kitchen shuffle

here's were the microwave has been since i first moved in here 8 years ago,
and here's what it looks like now- much much better! now we have twice as much counter space!
the trash has always been right next to the stove, so it was quite a challenge to get used to it in a new spot.
now we have the microwave cart there instead and we were even able to get some more cupboard space as well because we moved all our spices and cooking stuff underneath it instead!

its strange to realize just how much difference a small change can make!

sandy supper

after dinner, timmy decided to go for a little bike ride...

aves golf

timmy gets himself ready for such an important putt!
diana, mom, bubba, and tweets all went out into the lake riding this grand sea vessel!

fireworks!

diana enjoying the beautiful sunset before the show began- she was giddy with anticipation!
aves and tweets, still sporting their 4th of july antlers, having a blast with the sparklers!
tweets loved to just wave those sparklers around and enjoy the light stream they create!
bubba decided to double fist it- sparkle on, big man!

pines potluck

after the food is gone everyone still hangs out and just enjoys a bit of chatting.

once the dessert was brought out everyone quickly bum-rushed the table for a little bit of yum!

remember those diet coke and mentos videos? well, squeegee brought a 2 liter and some candy to show everyone that cool trick!

the kids were amazed- and so were the parents! man, that stuff shot up about thirty feet in the air- very impressive!

buried treasure

bubba was finished swimming and had taken his towel to dry off. when he was sufficiently dry we found a fun way for him to wear it- looking good!

this was the funniest thing i saw all day: while enjoying the lake with a swimming noodle, aves and tweets started playing a game. they would submerge the noodle so that it got water inside the center hole then they would each put their mouths on an end and blow as hard as they could, causing one of them to get a face full of lake water! the thing is, aves never won a single time, but was more than willing to keep trying- wet face and all!

a ton of kids hunting through the sand for coins- what fun!

parade candy

aves, ready for the parade, shows off her patriotic antlers!

tweets was excited about the parade, even though it may look like she is grimacing in pain...

after all these years 2

some how adam found a video of us in 4th grade! well, we HAD to watch that together, right? oh, it was hilarious to see ourselves so little!

the dustman and myself, quite shocked at seeing everyone again after so long!

kristy and lauren, a couple of classmates the guys and i loved to torture! we sure were pests to the girls in our class- thankfully none of them seemed to still hold it against us... i think.

adam, aaron, and kevin just chillin out in the kitchen at the end of the night. we ended up staying there until almost 3:00am! now thats a lot of memories!

i wanted to take a picture of adam, who then insisted on holding up a random treat from the table. it looks lovely, adam, thanks. and thanks so much for the goofy idea of having an 18 year 8th grade reunion!

after all these years 1

adam, our host, shares with everyone what he has been up to these past couple decades.

these two faces look pretty familiar... come to find out, staying close with your best friends from grade school is pretty unusual. dusty, aaron, adam and i have stayed close since our grade school days, but we seemed to be the exception. hardly any of the others in attendance have stayed in touch with their friends from that long ago. well, their loss!

of course the old kelloggsville yearbooks had to come out, right? with out them how could we properly make fun of our 8th grade pictures!

getting ready for the 'graduates today' shot. the surprising thing was seeing just how little each person changed. sure, we all got big and grown up, but those 13 year old faces are still in there!