Headed for Summer

I am going to lump all the May photos into one massive post. 

This pretty much sums up the first half of May in this household:

Alexander is such a great help with his brother and sisters. When we're out he'll often grab Breahna's hand without being told. He loves getting Evelyn to smile at him and he loves to entertain his brother and sisters

Our first event of May is to celebrate Jake's birthday. This year was #35. I made him his favorite Boston Cream Pie. It was a cake disaster! For some reason my sponge cakes fell flat and hard. But, Jake mostly just likes the custard and thankfully that worked out so he was perfectly happy with a flat chewy tough cake and lots of custard. And I was too lazy to put on enough candles

the present I gave him was an ultimate ginger ale sampler. It had 12 different brands to try. Sadly in the end only 3 of them were any good.

 Next came mothers day. I was throughly spoiled. I got to sleep in. Jake make pancakes for breakfast. And I got my own left handed compound bow.

Once the older kids went to bed we took Evelyn outside to our archery range in the garage so we could try it out

 Jake learning to be ambidextrous:

I really like the bow. It was funny though that we realized although I'm left handed I am right eye dominate so I could technically use a right handed bow.

just hanging out smiling

me and the kids are super excited for summer to be here. I love being able to spend all day outside. I don't love that the kids are up by 6am despite black canvas curtains over their windows:

 just being cute in her new headband

Jake created a game that the kids love and always ask for whenever they have balloons. We have a fan that can rotate so it faces the ceiling. They all gather round the fan and watch their balloons fly. It is hours of fun every day until the balloons pop or lose their air.

Then came the end of May and Memorial Day. This is the big holiday for Jake's family so we made sure to be there to see everyone.
Our first stop was my mom and dad's house for a few nights. I invited my sisters to join us for lunch.
This isn't quite half of the 22 grandkids. Maisy was having a rough day and Kaleb was crying"she's too loud!"

 my oldest sister Michelle

 Since we were all together for Memorial Day I figured it was a good time to bless Evelyn. We had quite the go-around trying to find a place to bless her. We got the excuses of, "it's not Fast Sunday." "This isn't your home ward" and other such problems. My aunt and uncles bishopric in Bountiful finally agreed to do it at their home.
Sunday morning we went to church with my mom and dad. I still dressed Evelyn up although she wasn't being blessed until later that evening:
Grandma Stevens bought her the dress at KMart when they were here to meet her. I bought the knit shoes from a lady in Rexburg. Evie's feet are too long and skinny, they wouldn't stay on.

 Evelyn Denae Stevens is named for two great people. My grandma Gubler has a sister Evelyn who passed when she was only 7 years old. Passed in 1930 due to appendicitis. Jill Denae McEntire is Jake's mom's cousin but she has always been Aunt Jill to us. We lived sort of close to her in California and she took good care of us and was our family away from family.

Evelyn and Jill

Great Grandma Gubler 

what amazing examples Evelyn has to look toward as she grows 

I met my best friend Holly when she moved into my neighborhood when we are 8 and 9 years old. We've been friends ever since. And now we have 8 kids between us! She had 2 girls and then 2 boys and I had the opposite.

She had baby Zach a month after Evelyn was born. I was so excited she could be there. It was fun to meet Zach. I wish we were able to spend more time together.

We blessed Evelyn at Grenn and Kathleen Clarks home in Bountiful (my mom's sister). This home was my 2nd home growing up. When my mom had gallbladder surgery this is where I stayed. I would also come for a week every summer to spend time. I can't count the number of times I've stayed here. I'm so grateful for them and for letting us bless Evelyn here.
Right after the blessing we had to leave for the next party. A McEntire family reunion. Grandma Stevens brought balls for the kids to play with. They had so much fun.

Jake and his dad 

Jake's sister Shawna

Pretty soon grandpa joined the fun and then things were really awesome

ousin Peyton

sadly we were missing 1 sister, her husband and their 3 kids.

back to Clarks for the night. They have a stream that runs through their property. Kaleb didn't move from the driveway bridge until the sun went down.
(that's my uncle next to him)

 helpful big sister trying to hush the baby (she calls her baby, not by her name)

we were getting ready to leave so Unle Grenn was trying to keep Evelyn happy in her carseat. Told her he was taking her on an amusement park ride.

Memorial Day in Jake's family is the day to visit all the graves of our loved ones that have gone out of this world:

Next stop was grandma and grandpa's house:
Evelyn got to really meet and spend time with her great grandpa McEntire. She was instantly in love. He had her belly laughing for a good 5 minutes. Jake has only been able to get her to laugh a few times. She sure loved grandpa though and thought he was hilarious:

Alexander is our friendly kid who will sit and especially talk with, anyone who will look in his direction. This is grandpas 96 year old brother Robert.

Bring on summer! Jake won't be around much and we have big plans in store that I'll mention later but I know me and the kids are going to have lots of fun in the sun ... and I'll try not to let anyone get sunburned.