Gymnastics

Eden started gymnastics this summer and LOVES it. She gets so excited every time we go and she loves practicing what she has learned at home. She listens and obeys her instructors so well. I wish she would listen to me that well at home=) She has loved doing everything but I think her favorite is to play and swing from the bars. She loves it and has no fear. She did get super duper frustrated her first class because they had hula hoops out and she kept saying she couldn't do it. She finally tried and could at least get the hoop spinning. We need to find a cheap one and have her practice. That has been the only thing she's gotten mad at. She is in a rather large class so she has two teachers that split them up to work on separate things. All in all EDEN LOVES GYMNASTICS!!!!!

Eden waiting patiently for her first class to start. She couldn't be happier.

Swinging and learning to pull up and flip.

Beginnings of a hand stand.

Straight arms on the bar. She is about to lean forward and flip.

Hands and toes on the uneven bars.

Practicing her little flips on the shorter bars by herself.

Learning Cartwheels.

Practicing their somersaults with the noodles in their hands.

65th Wedding Anniversary/Reunion Part 2

Saturday evening we had the formal dinner and reception for my grandparents 65th Wedding Anniversary. It was at the Lakewood Club House and it was really nice. Did I mention that the weather last weekend was AWESOME!!! It could not have been more perfect with highs in the low eighties which sure beat the high nineties we left in Arkansas=) That evening was wonderful. We had dinner and cake with the whole family and they had a little program to honor my grandparents. We really just enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up again. It had been five years since I was last up to Kansas City and I haven't seen some of my cousins since then. Some had never met Eden before, which is kind of sad. We are all going to have to be better at getting together more often. All of my dad's brothers and parents live in Kansas City so we will have to go there more often. That evening was full of fun and love.

Here is Eden getting ready for the big night=)

Of course, she had to model the dress she was going to wear for the night.

My dad's parents and my grandparents, Jim and Betty Trotter.

Still in love after 65 years together.

My grandparents with three of their four sons. My dad lost one of his brothers several years ago to cancer. Mark's presence was definitely missed.

Dad, Mom, Aunt Cherlyn, Uncle Lee, Aunt Sandy, and Uncle Jim

The great grand kids table.

Michael and Myles hanging out.

Cutting the cake together.

Some old pictures of my grandparents above and all the family below.

Playing Chuck It on the back deck of the Club House. It was such a beautiful night. Both the kids and adults loved the game.

My mom and grandmother. We all had brunch together after church on Sunday morning. Then everyone said goodbye and parted ways.

Janelle (my dad's cousin), with grandmother and my mom.

My cousin Ryan and his wife, Diana.

Four generations of Trotter men. Granddad, my dad, Morgan, J. David, and Myles.

The great grand kids.

A big shot of everyone who was there for the brunch on Sunday. We were missing a few from the night before and some who couldn't make it at all for the weekend. We had a wonderful time and loved getting to see everyone. Hopefully it won't be so long until next time.

65th Wedding Anniversary/Reunion Part 1

This past weekend my whole family headed to Kansas City to celebrate my grandparents 65th Wedding Anniversary. We had a great time and did lots of things while we were there. We drove up with my sister and parents on Thursday night and got in a little after eleven. We slept in a little bit on Friday and then ran errands and met Morgan and Jamie and their family for lunch since they drove over Friday morning. That afternoon Eden and J. David swam before we had a family dinner over at my grandparents that evening. I don't have many pictures from that day.

On Saturday we woke up early and headed to my grandparents that morning to hang out a little before we went to a really neat little farm we had heard about.

Eden and J. David hanging out together at my grandparents. They always pick right up when they are together and are inseparable the whole time. I love it!

Adding Myles to the mix=)

The biggest blue eyed, smiley boy. He is so CUTE!!!

Morgan, Jamie, J. David and Myles on my grandparents back deck.

Playing UNO with Grandmother. She is a card shark so it's always fun to play cards with her. Eden happened to win all the games which made J. David pretty competitive. Really, neither of them had a chance with the competitive gene. We're all super competitive=)

Mom with Myles

We were told about this Deanna Rose Farmstead and we loved it. The kids had a blast and so did the adults. It happened to be Dairy Day that Saturday so they had tons of free milk, ice cream, and cheeses for everyone that day.

The dairy barn. This is were the cows were and where they demonstrate how they milk the cows.

Eden posing with the Cow.

Dad and Lindsay saying "Cheese".

Eden got to "Cheese" for the camera.

Eden petting a sleeping cow. She loved the cows and kept saying how so cute they were.

It must have been nap time because J. David is petting a sleeping one too.

Checking out the big dairy cow.

Sitting on a saddle together.

Several peaking out of a tee pee.

J. Pops, Mimi, J. David, and Eden in a tee pee.

J. David riding a tractor around a little course.

Eden's favorite part of the day. She finally got to ride a horse. She was dying to see a horse the whole time we were there and we finally made it to them. Eden LOVES horses. She asks me all the time at home when she can feed and ride a horse. We drive by some several times a week and she has no fear of them. She jumped right on almost before the workers could help her. She was just a waving and waving while riding the horse. She was in horse heaven=)

We were all so proud of J. David. He actually got on and rode a horse. This was his first time to actually do it. He is usually pretty skittish around animals and horses and has never done it before. We were thrilled he did it this time. Yea, J. David!!!

Swinging on one of the many swings they had around the farm. This place also had fishing, feeding the goats bottles of milk, lots of animals to see, several playgrounds, food, and much more. It was so clean too.

One of the playgrounds. The kids loved these slides.

Little piglets. They were really fun to watch.

Eden getting a good view with help from her daddy.

Stay tuned for part two with tons of pictures from the anniversary dinner....