Birthdays and baseball games

There are SO many summer birthdays in our families: Tyler's mom, two of his sisters, me, Ada, Kate, Tyler, my dad, a brother-in-law, three nieces, and a nephew. We also celebrated my grandpa's 90th birthday. Here are random pictures from the various celebrations:

A bounce house for Keaton's party


Ella's family and friend parties


Tyler's a little too excited to blow out the candles

A horse party for Ellie's birthday






While all my siblings were in town for the wedding, we decided to throw a surprise 60th birthday for my dad. After much debate, we opted for a Bee's game over a nice restaurant. We got a suite with dinner and a cake. We decided to keep the secret from my mom too so there wouldn't be any slip-ups. They were very surprised. My dad kept saying, "I'm so glad Angie and Hyrum are here." The game was on Scott's birthday (my dad's b-day was a week later, but everyone was leaving before that), so we got my dad's and Scott's names on the scoreboard. Right after that, my name magically appeared on the board. I started getting excited because I thought I won something, but I was just being recognized for renting a suite. Funny stuff! The only one missing was Neal, but he surprised us by showing up for the wedding. He had just started his medical residency, so it was difficult for him to leave. I was so excited to see him in the temple though!







Kate and Sally were afraid of the bee

Weddings and water parks

My baby sister Abby got married on July 22 (Ada's birthday). My parents are officially empty-nesters. Here are some pictures from the festivities:

Waiting outside the temple:

I just can't contain my excitement


Ella and Ada

The happy couple

Ada admiring Abby's bride dress


The luncheon:


Before the reception:
The curly girls





Abby with all her nieces

Ada, Hyrum, Angie, and Kate

Emily, Sally, and Neal




Spencer, Korrin, Ella, and Grace




At the reception (JSMB):



Me, cousin Rachel, Grandma Bateman, Amy, and Ang


A few days after the wedding we went to Raging Waters with Ang & Hy. So much fun!

In a nutshell

Now that summer is officially over, I need to blog about it before I forget something. It's been the busiest summer we've ever had, but we've had lots of fun. In no particular order, we've enjoyed weddings and water parks; birthdays and baseball games; barbecues and boating; cabins and camping; parties and parades; family reunions and fireworks; summer camp and swimming; amusement parks and anniversaries. In an effort to keep this from being the longest post ever, I'll break these up into several smaller posts. This post will only include this great picture of my siblings and me. I love this picture because we are rarely all together these days.

Spencer, Angie, shorty in the middle, Emily, and Abby

Thirty-three

The number of times (at least...I kind of lost track) that Ada proclaimed, "I wanna play Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" yesterday. It's a daily ritual. She'll be playing with princesses and say it. She'll be coloring and say it. She'll be watching Super Why and say it. If I have to talk like Goofy or Mickey one more time, I think I'll hurl.

How 'bout them Cougs?

Dear Cougars:

Thank-you for finally winning an important game! It couldn't have come at a better time: on national TV against the 3rd-ranked team in the country and on the heels of a disappointing season. You tried to give the game away, but still played well enough to pull off the win. Perhaps nobody but yourselves thought you would do it. Props to the D who played PHENOMENALLY! Jaime Hill is my new hero. I can't wait for the rest of the season. Please don't disappoint me.

Love,
Al