashley morgan williams

comment...please, pretty please ;)

since i've been super busy i'm stealing my 2nd post of the week.  BUT, since i've been personally involved in both of them, i'm not feeling so bad.  this post was 'stolen'-with permission!-from kathy's blog (here http://wubbenworld.blogspot.com/2010/07/interesting-thought.html)

"So I was having a conversation with some dear friends last night about blogging. A comment was raised, "do you have any idea how many people read a.k.a "stalk" your blog?"....the answer of course was "no"...which then lead to the question, "why don't people ever leave comments after visiting a.k.a "stalking" your blog"~ that way we known you've "visited".



Think of it this way....how would you feel if you had a lengthy conversation with someone only to have them give you a blank stare back in response rather than some sort of verbal acknowledgment that they were at least a tad bit interested in what you just shared with them?


So....those of us in the blogging world look forward to reading what it is you have to say to us!!


Thanks for sharing!


PS....feel free to copy and paste this Lori :)"

THANKS, Kath!

mady & her crazy aunt traci

oh, yea...jack too!

traci's 40th

Happy 40th birthday old lady sister!

We (Kayt and I) went out for dinner with some of Traci's friends for her birthday. 

We had a lot of laughs. 

The owner first brought out a sombrero for her...then a cowboy hat that he had written on. 

And who can ever forget Kathy's story:  "Hmmm~that's wierd. "  "Why is that wierd?"

happy birthday, america!

5th of july at traci's...family, food, fun

oh, how i love this man!!

 supervisory committee of the newest game...stick wacky. don't ask because i have no idea! i've been watching this game for a week and i still can't figure it out! but...they still asked me to play~probably for laughs!!

 mady wacky

ok, mady, we agreed to let your mom play on our team...we know she doesn't have ONE athletic bone in her body so it's really up to us!

 lor, here's the deal~you're supposed to at least TRY to hit the blocks!

bahahaha...you've GOT to be kidding me!!

 q-t-pie sisters~amy & lisa

 eddie & lori

 lori giving mom a trim...then gave kayt a CUT!  turned out adorable!

 tim giving jack a haircut

what's an independence day party without a flag cake?

 maxwell grant likkel

 lisa trying to lift liv high enough so she can plug in the bug zapper.  but what we really need is an 18-yr-old whipper-snapper.  zach was standing by watching and pulled over a footstool and asked us why we didn't just use that.  hysterical!  wanna know the most logical way to accomplish something?  just ask a 7-yr-old ;)

 my adorable brother-in-law, ryan

guys playing a little golf

 sparklers

 fireworks

jack & sam

a little cold, taya?

thoughts for week of july 5, 2010

Be who you are and say what you feel; because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.  ~Dr. Seuss

we're finally all together

THIS IS AN EXACT POST THEFT FROM MY SISTER'S BLOG SO IF YOU READ THIS AND THINK YOU'VE READ IT BEFORE...YEP, YOU PROBABLY HAVE. 

I STOLE THIS....BECAUSE I CAN! ;)  AND BECAUSE SHE SAID EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO SAY.  AND SHE'S WILLING TO STAY UP 'TIL 12:30AM AND POST, AND I'M NOT.  SO...HERE'S MY HER POST.

OH, AND SKIP THE PART ABOUT TURNING 40...I'VE SORTA ALREADY HAD THAT BIRTHDAY :)

6 days.


doing 'nothing' but hanging with the fam/and the other part of the fam.

NOT that it was too cold to do anything but nothing (did that make sense?).

cough. cough.

although, it's AMAZING to me how busy 12 kids can keep themselves.

oh, SO good is my life right now.

a few days back, we were all sitting around, out in our field (nope, NOT sitting on the new patio we put in. go figure.) chatting.

it was one of those moments that i wished i could 'bottle'. you know what i'm saying? wishing you could stop time. that was one of those moments.

all of my siblings (lori/ed ,tim/lisa and brady) were there.

we could see all of our kids (kayt, jake,olivia,ben,mady,bo, bailee,eli,zach,sam,max and jack) playing nicely with each other.

the sun was out.

we had no where to go.

no big plans, planned.

i was content and feeling EXTREMELY blessed.

once every 4 years is NOT ok.

NOT. AT. ALL.

with the craziness of life, time just got away from us. it's not that we don't see each other from time to time OR have the desire to but when one of you lives across the country, every year is just not possible.

thankfully, i have a sister that, like me, doesn't feel like we NEED to chat everyday(uummm, not like THAT happens!) to KNOW that we love each other & no matter how many miles, nothing will change that.

i know that.

that being said, it BITES that they live 3,500 miles away!

good news is, i have another 6 days with them.

tomorrow the weather is SUPPOSED to start getting better so i'm thinking we'll break out the slip-n-slide (blue tarp) or head to t&l's to swim.

tuesday evening we have our family pictures scheduled with the FAMOUS BECKY and then on wednesday, it's off to Caltus Lake water slides for um, water sliding.

thursday it's off to seattle to tour the city.

friday, the mariners game.

saturday morning, the fam heads back to new jersey. :(

oh, yeah and also, i turn 40 on saturday.

i'm ok with that. that just means i'm getting wiser, RIGHT??

surprisingly, the batteries in all three of our cameras are dead (shocking) so tomorrow i'll have to download the BOATLOAD of pictures already taken and share.

until then.....

lynden, day 1

ok-seriously been trying to get pics up for close to a week.  out here in the hicks (aka likkel's homestead) the internet is soooooo slow, i almost feel like i shoud be sitting in a covered wagon!  we're gonna go to ryan's work and high speed them, probably today, so the pics are coming, people. 

the kids are thoroughly enjoying their cousins!  and so are we!  12 little munchkins in all-gotta luv 'em~each with their own personality...2 sets of twins and still all totally different and unique!

uncle tim & aunt lisa's tramp...