This past month we've had the chance to have some fun with members of our extended family. Melvin's dad, Mel, and his wife Ellen stayed with us for about two weeks in February while Mel was recovering from major heart surgery. While we wish it hadn't been under life-threatening conditions, it was nice to have them here. Mel and Ellen live in Saipan (where? Saipan - it's a commonwealth of the United States. Look it up, people) so we don't get to see them very often. Audrey and Dallin had as much fun with their grandpa as they were allowed to and I was spoiled having an extra pair of hands to hold Sterling (thanks, Ellen!).
At the beginning of March the kids and I went with Duane (Grandpa Beach), Michael (Melvin's brother, for those of you who don't know), and Jonathan (Michael's son) to a performance by the United States Marines Corps Drum and Bugle Corps and Silent Drill Platoon.
Audrey didn't want to stand with the Marines and have her picture taken. She did, however, want to be behind the camera. We have a lot of pictures like this one...
...but she did manage to get the Marines in a couple of her shots. 
(Now I'm not being totally fair to Miss Audrey. She took some good pics too; I'm just not posting them.)
Anyway, we had a fun day with the Few and the Proud.
The following day we had another rarer-than-we'd-like opportunity to spend some time with Patty (Melvin's sister), Cameron (Patty's husband), and their girls while they were visiting from Colorado. It was nice to see them. And we got the whole clan together for some family pictures, which was tricky with 11 kids, 9 of them age 4 or younger. Audrey and Dallin ruined their fair share of photos with grimacy grins or tears. Here's Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids (and Justin trying to get Brayden to stay in the picture).
Patty made shirts for all of the girls. Isn't it nice to have talented relatives?
Annika, Kayja, Azure, Darion, Kylie, Bryn, AudreyAnd following the rules of all family pictures, it is already outdated. Zander joined Pamela & Justin's family four days later. We haven't met him yet but we're looking forward to it.
It's been fun for all of us to see so much of our family lately. The extra bed is still set up...anyone else want to come visit?
3 comments:
Such fun pictures!! I love to see other peoples blogs and see their cute kids. There needs to be more pictures of you and Mel too.
Okay, so Mel had major heart surgery. You casualy mentioned such a big event. I hope he is okay and that everything was taken care of with the surgery.
Maybe I'd better clarify, just in case. My father-in-law (whose name is Mel) had major heart surgery, not my husband (whose name is also Mel). Easy to get them confused. (And wait until Grandpa gets in the conversation - his name is also Mel!) Anyway, my father-in-law is doing very well now and he and his wife are headed back to Saipan tomorrow.
I love those family pics. It's not a true family picture without some kid crying. At least those kind are more realistic...what family has kids that are perfect 24/7? The perfect pics just portray life in a fashion I know doesn't exist! :)
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