Some Summer Pics...

Thanks to my Dad, we actually got a few family shots where everyone is smiling!! That's a true miracle right there-

Handsome Addison has been LOVING summer and has the bleached-blond hair and the dark skin to show it! Someone asked me the other day if he was a different ethnicity because he is SO tan- nope, just a dark little white boy...

Laynie has also been Lovin summer- She is a great little swimmer and is trying to learn how to dive! When surprised about something she'll say "OH My Chinny-Chin Chin!!" I'm not sure where she picked this one up, but it always makes me smile.

Hailey continues to be the highlight of everyone's days. She will run full speed (even after the life guards have told her not to at least 1000 times) and jump off the edge of the pool into the 6-inch water, right on her bottom...and she'll do it for hours! She can sing almost all the words to "Hoe-down, throw-down" by Miley Cyrus (it was on Laynie's dance recital CD) and if you take your shoes off, she will definitely put them on and say they are hers!...shoe fetish?

So Silly!

These girls LOVE their Daddy!

See what I mean? We're ALL smiling! Amazing!!!

And of course, the jumping pose...

Dear Lake Cavanaugh,

I LOVE YOU!!!!

This year our lake Cavanaugh trip was planned a little last minute, in fact Sara didn't even think she would be able to go cause Birch couldn't get off work...well, forget about husbands then! We'll take the kids and go by ourselves! That's what my mom used to do!! So, we did it- Sara and I left with 11 kids in tow (her 6, my 3, and 2 of Deena's) and took off for my FAVORITE place on earth!!

that was such a good decision...(I'm really proud of you Sara!)

Best friends/best enemies- Hailey and Chloe

The boys taking the paddle boat out for a ride...

Bedtime snack in jammies on the dock...thanks for the undies shot Laynie!!

See, and husbands eventually DID show up after their boring work stuff was all done-

this ladder-ball game was a huge hit this year, among the kids AND the double mint twins above.

Good thing Hailey sported this super-trendy life jacket, cause she actually DID fall off the dock into the lake- but being the daredevil she is, it didn't even phase her!

Laynie loves Lake Cavanaugh, just like her mommy!!

No lake trip would be complete without a good game of "I-throw-the-ball-to-you-and-you-catch-it as-you-jump-off-the-dock" It's a great game, perfect for the show-off gene in each of the Ditto brothers.

P.S.- could the weather have been any better? Oh my word it was AWESOME!!!

So studly.

And here's how I spent most of my time, in my suit, in the sun, reading! I finished two books, and one since then- I LOVE SUMMER!! (btw, I read The Hunger Games and L.O.V.E.D. it!, can't wait to get my hands on the second book!)

So Studly, again.

The last night there we promised the kids a fire to roast marshmallows- I started the fire which I have to say was ROARING before I knew it...didn't know I had some pyro-maniac in me huh?

We Love you Lake Cavanaugh! We'll be back soon!!!

Dittos + Montana = F.U.N.!!!

The kick-off to our Ditto Family reunion was an amazing float down the Missouri River! The scenery was gorgeous, the water fights avoided (due to small children), and the snacks were plentiful! We sang, threw grapes to the other rafts, tried desperately to follow Captain Logan's instructions, and had a Marvelous time!

That night was a campfire with lots of smores- here's Grannie snuggling two cute granddaughters...

And here the boys are LOVIN the fire!

So many Dittos! and there are a bunch missing too...had Sara/Birch, Brent/Deena, and Tavia/Vaughn been there, there would have been 20 more of us!!!

I LOVED getting the know the cousins who I had only met briefly at our wedding one hundred years ago! and I LOVED meeting cousins I had never met! It was a BEAUTIFUL trip and a memory that will last forever!

8.Y.E.A.R.S.!

and I've loved them all!

Happy Anniversary Kelly McCann- Sure wish I were spending it WITH you, but hopefully the scouts know how much you must love them and scout camp! Can't wait for you to get back tomorrow! I LOVE YOU THE MOST!!