July Events

July has come and gone but I'm actually posting on time!!  Here's what our family has done for July...

Ashlyn had her 6th birthday party at her pool.  I was the designated camera person...one thing that is so nice having family pretty much at every one of our kids parties...you can give someone else the camera while you focus on the rest of the party. Here are the pool games.  There were a lot of kids there but they all played well together. 

More party pictures.  And since it's my blog I can put lots of pics of my kids on it!  There were so many kids there that many seats had to be shared, one being between Rex and Cora.

Told you there were a lot of kids.  I can't remember for sure but I think some kids had already left at this point?  Plus Preston and Garrett hadn't made it yet as they were napping and came later to the party.

Caught a cute moment with my kids.  Cora was willingly letting Rex tackle her and it was really cute.  Pic is taken with my iPhone, so it's not the best quality. 

Our sweet new nephew Dylan Thomas Carle was born on July 11th.  7/11 birthday...such a fun birthday date to have I think!  We can't wait to meet him in person and I'm sure he is already double this size by now.  We are planning a trip out to Idaho either in August or October and we can't wait to snuggle on this sweet baby boy!  He is such a blessing for everyone, but especially for the Carle family. 

My friend Jami and her husband Tim came through Kansas City on their way to Nebraska where they were moving. We got to meet sweet baby Mallory.  As an earlier post with baby McKinley stated, Kayley couldn't get enough of Mallory either.  Both girls loved holding and loving on her.  We all of course love to visit with Jami and Tim but now it's even more fun with Mallory! 

We were doing some shopping at Macy's this month and in the girls section Rex found this hat and decided to wear it all over the store.  He actually wore it for quite a while.  A little bling, bling doesn't hurt anyone right? 

These girls prepared to have their combined swimming birthday party.  I'm so glad that they still enjoy having their party together...makes for a very less stressed Mommy!  Plus they have a lot of the same friends so if we did separate parties we would just be inviting the same people over and over.  Aren't they cute? 

And here are pictures from their swimming party...thanks to Jessica.  The last two parties the girls have had she has very willingly taken over my camera duties and it has been such a relief.  Lots of swimming fun!

More swimming fun...lots of cousins and friends came to help make their celebration so special!

The pool games.  So remember the pool games from Ashlyn's party?  Well, I repeated the same game because it was a very stressful week with lots of home stuff going on so it was just easier to repeat the same game instead of come up with my own, especially since Michelle already had all the stuff!  My kids and her kids didn't even notice, or if they did, they didn't say anything!  Win win situation!!

Told you lots of friends and cousins came!  I think I counted 19 total including my kids but 21 if you count the two cute babies that also got to attend!  Another reason why I love having the party at the pool...there is no way we could have this many people in our house!! :)

Another thing to lessen the stress of the party was I let Grandma be in charge of manning the girls in decorating their cupcakes.  I usually get stressed in thinking they need to look a certain way in order for everyone to eat them.  However the girls absolutely loved being able to decorate all the cupcakes and they of course loved to decorate their own cupcakes how they wanted them.  They couldn't decide on a mutual theme so they each picked out what cupcake toppers they wanted.  Kayley picked Barbie and Cora picked Hello Kitty.  However I think they put both toppers on their individual cupcakes anyway!  Silly girls!  And this day was super stressful as we got an offer on our house so we spent pretty much the whole afternoon at our realtor's office signing paperwork and didn't get home until an hour before the party started!  A big thank you to Mooma because without her help in watching the kids we wouldn't have been able to pull it off and get ready in time!  But because of this, I forgot matches for their candles!  So on the bottom are pictures of the girls pretending to blow out their candles.  So funny!  But I figured if that's the only thing I forgot, I did pretty well with remembering everything else!

It overall turned out to be a great party!  I think the girls had a blast playing with their friends and of course loved all their presents...so they couldn't have asked for a better party!  As for me, I got the party out of the way in time so I lower my stress level with having it being too close to starting school, which raises my anxiety levels anyway!  Win win situation again for all of us!  And who doesn't think these kids are cute?!!?  I know we do!!

Sikeston Trip

So at the end of June/beginning of July we went down to Sikeston for Judson's funeral.  We hate getting together with family for things like this but it is also nice to be able to visit with everyone as well and of course be a strength to one another during such a difficult time.  The time went by way too quickly and even my kids hated to leave.  

Here we are swimming at Cary and Katrina's pool...they so graciously let all of us Felkers bombard and I mean bombard their house and let them use their pool.  We are just very glad they had just recently gotten it working!  It was the best way to entertain all the houligan kids of ours!  

 There were a number of times the cousins wanted to do some synchronized type activities in the pool.  Here's some of Olivia (left), Elizabeth (middle), and Caroline (right) flipping their hair.  Olympic material?  Maybe so...just not sure what category!

 And this was another fun synchronized event...jumping in at the same time.  However this time was hilarious because Edward decided to fool everyone and NOT jump in with them.  He was pretty proud of himself at the end as you can see by the bottom right picture.  And notice how I also got a great couple of shots of Andrew throwing Sterling into the pool.  Not planned but great capture!  Love his face!!

 And this sweet boy had his actual 2nd birthday while we were there.  We weren't planning on doing any big celebration as we were there to just visit and be with family and we had also done a birthday celebration the week before.  However, Jan's sweet neighbor Peggy Bird insisted on giving Rex a birthday cake.  What a treat and a sweet gesture of her and of course it was great to have some cake to share with all the family.  Rex also loved playing with Cary and Katrina's very sweet and tolerable cats.  In fact one cat let the cousins keep throwing him into the pool water.  We had to put a stop to it, although it was pretty hilarious!

 Then after Judson's funeral and burial service we all came back to the church for a meal provided by so many sacrificing and generous people.  We took advantage of all the cousins being dressed in their Sunday best (minus Kathryn and Judson).  However, with 24 kids it's impossible to get them to all look at the camera and then to smile!  So we took what we got!

 The whole week was spent with great time just spent having fun with cousins.  Top left...Rex's buddy, Uncle Jud.  A year ago when the Carles came to visit Rex really took to JT even though he had never met him until then.  It wasn't quite an attraction this time, but he still loved and adored him.  And the bottom pictures are of when we went with the Carles to eat some Houchin's donuts...yummy!

 Then when we were getting ready to leave for home the girls wanted some pictures of Olivia, but it turned into a bunch of pictures with all of their cousins.  Oh....and I told you Rex took to JT still while we were there...bottom left is of JT being the only one to calm him down during one of his random fits he had while we were there.  Nick had already gone home because of work and I couldn't get him to calm down for anything so JT took him and of course he instantly calmed down...told you they had to have been buddies before this life.

 More pictures of cousins...I love that they are so close and love each other so much even though most of us live so far away from each other.

 More cousin pictures...such love in each picture!  We really had a great time spending so much time with family but again really hated it was for the reason it was.  What a great reunion it will be when we ALL get to be together again someday!

June Events

Another month has come and gone in the Bell household.  Here is what we did...

Our newest Bell cousin was born back in May so in June we got to go meet her and attend her blessing.  McKinley is such a cute little girl and my kids absolutely loved being able to love and snuggle on her...even Rex!!  He loved her so much and definitely got his baby fix in.  Surprisingly this time around Kayley was the one that wanted to hold McKinley more than Cora.  Typically it is Cora who can't take her hands or eyes off of a new baby.  Kayley really just loved holding McKinley and got upset when her turn was over. 

  Cousin fun....anytime we have a family get together on either side...I just love that my kids love and get so excited to play with their cousins!  I love that they are all such good friends with one another.  My girls always refer to any of their cousins as their "friends", not their cousins.

 Part of the cousin fun involved swimming at Kyle's parent's neighborhood pool.  The cousins loved being able to swim with each other and show each other their tricks.  And of course we had to take advantage of the cousins having matching suits so Ashlyn, Cora, Alexa, and Kayley all wore their matching suits and of course they had to take a picture and include cute little Addison!

 Who can't love on this beautiful new little cousin of ours!?!?  Isn't she just so cute!?  She seems to be a very well-natured baby and of course was just a doll in her blessing outfit!  Isn't this a good looking family?!?

 And we also bought Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun season passes this year.  Our family has a tradition of buying season passes every other year to Silver Dollar City.  Every off year, us and the Walkers always debate buying WOF/OOF passes because it is so close.  This year we finally broke down and bought them.  And luckily we did this year because next year Kayley will be tall enough to be considered full price!  Yikes!!  So here are some pictures of our first time at Worlds of Fun.  The train was of course the highlight for Rex and Garrett...these boys both absolutely love everything there is about trains!  It was cute watching their faces.

 Rex and Garrett were also old enough to ride a lot of the rides with the bigger kids.  It was really cute watching them stand in line with their older siblings and to see their excitement as they rode the rides.  The older kids were such big helpers too.

 More fun on rides!

  Rex and Garrett were so cute on these boats.  It was almost time for the park to close so they were the only ones who were riding at the time and they kept taking turns trying to ring the bell.

 We joined the Walkers for one of Liberty's Nursery's fun day activity.  Each of the kids got to plant a plant and we all got yummy slushies.  Preston and Cora with their plants.  Sadly the plants didn't survive long, especially because of all the heat we've been having.

 Ashlyn and Kayley with their plants.  Notice that all four of them have their matching name shirts that they made a long time ago together.  After this event we went to dinner and to the drive inn movie so we had our kids ready in their PJ's for the late night and they had to all match!

 And the drive-inn....it's not summer unless you go to the drive-inn!  Michelle and Kendall put their giant bean bag in the back of their van and the kids had a blast watching the movie and snacking on popcorn and pop together.  Garrett had a little too much fun with the glow sticks...one popped open in his mouth so we had to get a picture before we cleaned him off!

 This year for Father's Day we surprised Nick with breakfast in bed which consisted of a bacon bouquet of flowers!  He thought it was the cutest idea.  When we were picking out the fake flowers at the store, both Kayley and Cora said, why are you getting those for Daddy, he didn't get any for you?  I then told them what I was going to do with the bacon in making them be the flowers and Kayley said, "Mom that is a really good idea, you are good!"  The kids did a video about questions about Dad and had fun making it and showing it to him.  Then that night we went to Michelle and Kendall's house to do father's day with Randy.  We did a game on how well do you know your Dad/child.  The kids and adults had a blast testing their knowledge of each other.

 Then the next day after Father's day we found out some really saddening news.  Our nephew Judson had an accident.  He was experimenting with what is called "the choking game".  He was by himself and got caught up, literally, became unconscious and was put into ICU for a week.  Long story short, he passed away on the 24th of June because his brain was showing no brain activity.  So the rest of the month of June was spent with family surrounding us whether here at home or in Sikeston.  We will miss Judson but we know he is in a better place and we know that families are forever and that we will be with Judson again someday when we all pass away.  What a special blessing it is to know this.  It doesn't take the hurt away but it helps to understand it.  Judson was loved dearly by all.  He was my buddy when he was younger.  He proposed to me when he was about 2 and Nick had to ask his permission to marry me.  My girls absolutely adored Judson when they lived close to us in Blue Springs.  He definitely had a gift of making everyone around him feel special and we witnessed this often when he played with my girls.  The girls now have many printed pictures of him in their family photo books and Kayley even has a locket with his picture in it that she wears almost everyday now.  He will be deeply missed.  Words cannot express our loss.  We love you Judson and can't wait to see you again!

 Our Rex turned 2 this month.  Since we were going to be out of town for his actual birthday, we had a birthday party for him before we left a week before his actual birthday.  He got lots of Thomas the Train items...told you he likes trains!  He loved his Thomas cake, only because it had a Thomas on it that he eagerly pulled off the second we let him.

 The party was lots of fun and he of course had lots of helpers to help him open his presents and blow out his candles!

Kansas City Zoo Fun

We went to the zoo with Michelle and her kids and the kids had a blast!  I loved watching the Sea Lion show.  The Sea Lion got in trouble because he kept eating the fish out of his lunch box.  Rex really loved the sea lions...he couldn't take his eyes off of them.

Then we didn't actually get any pictures of the kangaroos, but these are pictures in front of the kangaroos.  I just couldn't believe they weren't caged up.  The kangaroos just wandered the park, but surprisingly stayed right by each other and didn't come close to people at all.

 Then we pet the goats.  Rex didn't really know what to think and barely would touch them.  Garrett liked touching them though.

 Then Nikita the polar bear.  She was so cute and SO BIG!  It was amazing to see her up close.  She swam the same route the whole time and the kids loved being able to try and match their hands with her huge paws on the glass.

 The birds were hilarious!  The kids shared the nectar cups and did a great job being brave and letting the birds eat out of their hands.  Rex even let them come and land on him!

 Rex and Garrett were so cute watching them.  When Rex was feeding them, Garrett was so intrigued.  However when it came time for Garrett to feed the birds, he didn't want anything to do with them!

 Then Michelle and her kids decided to head home.  I knew and had heard that the Africa section was something you did in a day and you couldn't see the whole zoo in a day.  However Kayley was dying to see the giraffes so being a good mom I decided to brave Africa at least to the giraffes!  Little did I know that the giraffes were in the dead center of Africa, which makes a loop.  So I ended up having to walk all of Africa anyway.  To say we were exhausted at the end of it was an understatement!  Rex was even falling asleep in his stroller but I had to keep waking him up so he'd sleep when we got home because I knew I needed a nap!  It was fun though and the kids had a blast!  Kayley was very appreciative that we got to see the giraffes!

Then later in the week we went to the Celebration at the Station for the Memorial Day Celebration.  This was our third year going I think and the kids had a blast like always!  They got to play with their cousins and friends and eat lots of snacks, including pop!  It was cute to watch them all play together.  They didn't freak out too much when the fireworks started but Rex was cute because he was sitting with Nick who was holding his hands over Rex's ears and Rex had his hands on Nick's hands to make sure he wouldn't take his hands off.  I didn't want to blind them with my flash because it was dark so I didn't get a picture but it was really cute!

Penguin Park and Bell Family Reunion

Last weekend we had the 1st Annual Bell Family Reunion!  We called it a reunion because we had people come from Utah, Colorado, and Ohio to celebrate Nathan May's high school graduation, so we made a party of it! 

It started out with that Friday meeting Michelle and her kids and Jared and Ann and their kids at Penguin Park for play and lunch.  It had been a while since we had been at Penguin Park...maybe even since before Rex was born!  So the girls had a blast and the old school type toys were the biggest hits...the merry-go round and the monkey arch bars, or whatever you call those! 

Rex is very much into posing for me when he sees my camera. So he is posing underneath the huge giraffe and in the school bus and fire truck!

Then the next day was the big get-together day!  We all met at Famous Dave's Bbq place...hadn't had this in a while, so I was super excited!  I love their corn muffins!!  I tried to get a picture of everyone in the room.  Not sure on the exact count, but it was crazy!  We had two very awesome waitresses who actually got everyone's orders correct!!  I didn't want to attempt to make everyone look at the camera since I knew everyone would be taking pictures later.

This little boy was just making me melt...he was just playing with his cars, but of course posed for me when he saw the camera...silly kid!  I just love him to pieces!

 Then we all headed to a nearby park for the rest of the celebration.  Once again the old school toys were the favorite.  These see-saws were a hit!  Grandpa was a hit with fun under-dogs!  He was super worn out as all the grandkids wanted a turn!

 Then came picture time...I didn't get pictures of everyone but still got quite a few.  All the cousins' kids...we are multiplying like crazy!  However compared to my side of the family...this is nothing!  There are now 16 Bell extended cousins....compared to the 26 Felker cousins (not including my cousins' kids even!)  However, it was still crazy trying to get them all to hold still and look at the camera...crying was expected!  Michelle brought reinforcement with gummy bears...but of course all the big kid cousins thought they needed some too!

 The Bell cousins and their spouses.  What a crazy group!

 The high school graduate Nathan!  He graduated as a valedictorian!  What an accomplishment!

 And this sweet boy once again stole my heart!  I just loved watching him play with his bubbles from Aunt Wilma!  SO CUTE!!

Kindergarten Graduation

This is my attempt at keeping my blog up to date!  This little boy's hero is Daddy!  Anytime he sees a picture of him on the computer or my phone he gets so excited..."Dada!!"  He requests to call him on the phone at work and Rex is so quiet when he talks he usually just sits and listens to Daddy on the other line.  When he comes home he waits very excitedly at the top of the stairs for him.  And the last couple of days he has requested Daddy to put him to bed instead of Mommy...didn't use to be that way!  So the other day when Daddy got home from work Rex joined him on the couch and shared a snack with him and it was the cutest thing.  Nick always has a pop and usually something salty right after work so Rex brought his water bottle and just munched away on the cashews with Nick.  Made us both melt!  I had to get a picture of this sweet moment and of course they both gave me their super cheesy grins! 

 Earlier today Kayley graduated from kindergarten!!  I can't believe we have a 1st grader now!  This year has really flown by!  I still remember the first day and she was so scared that she wanted me to stay a little longer in the classroom with her before I left and she was holding back tears.  I of course shed mine when I left her room that day!  I'm shocked I didn't shed any today during their ceremony but maybe that's because I was juggling the camera and the other two kids between Nick and I!  Her teacher cried a little bit though and it was really sweet.  She really has been a great teacher to all of these kids and Kayley's class really has a great group of kids!  They all got along so well!

 Our little graduate!!  I still can't get over it!

 Some of her friends that were still at school.  A lot of them had already left with their parents.  Kayley wanted to stay as long as she could to school!  I just love this little girl!

 Pictures with Mrs. Kirn!  We went over and originally wanted a picture of Kayley and Mrs. Kirn by themselves but all the kids kept coming that we had to do their picture last.  It was really cute.  It really shows how much Mrs. Kirn cares about these kids and vice versa.  In fact, a sweet moment from today...one little boy decided to stay the rest of the day but then once his mom left he got really sad and missed his mom.  He requested Mrs. Kirn to help console him...so cute and sweet!  I sure hope my next two kids get Mrs. Kirn for kindergarten!!