Green Family Reunion

Over the week of the Fourth of July, my extended family had a reunion here in Utah.  My sister Jennifer (the amazing one who watches our kids while we take vacations), my brother Steve and my parents stayed with us for the week.  By brothers Tyler and Matt (both of whom live close by) and their families came over throughout the week, and our entire group went camping up American Fork canyon for a couple of nights.

We had several really fun activities we enjoyed together.  One of these was my first ever escape room experience.  If you haven't tried one of these yet, you should.  Since there were so many of us we had to split into two rooms.  The group I was in broke out of the jailhouse at the O.K. Corral.  What a fun time!

I have a couple of siblings who are big shooting enthusiasts.  We took most of the kids out to a shooting range that Tyler set up to learn about and shoot some rifles and pistols as well as a shotgun. They had tons of fun!  They really enjoyed watching the soda cans explode:)  As you can see from the video below, the AK-47 was a huge hit.

Getting everything set up:

My cute wife!!!

Loving Taylor's longer hair!

Cali did really well with the rifles and the pistols:

Sophi pulled the trigger with her big toe.  She hit several targets:

Xander takes aim

Parker was quite good with the shotgun.  In the video below, you can see the clay pigeon disintegrate at the top of the screen.

Grandpa Green has had this rifle for years.  I remember shooting it as a kid. 

We also had one youngster show up who we couldn't identify 😂:

These were some of the fun things we did.  More pics from the reunion tomorrow:)

-Jer

So Hard To Say Goodbye

These three little cuties have been best friends all summer.  Kinley and Whitney have been over at our home just about every day, often for most of the day.  Summer is so fun!  Jessica has also enjoyed helping them get made up from time to time.  Whitney (the one on the right) just moved to Southern California.  So sad to see these three little musketeers separated! 😢

Whatever She Puts Her Mind To!

Since Graci graduated from high school, lots of people have asked her what she's going to be doing next.  Her standard answer is: "I'm going to take over the world!"  While Grace can be a bit of a jokester, she really is a resilient young woman who finds ways to accomplish difficult things.  I continue to be so proud of her.

The other day she came in and commented on how long my beard was getting.  I told her it was too bad that she couldn't grow a beard.  She would look so cute, I said.  Taking me up on my challenge, she returned a few minutes later, demonstrating that she can, indeed, do anything she wants to.  Cutest beard ever!!!

Finally back!

About three weeks ago, photobucket.com took our blog hostage!  Apparently the images that constitute the main design of our blog were being hosted on their website.  This had previously been a free service, but they suddenly decided to start charging an arm and a leg.  They also covered our website with a notification that we needed to upgrade to this expensive service.  Given the severe limitations of my technical expertise regarding computers, this wasn't a problem I could fix on my own.  It took three weeks for photobucket to respond and let us know which images were causing the problem (can you tell I'm not very happy with them 😠), but we finally got it fixed.  Yay!  And now we have so many experiences and photos to post about.  It has been a busy three weeks!!!

Jeremy

Cutest Blossom Ever

Each night before bed, either Christi or I tuck in the kids.  The older ones don't care so much any more, but the younger ones (and one medium one;) pretty much can't fall asleep without it.  We have a little sing and respond we use to send each one into peaceful slumber.  In our routine, each child has a nickname.  Lexi is our "little blossom."  It's such a great nickname for her.  She really brings the joy of a flower into our home each and every day.

I thought this picture that Christi snapped at Thanksgiving point this evening perfectly displayed the way that Lexi glows.  She truly is a little blossom.  Thank you, Lex, for being so perfect!!!

Love,

Dad

Getting Older!

Until about two years ago, my eyes had always been great.  I never wore glasses and felt very blessed because of it.  But as is the case with most people, around age 40 it started to be more difficult for me to focus on things that were close up.  I first noticed it when my kids would want to show me something in a book or on an iPod and they would shove it within about two inches from my face.  No longer could my youthful lenses focus on something so close up.  I would push it away. Next I started to notice it as I read books.  I would have to push them out farther than before in order for my eyes to focus.  And so I decided to get a pair of reading glasses.  I went to Smith's and grabbed the cheapest pair I could find.  Since I would only be wearing them occasionally, I really didn't pay any attention to the style.  BIG mistake.  Christi and the kids now mock my selection of leopard print spectacles.  The other night as Christi and I were watching a show, I decided to be super-productive and hand stitch Parker's favorite tie so he could wear it again.  Let me rephrase that: I proactively took this tie that had started coming apart at one of the seams and made the effort to sew it back together.  It took me a full 45 minutes.  How did Christi laud my admirable efforts?  She mocked me!

Seriously.  Because I had to use my reading glasses to see what I was doing, she kept teasing me about how different I looked.  (To be fair, I have recently grown a beard, and it was the combination of the beard and glasses that she thought turned me into a different person.)  She kept taking pictures of me and giggling.  Here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

I finally gave in and gave her a smile.  I guess I do look quite a bit different.  I remind myself a lot of my Uncle Jay and my Uncle Kenny.