Wrapping up the month of July

Bentley is always very good about bringing toys to Olivia, in this case the baby doll.

Spending time with Lydia, Grace and Claire Pickett.

Who knew getting a haircut was such serious business.

I love these girls.

Bentley had a pretty high fever and wasn't feeling good but he still wanted to play blocks... poor guy.

Bentley and Eden have become such good friends. I love watching them interact and take care of each other.

Shopping is becoming much trickier when they all insist on being in the cart. I get lots of comments these days about my cart load of blessings.

Olivia is just so stinkin' cute... as usual.

I better get a bigger lap before we have more kids! :) I love these babies.

Bentley is so loving and affectionate with Olivia. It's precious. I think he will be exactly the big brother I always wished I had.

They love to watch the garbage truck. They hear it coming, run out to the driveway and sit patiently and watch as he circles the cul-de-sac and then get so excited when it's our turn that they give some pretty intense waves to the man driving the truck. Today he even honked for them. :)

"What should we build Bentley?" "A church mom!" and voila - there you have it.

Eden was very excited about the very cute and tiny lizard.

And we closed out the month welcoming this beauty into the family. Goodbye truck, hello Yukon Denali! :)

Malarsie Family Reunion - Durango, CO

As usual, this year's family reunion at the Durango KOA was tons of fun. Kally Casebier's family was in charge this year and we had a blast (especially because we didn't have to do any planning!).

My little family stayed in this cute cabin -

Brad and I slept in the bedroom with a queen bed. Bentley and Eden slept in the cute little bunk bed room.

And Olivia slept in the cupboard ha ha

Bentley and Eden checking on Olivia first thing in the morning. Apparently Bentley was really sad about something.

The KOA amenities were a huge hit with the kids: Putt Putt, playground, swimming pool, and even a duck race! Several dollars were spent purchasing ducks and the kids were so into it! Ryan and Lenni's duck ended up winning and with their $5 winnings they bought all the kids ice cream. It was very sweet.

At the duck race:

The kids also got to paint shirts. Eden and Bentley love their shirts so much and would wear them every day if I let them.

Olivia was just a happy little camper, and adorable as ever.

Bentley and April's daughter Delanie were cute little buddies. She didn't talk to him too much, but several times we overheard him have nice conversations with her and at one point they were even under the picnic table and he was singing "I am a Child of God to her". ha ha so cute.

Wendy brought lots of old family pictures and we had some good laughs looking through them.

Brad ended up taking pictures of the oldies with his phone so here are some of the gems:

Todd and Patty brought a game they called "Mexican Horseshoes" which was a total hit. We ended up having huge tournaments with brackets and everything! It was actually so much fun and I think this is one of the few things that the whole entire group participated in every day we were there.

We also spent one evening playing several "Minute-to-win-it games" and we had some good laughs.

The pantyhose game got completely derailed when everyone just became incredibly entertained with the pantyhose themselves. ha ha

And aside from all the planned activities, there was just a whole lot of hanging out, visiting and having a great time.

I'm so grateful for my family and the opportunity we have to spend time together and create memories! Until next year Durango!! :)