Fourth of July

This year we spent the 4th of July in Garretson with the Kindt's. Evan went golfing in the morning with his Aunt and Uncle, cousins, and brother. Then the kids and I met up with him for lunch and then we went home to get naps in for the kids before we went to Garretson for fireworks.

We had lunch at the Pizza Ranch in Brandon and they have a game room that Denver had a lot of fun in with his cousins. Here are some pictures.

Riding the firetruck with Ernie and Bert

Riding a motorcycle with Daddy

And here are some pictures from our evening at Uncle Bryce's and Aunt Cherie's where the kids did fireworks and then we watched the town display.

Grandpa Keith giving Makenna a kiss!

Uncle Aaron, Grandpa Keith, Mommy, and Makenna

Makenna sat on my lap during the fireworks, but she spent most of the time eating instead of enjoying the display of fireworks.

Denver sat on Daddy's lap for a majority of the display

Great Aunt Cherie introduced sparklers to Denver! As you can tell from the following pictures he thought they were great! He also realized they were hot so he was telling us "hot".

We hope every one had a happy and safe 4th of July!

Mmmmm....Popcorn!

Daddy is a big popcorn fan in our house. Actually last night he said to me "I could eat popcorn every night.". I looked at him and said "You do eat popcorn every night." and we just laughed! It seems the only nights that there is no popcorn made in this house is the nights that we're out too late that we come home, put the kids to bed, and go to bed ourselves! Denver in turn has become a big popcorn fan. When we got back from our camping trip Daddy had to go play softball and so I tried to come up with something fun the kids and I could do....and my bright idea was popcorn and a movie! Denver thought it was great. Here's a picture of the kids enjoying their popcorn and a movie.

Makenna's wondering where her popcorn and milk are at!

Makenna's first time in her bumbo seat! Isn't she strong?!

Waltner Family Camping Trip 2009

We had our annual Waltner family camping trip the last weekend in June this year. We went to Lake Vermillion and stayed Sunday through Tuesday. Does anyone know how much work it is or how much space it takes to pack up a 7 week old and a 19 month old!? Let's just say the pickup was packed full (I almost didn't leave room for Makenna!) and we had Evan's Grandpa's (thanks Grandpa Poots for letting us borrow it!) fishing boat and there was stuff in the boat too! We had a great time relaxing and spending time with family. Denver thought it was great to have so many different people to play with including his only 1st cousin Jacob!!

Playing with Jacob

These 2 had a blast on these pink inflatables that Great Aunt Carolyn got at a rummage sale. Yes, they're supposed to be for the water, but these 2 little ones sat on them, bounced on them, and played on them!

Our Group

We spent lots of time sitting around just visiting with each other and catching up on every one's lives. It's so nice to have some time like this as we don't get together as a big family often enough to be able to stay up-to-date on what every one's been doing.

Boys in the Pool

The little cousins had fun splashing in the pool. We weren't close to a beach so we had a little pool for the boys to play in so they could have some "water action" without having to go all the way to the lake. It's a lot of work to take 2 little ones down to the beach and this made it a lot easier!

Splashing is fun!

Even Grandma had some fun in the water with them! :)

There is NEVER a shortage of food! We split up the meals so each family is in charge of a meal and we are never short on food! We plan camping AROUND our meals! Ha, ha! Here's my Mom and Jeff working on the kabobs that Jeff and Kim brought for their meal. All of the food and snacks were delicious! Hair cut time! Yes, we even made time for a hair cut for Denver and my Dad while we were camping. Thanks a ton Kim...we loved it, he looked super cute, as always! Camp Fires We always have a camp fire every evening. It's so much fun sitting around the fire, making smores (this year we added a twist to the smores and made some of them with peanut butter cups...yummy! Thanks Shannon!), and telling stories. Angie's bear story just may have to become an annual thing as well as it was told for the 2nd time this year! She had a friend along this time though so she had proof she didn't make it up! :)

Our last day with the whole group there we had a tournament. We broke up into teams of 2 and then played bean bags, monkey balls (ladder ball, or whatever you call it), and bocce ball. This was a lot of fun, and ironically Evan and Kim were a team, and Jeff and I were a team, and Evan and Kim won and Jeff and I got 2nd!

Denver's taking swimming lessons!

Denver is taking swimming lessons for the first time. We have been talking about doing this for some time, but my work schedule kind of interferred with doing this, so we decided it was best if we did it while I was on maternity leave. Swimming lessons is 6 weeks long and ends the end of July. The first day Denver did awesome! I was so proud of him; as he was probably the youngest one there, the most excited to be there, and did everything to the best of his ability! The 2nd week my mom came to babysit Makenna, but I made them come along instead so we could get some video footage (unfortunately I forgot to check my camera battery so we only got videos, no pictures). Denver was not as happy this week...he saw the big slide that he's too little to go down and couldn't get his mind off it; all he wanted to do was to go down it! Here are a couple of videos that he's happy in and kind of doing what he's supposed to be doing!

Our Pretty Girl

Our little girl is growing so fast. I put on her swimming suit the night before going camping this past weekend and for a minute we didn't know if it was going to fit! She never did have it on during our camping trip...we'll see if it actually gets used before she outgrows it or not! :)

I hope I don't regret sharing these pictures with you as we'll see what fits Makenna in her wardrobe when it's time for 2 month pictures, but I think you'll all live if her 2 month pictures are of her in the same dress as I just couldn't resist sharing how beautiful our little girl looked in Church last Sunday. (Also, I have to pat myself on the back as the 4 of us made it to early service last Sunday so that Evan could usher...and that means we had to be there before early service started!!)

Water, Water Everywhere

Where ever there is water there is Denver!

Denver found a hose that was leaking water between the 2 hoses!

...and decided he was thirsty!

Denver's famous wave!

(Denver gets very excited to wave bye-bye. Ever since the hot air balloons he's waving at anything (airplance, balloon, etc) flying in the sky and saying bye-bye.)

Denver had Abby over to go swimming a couple weeks ago.

Going down the slide into the pool

This was the last swim in the frog pool!

It quit holding air in the ring that holds the water in.

Denver's 1st Smores

A week and a half ago we went to a friends house for supper and then had a fire. Denver got to make and eat his 1st smores! He thought it was great. Thanks Brandon and Ashley!

Roasting the marshmallow

Tasting....mmmm

They burnt the marshmallow, but Denver didn't care.

And the fun begins!

And the fun with Makennas has begun! Makenna has been smiling for awhile now, but I never had a camera handy. She is now smiling quite easy and frequent and I caught it on the video camera along with a little coo at the end. Every day she's talking more and more. It's so fun to sit and talk to her and smile with her! Thought everyone else would enjoy seeing some of Makenna's little personality as well.

Father's Day

For Father's Day this year we went to the zoo again. Evan's hoping that Denver will repay him in golf trips on Father's Day when Denver is older! It was nice to get out and enjoy the warm weather.

Getting ready to feed the ducks! Throwing food at the ducks

Makenna's proof that she was along! :)

Riding the carousel. Denver didn't want to get off!

Then for supper we had my parents over and grilled out. It was nice to spend some time with them as well. Denver loves his "Papa" and is always asking for him so he was very happy to have him at his house.

Playing monkey ball (or ladder golf or whatever you want to call it)

Denver and his Papa

Makenna and Grandma Verni

We feel truly blessed to have so many "Grandpas" in our lives. We hope each and every one of them had a wonderful Father's Day and knows how much we love them and appreciate all they do for us!

Happy (Belated) Father's Day

It's been a little busy in our household so I haven't had a chance to do my "Father's Day" post. Back when Makenna was about 5 weeks old the kids and I went to take pictures. I wanted to save these and do something with them for Evan for Father's Day. Unfortunately, I never had time to really think about what I was going to do with them so nothing got done. Since I dropped the ball on that I decided I'd do a Father's Day blog for my wonderful husband with the pictures. I realize some of these you've already seen as I used Denver's for his 18 month pictures, but it's just how it works out this time.

God has provided me with a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful children.

I couldn't be more thankful for each of them!

Our happy, crazy boy!

Denver LOVES his Daddy so much!

There isn't a day that goes by that Denver doesn't ask for his Daddy before he gets home from work. Typically, Daddy is the first thought on his mind in the morning.

Evan is so good with Denver. They are always playing and having a great time together. It melts my heart to watch them together.

Our gorgeous baby girl! I didn't know if I'd ever get this little girl, but God provided a little Princess for us and now I get to watch a Daddy-Daughter relationship grow and flourish!

Denver resembles his Daddy which I may wish I could get some credit for him, but I love that I have a "little Evan" as he reminds me of the person I fell in love with. Now Daddy has provided me with my little girl that resembles me and I couldn't be happier with her!

By the grace of God, Evan made me a mother!

Just thinking about this puts tears in my eyes.

Watching Evan as a father is amazing.

We both have so much love for our children.

Every little piece of our children is a piece of us!

It's such a miracle that God has provided us with so much perfection.

Daddy, you are so fun...

caring...

loving...

our hero...

a great friend...

and a great role model.

We love you Daddy...

and we think you are the BEST!