Swimming Party on the Butte

G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy bid on a pool party and dinner at the Catholic School auction and THEY WON! How excited were WE when they asked us to join them for an afternoon of swimming and family fun!

First of all, you need to know that the following pool pictures were ROUND TWO swimmers. I was in the pool for the first part of this party, without a camera, so the pictures are missing the following:

1. Brady/Jeff/Ben splash contest from the diving board--all in attempt to get Papa Greg wet, as he was sitting on the side.

2. G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy joining us in the pool--and Papa diving off the diving board! Holy moley!

3. Kids being passed between me, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Ben, Jeff, Brady...and Morrow girls doing lemon drops off the board.

4. Uncle Ben getting Aunt Katie wet--in her dry clothes.

So these were the die-hards, the last to get out of the pool. Jeff had Megan and Abby diving off of his shoulders by the end of the day. These three are FISH!

This picture is classic--lots of laughter during the afternoon, and do you see Abby squeezing Joshy? Lots of cousin loves. :)

Mary Druffel hosted the party. Her husband, Mike, passed away after battling cancer for years. Though he's not with us anymore, he can be seen all around their place--in his tool art. His pieces are amazing! This pic shows the chairs and tables that were by the pool.

Josh was SO TIRED due to lack of nap--good thing that Mary is a grandma WITH A CRIB! He slept soundly after all that swimming!

Cousins.

This girl loved the stairs in the pool! She bounced on them for hours!

Good clean fun. :)

A tool shed. Literally.

It was the 7th of August--and this year harvest was still WEEKS away. We had a really wet spring this year, causing crops to be almost a month late. They still aren't harvesting as I post this--the 18th--it's so crazy!

Here's Mary talking with Ben and Dad. Ben and Kelly now live just over the hill from her. The Butte could be the loveliest place on earth. (I may be slightly biased...)

We are so blessed to have such sweet grandparents. Papa and G'ma are always interested in what we are all up to...

Can you name all these tools?

Another tool shed/gazebo. My dad said that the scrap metal yard knew Mike by name. :)

Rachel Becker joined us--her family cooked the food! She fit right in with the other three fish. :)

G'pa made amazing birdhouses for Katie, Ben and I. He's always looking for a good shop project! What a treasure!

And hugs at the end of the day... It was so great! We just soak up this memorable family time. How blessed we are! :)

[I'd like to say that my waterlogged kids slept all the way back to Spokane that night, but alas, it was my waterlogged HUSBAND who was snoring before Colfax. Apparently the kids thought they'd miss out on more fun... ] :)