family...

Over the weekend, we had family time at my parents' place.  They recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, so all of us kids and our significant others came back home to help them celebrate.  We were all there except my youngest brother, who lives in Denver and works all the time.  It's hard for him to get away, but he was there with us in spirit.

Going home was so good.  We did a lot of relaxing, a lot of laughing, and ate some really good food.  What more do I need, right? :)  It was also a pleasure to meet my brother Jonah's girlfriend, Anna.  We have decided that she is perfect for him, makes him the best version of himself, and she should just go ahead and plan on staying around for a long time.  Seriously, my brother gave me a kiss on the cheek when we said goodbye and he never does that!

Saturday morning we started out by watching our college football team, Notre Dame, soundly defeat Navy over in Ireland!  What a great start to the season, and how exciting to watch it play out on the Emerald Isle.  Of course, we had to get all the grandkids in their team garb in a picture with Gramps.  They don't even know it yet, but they are die-hard fans. :)

We spent the afternoon relaxing, then headed to a place nearby called Ghyslain, a french style chocolate bistro.  Can not even believe how delicious my peanut butter cheesecake was, and how smooth and mellow the french press coffee to go along was too.

There were lots of games played, some outdoor "olympics," and then labor day with the Rife family.  A lot of things crammed into one weekend...I have so many pictures, I'll probably have to do a second blog another time.

This was such a great weekend all together.  The older we get, it seems it's harder to get together all at once.  I treasure these times so much.

P.S. I took portraits of everyone, but completely forgot my poor husband Landon. :( Also, some of these photos were taken by my brother, and maybe someone else too.