Time with the Stampers

WARNING--LOTS OF PICTURES!!

I can't imagine going up north without a stop in northern Kentucky to visit my close family. This is my mom's sister and her family. We grew up spending a lot of time with them and I enjoy making more memories whenever I get the chance.

Here is Uncle Marvin enjoying a little time with Lydia and Joseph on the swing.

We were outside visiting and the kids heard the ice cream truck. I am not sure why, but Doyle has a weakness for these musical vehicles. The kids have noticed this and here he is buying them a treat. David and Kelly's family had not arrived yet, but Tim and Patty's kids were there and also decided to have a tasty snack.

The girls...

The boys-I think you could have figured that one out for yourself.

On Sunday we grabbed the kids and took a few pictures before they changed into play clothes. In this case, Tim and Patty's family had not arrived, so this is David and Kelly's kids with ours. Our boys are acting a little goofy.

The girls are cooperative with smiles.

Our family--I feel so blessed.

David and Kelly's family-so precious.

Aunt Erma and I in front of her pretty flowers.

We also celebrated Doyle's birthday while we were there. He actually had 2 parties-one at my aunt's and one at my mom's house. I feel blessed to have him as my husband.

Th next two pictures were taken after church on Sunday night. The kids were playing and I grabbed my camera. Jacob has picked flowers for his mommy.

Katie and Joseph ran around holding hands while talking to each other. It was very sweet.

The remainding pictures were taken at Parky's farm. Patty had suggested this as a fun activity for all of us to do. I am so glad she did. We all really enjoyed ourselves. There was so much to see and do for $2.00 a kid; you could not have beat the deal. I think our kids enjoyed it as much as an expensive amusement park-maybe more.

This is the outside play area.

Here is our gang--We were missing Marvin and David. We joined them later in the day.

Lydia feeding a gentle cow.

Here we are again.

The younger ones enjoyed pony rides-Joseph...

..and Lydia.

The view from our tractor ride through the woods.

We enjoyed an ice cream break.

Ms. Piggy cools off.

Julianna in the orchard. You could pick and eat the fruit and vegetables that were ripe.

O.K., so I did know the berry was not ripe when I gave it to Doyle. That is why I had my camera ready.

Joseph diligently looking for strawberries.

The kids got water form the windmill and watered the garden. They really enjoyed this activity.

Here I am by the grape arbor.

A beautiful sunflower.

A tractor ride around the lake.

Lydia watering the garden.

The flower bed, of course.

Samuel getting a turn at brushing a goat.

Erma's way of keeping the sun off.

Our 4 in front of the corn.

Jacob giving Uncle Tim a push.

Joseph going down the slide inside the big barn.

Tractor fun.

This is inside the 2 story barn. They thoroughly enjoyed playing hide and seek in here.

Julianna and Brittany peek out from behind the carrots.

Well, we really had a great time-we always do.

Wentworth Reunion

We left Hobe Sound in July to be a part of several activities. The first on our list was the Wentworth Reunion. My dad was the youngest of 9 children--8 of those kids lived to be adults. Because we lived relatively close, we saw each other a lot--getting together at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I spent so much time on their farm and loved the life. The sad fact is that my grandparents are both dead, and there are only 4 remaining kids. The cousins have moved to different locations which make it almost impossible to get together. I really miss the days when we all gathered for holidays and farm events.

The reunion I attended in July was not only my Dad's siblings and their desendants, but also my grandpa and his siblings desendants. Of course, my grandpa and all of his 8 brothers are gone, but I really enjoyed getting to know the family that I had never met. I asked the lady in charge if they were going to take a group photo. They weren't, so I asked my grandpa's family to gather for a photo. This is a portion of how many there are. We always had a full house at my grandparent's farm

Here are my dad's two sisters and 2 brothers that remain.

My aunt Hilda shares some photos. Being the oldest of the clan, she knows quite a bit of valuable information and has so many interesting pictures. I think she was the only one with a camera in the "good ole days" and she definitely has the evidence of a lot of stories. I plan to take a scanner next time and get the history and copies of these amazing shots.

This is a picture of a picture so it is not a very good quality. I want a nice copy of this one-it is my dad(the little one) and his brother, Eugene. They are wearing their oldest brother's military hats. Clarence was serving in World War II. I love the old car in the background.

Wilma and Rosalin-more cousins.

Julianna meets a new cousin-their great-grandpas were twins.

Lydia makes a new friend-my counsin's granddaughter.

Samuel enjoys a game of pool.

Joseph watches a game of foosball.

My cousin, David, sporting his new wheelchair.

I met Sue. Our gandparents were twins.

My sister, Lou Ann, talking with Anthony.

We were entertained with true Bluegrass music. After all, we were in Kentucky. We have come a long way from our original heritage in England.

Heather and her kids.

Brooke and her kids. Both Heather and Brooke's husbands were not able to come.

My cousin Terry and me. Our dads are brothers.

My cousin,Roger, and me. He is 6 months older than me, and I never let him forget it.

Here I am talking to my dad's two brothers. I enjoyed chatting with them, but they reminded me so much of my dad that I wanted to find a corner to go cry. It really made me miss my dad.

After leaving the reunion, I went to put flowers on my dad's grave. I also put flowers on all 4 grandparents graves and the graves of other close relatives.

Here Joseph stops to put a flower in my hair.

We had a nice time being with our relatives. I truly hope to do it again next year.

SCHOOL STARTS------AND STOPS!!

Before I get caught up on the summer's activities, I will report on this week's events. The kids started classes on Monday. Here they are all ready for the first day of this school year. Julianna is in the 6th, Samuel is in the 4th, and Lydia is in the 2nd grade. Things went well, but the rain begin to fall on Monday as we prepared for the arrival of Tropical Storm Fay. We found out Monday afternnoon that school was cancelled for Tuesday.

It rained all night and most of the day. The wind and rain made it perfect to have a relaxing day at home.

The palm trees blow in the wind.

Our streets were flooded.

What does a kid do when the rain finally stops? This is what Samuel does!!

I have been playing around with my new camera and took this picture of Lydia looking out at the canal.

I got some sewing projects done and now I need to help Doyle make sure that all of his music folders are ready to go tomorrow.

WE ARE HOME!!!

After being gone for about two and a half weeks, we have returned home. We arrived back in Hobe Sound Tuesday afternoon. I spent the remainder of the day unpacking suitcases and doing 6 loads of laundry. We had such a nice time being with family and friends. We attended 2 different reunions and spent time making lots of memories together. Now it is time to get everything ready for school to start in a few days. We are thankful to God for safety in travel and for a wonderful vacation. I am looking forward to catching my blogger friends up on our adventures with lots of pictures.

"Our New Piano"

We decided to buy a new piano about a month ago. Our old one was beyond repairing, so we began the search. It was a major decision for us as a family. Whenever we make a big purchase, we do a lot of research before making it final. After we saw this piano, I called all over the country to salespeople who couldn't actually make a sale and asked their opinion. We made the decision to go with a digital white baby grand. I wanted something that served our needs as a piano and looked good as a piece of furniture. I know that some people say to only buy acoustic (hammer and strings), but we also realized there is so much you can do on a digital that you can not do on an acoustic. We were not buying it to resale, but to encourage our kids as they develop their musical talents. We are so happy with our choice. It has so many features including disks and an SD card to download. It does just about everything except mop the kitchen floor. Of course, I have that taken care of too. I can just tell the kids that they can't play the piano until the floor is mopped.

Here are the four kids with instruments--one crazy bunch.

I found Julianna playing and discovered that she had laid a track and then played it back adding another part. It is so neat seeing the kids experiencing with all of the possibilities.

Here Lydia used the headphones. This is a nice feature if I want to play the piano after the kids are gone to bed.

We feel so thankful to God for allowing us to have so much fun while learning new things on the piano.