Quilting

I've been in a sewing mood most of the summer.

I like to make quilts for the new babies & with

two new babies this summer I got to do lots of

sewing. I also made a twin size quilt for Owen

since he gave up his crib for his new brother Ethan.

He's not really in a twin bed yet but I figured a twin would

last him longer than a smaller one. :) This quilt is Ethan's-transportation theme. I love

bright colors for baby quilts.

This is Owen's. He likes to run his cars on his
bed so I made one with "roads" on it. The design
looks a little wierd but he can have fun racing
his "cool cars" around on it.




This one is for Amanda & James' baby girl who
isn't born yet & so doesn't have a name!
Mandy wanted something old fashioned &
shabby chic so I did a Sunbonnet Sue pattern.
My grandma made me one of these when I was a little girl.
It was fun working on all the quilts.

Nana Camp # 3

Nana Camp # 3 the kids decorated bug jars, then we

went out & looked for bugs! Found a few. We made lunch

& then they played in the pools. Owen & Grace

Eva & Egan

Egan & Owen enjoying dirt cups.

Grace had a daddy long legs in her

bug catcher.

Owen

Egan using the bug net to catch bugs-I'm

not sure he caught any!

Kaylee

Heather helps the kids look in the grass for bugs.

Grace working on her bug jar.

Cody helps Egan put glue on his lid.

Heather helping Owen-he had a disadvantage

with his burned hand all bandaged up-but he

did pretty good.

I love Michigan!

One Sunday Bob & I drove up the east

coast of the "thumb". We stopped in Lexington

& checked out the shops, & stopped at a

couple roadside parks. It was a beautiful day.

We took along a picnic lunch & sat looking out

at Lake Huron. I love living in MI & being so

close to the Great Lakes. We stopped at White Rock

where there's a white rock (hmm) out in the

water that marked the northern most boundary

for the white man back in the day. It was a sacred rock

for the Indians & there was an interesting story to go

with it. We stopped at Point Aux Barques lighthouse.

They had a nice museum with info about

shipwrecks in Lake Huron. We stopped at the

beach in Port Austen, had dinner at Lefty's

drive in in Caseville (great onion rings!) & then

headed home. A very nice, relaxing day. :)Point Aux Barques lighthouse

The white rock out in the lake-kinda hard to see.

Our picnic view-much more beautiful than the picture tho.

Funny Boys

Owen & Egan came over one day. It's funny to watch the two

of them together. They played in the monkey pool-getting in

& out, getting grass all over themselves. Owen likes to

drink the water. Sliding on the banana slide
Owen drinking the water

Owen with raspberries on his fingers.

Egan got it started so of course they

both had to do it! :)

Yummy raspberries!

Grandchild # 8!!

Ethan Rome Mattila was born on July 6, 2009 at 12:43am. He weighed 7# 4oz., 20 1/2 " long.

Heather had a pretty quick labor, especially compared to last time!

We watched Owen overnight, then took him up to see his "baby brother"

later in the morning. John & Ethan
Heather, Ethan & Owen

Baby Ethan

Owen liked holding his baby brother

Before the bath

Independence Day

John, Heather & Owen came over for the Fourth.

We cooked out on the fire, played bocce ball & set off some fireworks. Playing bocce ball
Making s'mores

The loud fireworks scared Owen

John setting off firecrackers

Owen & Papa played a little golf

John had to do the traditional run around the

house before the sparkler burns out all by himself this year.

He made it. Bob & I also ran around with the sparklers & made

it too. We sort of cheated by using the big sparklers. :)

We got some Japanese lanterns that were sort of like

hot air balloons. You lit it & it floated as the air inside got hot.

It was really cool to watch & they went quite high & traveled a long way.

Nana Camp

We've had Nana Camp twice so far. The first day was

really nice weather. We painted backpacks, went for a hike,

ate & the kids played in the sprinkler. My co-worker/friend, Katie

came with her two boys. I'm pretty sure I took some pictures but... I can't find

them. :-( So here are pictures from our second "camp". It was a rainy day

so we had an indoor art day. We did marble painting, Q-tip painting & ice cube painting.

It was a little crazy but I think the kids had fun. Erin marble painting
Grace ice cube painting

Owen shakes his marbles.

Kaylee marble painting

Eli wasn't too crazy about sitting & painting

but we did get him to ice cube paint.

Berlin putting marbles in her box.

Egan ice cube painting

Zoo Day

We took a family trip to the Detroit Zoo on June 29th.

We had beautiful weather. Niece Lindsay came along with us.

There was a special Dinosaur exhibit that the kids enjoyed. We rented

a wheelchair for James because his back is still hurting him. Eva & Grace check out the otter skin.
Egan watching the alligators, I think

Grace

Eli

Egan & Owen at the fountain

The whole family (except Erin & Timmy)

Berlin wasn't so sure about the dinosaurs.

We tried to get all the kids but Egan kept moving before

we could get the picture!

Owen, Berlin, Grace, Egan, Kaylee w/Eli

Eva

Berlin & Papa

John & cousin Lindsay-she was a great help with the kids!!