Lots of things happened over Labor Day weekend. It was one for the record books.
First, my brother and his family came to town from California.
They got here relatively late on Friday night but we still tucked the kids in bed and headed out on an adult dinner date to catch up.
Their visit called for a day on the lake:
After showing off their “regular,” the girls (well, probably mostly Grace:) decided it was time for Claire to stand on Grace’s shoulders.
We were laughing our guts out at the valiant efforts they made.
My stomach hurt so bad from laughing as Claire pushed Grace’s hair more and more covering her face.
They didn’t quite make it, but sure put on a good show for us!
Noah was a first-time surfer but took to it like nobody’s business.
Sure love that little love up there (Mila) who had open heart surgery this last year and is just the sweetest girl you could ever imagine.
Dave and Lu did their old surfing trick:
…and Noah and Bennett did too:
And then they decided it was time to try again with the good old standing-on-shoulders trick.
LOVE those expressions! They did pretty great I have to say!
Love these expressions too:
HA!
We had a picnic on the tube.
That lake is sure good to mix in with the heat around here!
Everyone headed to the BYU football game that night.
I’m pretty sure everyone and their dogs were there except me and Claire who were doing a little babysitting of the younger kids. (Claire was babysitting for our neighbor, I got to take care of my little nieces and nephew and was happy I didn’t have to fight the crowds at the game. Ha!)
On Sunday Dave got a new calling at church. As part of his responsibilities he is going to work with missionaries and the mission president who lives nearby. He’s pretty excited about that as he’ll get to think more about Max out there in Taiwan. We had a really great little family meeting after church with the church leaders about that but I got no pictures.
We were SO excited that Dave’s parents got back from AFRICA in time to be here for all that.
They have been in Africa doing volunteer work in Ghana for the past six months and I’m going to have to do a whole blog post about that at some point. They learned so much and taught us so much through sharing so many experiences in their letters.
I cannot believe I didn’t get one picture when they stayed for dinner on Sunday, dang it! We loved having them to ourselves and hearing more personally so many stories from over there.
That evening one of our friends from when we lived in D.C. was in town for her daughter’s wedding.
Her name is Rose Dall and she is one of my very favorite artists (and people) in all the world. Her website is HERE. Dave’s sister Christy and her husband lived by them before we moved to Virginia and after they moved we lived in the same spot so we all got lucky enough to get to hang with her and catch up that night.
One of my favorite paintings she has done is this one:
Isn’t that just gorgeous?
I LOVE this one too:
When we lived in D.C. I got to actually take art classes from her on Saturdays for a while when Max and Elle were babies. I learned so much from that woman! She also has a Mormon.org spot like I do. Hers is
HERE.
Just as they were all leaving Noah and Kristi got back from visiting some friends who live here, and we tucked the little kids in bed and stayed up to talk over the world.
Love those two so much! They are two of the most Christ-like people I know. Getting ready for baby number SIX. They are beating all the rest of us Eyre kids on child production, and they are pretty good people to do that:)
Two of Claire’s cousins spent the night that night and had their own pineapple photoshoot going as we talked with N&K.
Those girls crack me up with the funny things they come up with.
On actual Labor Day we soaked up the end of our time with Noah and Kristi’s family before they had to take off.
…with a morning swim party…
After they left we headed to our neighbor’s house for a bbq/swim party…and then came home to get ready for our own.
We had everyone over to celebrate the homecoming of Nana and Papa and we had so much fun catching up with everyone (summer has put a big damper on our extended-family-get-togethers!)
We celebrated with lots of backflips…see those silhouettes jumping off there?
…some bocci ball:
…cousin snuggling…
…more back flips.
Games…Dave’s family is all about the competitive games that they make up. One of them was synchronized jumping.
With a little soccer and pickle ball worked in.
We held on to every bit of light we could to finish off that great weekend.
So glad to have Nana and Papa home!
Our not-at-home kids who now both live on islands far, far away had pretty epic Labor Day weekends as well.
Elle had a pretty grand adventure hiking up to this spot:
…and camping there.
She was completely overwhelmed with the beauty there. Her text so filled with enthusiasm about it made me miss her more than ever but also made me so happy for her that she’s loving it so much.
And Max was in the process of getting settled in Taichung city life since he had just had his first move of the mission. Much more on that soon.
It was a great weekend.
I used to live in Phoenix and am curious what lake you go to. Is it Roosevelt?
Your backyard is stunning!!! Would love to see a home update on the home blog 🙂
your backyard is so beautiful!!!
I am also jealous, your backyard is amazing! I have a question, isn't that Shelby in the photo with Claire? Unless there is another little one I missed! It's not a big deal, just driving me crazy. I remember she had a heart condition and I have a good friend named Shelby so that's why it stuck with me. 🙂
Shelby was re-named Mila soon after her birth/first open hear surgery. (yes, I'm a complete stranger who knows way too much about this family) Whatever her name is she's a adorable warrior princess. So glad she's doing well.
Oh, thank you for clearing that up for me!! Yes, she's a cutie pie and so glad she is doing well!
Thanks Jenny (also) for the clarification 🙂 She is the sweetest just like the rest of her family and we loved having time to soak them up.
Gorgeous yard, wow. If you like to wake surf, this is a game changer: https://www.wakesurfedge.com
My aunt and uncle live in Taichung! I'm going to tell them to watch for him 🙂
My brother Mike and sister-in-law Lisa Hale lived in the same ward with Rose in Leesburg, VA, so now I'm curious if you know them as well! Rose is such a gifted artist! Thanks for your always uplifting posts, they brighten my day every time.
She was in our ward before she moved to Leesburg so I don't think I know them, darn it!
That backyard! Wow! Perfect for entertaining.
That first painting by Rose was just put up in the main lobby of the church office building. It has caught my eye several times, so happy to know the artist now. Such talent!
Looks like y'all had a lovely Labor Day Weekend. I agree, it would be so fun to have a house and garden tour.
Somehow I missed this! Too man things going on here I guess. Loved seeing these cute cousins together. Not only ours but all those terrific Pothier people celebrating the return of the wonderful Bob and Marva! What a grand group they had to meet them! Hugs to them (and all).
wait i thought noah and kristis little girl was named shelby??? and i didn't know they were pregnant!!!
Super random. Not sure you will see this. My parents are redoing there backyard. Love yours. Trying to help them decide since they are having a hard time. Any chance you know what travertine you used? Also, what you used for your planter boxes??? Huge thanks in advance!