Brown Family Visit

On July 17th we were blessed to have Jaime (Wes' sister) and her new family with us. We were able to meet Jaime's husband, Jessie, and their new baby girl, Maya. The visit was rather short, but it was great to visit with them. Maya was the star in our house. Katherine couldn't wait to see and hold her. It was all about Katherine's cousin Maya! Katherine beamed love for Maya. Sebastian had a different take on Maya. He was fine with having a new baby around as long as his mom had nothing to do with her. I was able to hold and cuddle Maya, but Sebastian was always right there with me. Katherine was usually right there too. As I said earlier, we were blessed to have time with Maya, Jaime, and Jessie!

Jentes Tradition

Being a Jentes means certain things. One of which is you MUST enjoy ice cream. (Eating corn especially corn on the cob is another, but that's also another topic!)

I remember on Saturday mornings my dad letting me eat ice cream for breakfast. Keep in mind by the time I got up for breakfast my dad would have been working outside for several hours, so it wasn't really breakfast time to him. My dad says now he doesn't remember the ice cream for breakfast, but he will tell you I would page him on his work voice pager(remember those?) around 4pm just about every other day to bring home ice cream. It wasn't just any ice cream either...It was Blue Bell ice cream!

One of traditions at the Jentes reunion is to eat ice cream. There was homemade ice cream, but of course, it was devoured quickly. Not a problem, there was more store bought ice cream in the freezer. Both Katherine and Sebastian had eaten some homemade ice cream earlier in the day. After swimming, it was time for a second round of ice cream. This time Sebastian missed out, because he was sound asleep in his stroller. Katherine is pictured above eating her ice cream with her new family friends. (I think they are distant cousins.)

By the way, can you tell which one is Katherine? Those girls looked like twins. It was amazing to see them together. I wish I would have gotten a better picture of them!

Flying

Katherine had a unique experience while visiting in Ohio. My Uncle Charles owns a Moony airplane in which he took Katherine flying. She loved it except for the landing! Now, the actual landing was smooth and not really the problem for Katherine. She didn't like the landing, because she was not ready to get back on the ground. While in the air we flew over my aunt and uncle's house and the farm where the reunion had been held. Katherine was able to see the swimming pool where she had been swimming just days before. She thought that was really pretty cool. I must admit that one of my very first memories is of my uncle taking me up in his plane, so I am thrilled that this will probably be one of Katherine's first memories also! Wes however was really jealous of Katherine! It was a great experience for her and myself as well.

New Cousin

Maya Brown was born on June 22 and shares a birthday with her great grandpa Kenney. Maya's proud parents are Jaime and Jessie. Katherine is already in love with her new cousin. She loves her and can't wait to see her. Sebastian isn't all that interested. However, someday I bet he will be playing with her and his big sister at their grandparents!

Reunion

The kids and I left on Tuesday, June 28th for Little Rock, Arkansas. There we spent the night at Dean and Diane's before heading off to Wooster, Ohio for the Jentes family reunion. The kids and I left our van at Dean and Diane's, and we loaded up with my dad in his truck. After a long ride in the truck, several stops, and a short hotel stay, we arrived in Smithville, OH at my Uncle Charles and Aunt Elaine's. The kids did great traveling! It helped that their grandpa Homer had a DVD player for them to watch movies on too! However, we were very ready to be out of the truck!!!

The kids and I were in Ohio for the Jentes reunion, which was held on July 1st at the Earl Jentes Farm. (This farm is where my dad grew up, so he always enjoyes visiting and seeing all the upgrades to the farm.) The reunion was great! I was able to see family that I hadn't seen in a long time, and meet some that I had only heard about or seen pictures of until then. Katherine and Sebastian had a good time as well. Earl and his family have a large swimming pool on the farm, so the kids were able to swim. This was a big hit with Katherine. However, I had left the kids swim suits back at my aunt and uncle's, so we had to do some improvising. Luckily, I had a change of clothes for both kids, so they swam in their clothes. One of my distant cousins even had "little swimmers" pants for Sebastian. At first, Katherine was really upset that she would have to swim in her clothes, but she soon realized it would be okay! All is well that ends well!

My dad, the kids, myself, and Dean (who had flown up for the reunion), began our travel home Monday, July 3rd around 5pm. Dean and my dad took turns and drove all night arriving in Little Rock around 9am. The kids and I spent several hours at Dean and Diane's before heading to Valliant. The kids and I made it home around 5pm on July 4th. It was great to get home!!!