a visit with "old" grandma

we planned our visit to iowa to allow us to be there for my great grandma's 88th birthday celebration. but since we knew that her birthday party was going to be packed out we went a couple of days earlier to visit and say hello. it was great to see her doing so well. matt's family called their great grandparents old grandma or old grandpa so matt got micah calling her that and my mom thought it was pretty funny.

micah and old grandma eating crackers and messing with pickles his little frog.

micah ate so many of old grandma's crackers that he needed a break with daddy.

such great smiles out of both of them!

4 generations...

old grandma requested this for her birthday. she wanted to fit in with the cool ladies at the home. there were so many people at her party and she went around the whole room to say something nice about each person. it was pretty funny and very touching! then later she gave great grandchildren rides on her birthday present.

my whole family with old grandma. it was a very special day and we were so glad that we got to be there for it.

32 and still going strong...

my birthday this year was a special treat since i got to be with my parents and my siblings for the day. i haven't done that for 10 years! it started off rainy, but we went to one of my favorite little diners for lunch and it was as good as i remembered! then after that micah and matt made my strawberry birthday cake, an annual tradition.

micah mixing it up! and after micah's nap we went to the des moines zoo with my parents and my two sister in laws and their little ones. it was a BLAST!

micah and daddy feeding the giraffs...

their black tounges and long necks made micah nervous...

i thought it was pretty cool. and of course there had to be a cow at an iowa zoo.

stephanie and maranda with brenna and easton.

the whole lot of us!

below is micah with grandma and grandpa. i love that they are all wearing red

matt putting the finishing touches on my cake...beautiful babe!

they all thought it would be funny to give me an easy time of blowing out the candles so they only put one on it. yes it was very very easy! so now i am 32 and it was a really great day~

fun times in iowa

our trip back to des moines iowa was a fun one, despite the fact that we all woke up with colds the morning we were supposed to fly out. bummer! it was wonderful to visit with family and get to meet our new neice brenna and nephew easton. micah had so much fun with his new baby cousins! proving what a great big brother he is going to make...

just after a bath with the cousins...

enthralled with grandpa...

all three ready for bed...

watermelon bonding and ...

sugary kisses!

fishing in the birdbath with grandma...

father's day dinner with the whole fam and a half way decent picture of the three of us.

what a fun time we had and thanks family for making it wonderful! we love you all and though we live far away you are always so close to our hearts. we will talk about the memories for a long time to come.