Fun times with the Vance Family

I haven't kept up with all of the activities this year, so this is going to be a post with some random pictures with the Vance Family from birthday parties, to track meets, to flag football games. 

We celebrated Julia's 9th birthday along with Kaeley's 3rd birthday in Sept.

I was with Meredith's family for Halloween, so Dad made the rounds of going to the Vance's for dinner and Trick-or-Treating with their kids, and then on to Portland to see our cute Caudle grandchildren while they were still in their costumes.

After our family reunion in August, Seth & Tiffany's boys were with us for about a week. We enjoyed fun times with the Vance's and the Caudle's at OMSI, swimming, and a day at Blue Lake Park.

The end of March we celebrated Bryson's 6th birthday, Gary's birthday (April 3rd) and my birthday (April 4th). Sydney & Julia are becoming great cooks! I loved, loved, loved the apple spice cake they made especially for my birthday. Oh...yum!

We celebrated Easter at the Vance home and with the Caudle's. The children had a fun Easter egg hunt in the backyard. 

I tended the Vance children in May while Gary & Ondalynn spent the day in Seattle. They took the Amtrak train up and back and saw a Shakespearean play, too.

We enjoyed some excellent orchestra concerts that Sydney participated in. Then in June we celebrated her 11th birthday. I was glad I could attend her graduation from Elementary School where Sydney was the presenter of the names of the graduates from her class. Of course, she was the best of all, speaking loudly and clearly into the mike so everyone could hear the names. She is mature for her age and a big help to her mother. Sydney participated in Cross Country at her middle school this fall and we had fun watching her race, along with being on the swim team this summer, she is in excellent shape and stamina. She qualified for Districts in Cross Country and did very well!

Going back to school is always exciting. These cute kids warm my heart.

Sydney and Julia were able to fly with their Mom to Arizona this spring to visit Grandma Lewis and Meredith's family. They had a special trip together. Gary took Bryson this fall to Utah to spend time on the campus and most of all to see a BYU game. He was a lucky boy to meet Taysom Hill right before the game! They had a fun family gathering with Emily & Bronson, and with the Johns family.

On November 8th, Ondalynn's birthday, I met their family at Bryson's flag football game, the final game of the season. Gary was his coach again this year. You could tell that the boys and the parents really like Gary. Many were asking at the end if he would be coaching again next year as they wanted their son to be on his team. We're so happy we can live close to this cute family and see these darling children grow and develop and be such great kids. We wish we had this opportunity with all of our children and grandchildren.