Memorial Day

I like to get portraits of the kids on holidays! I usually do a 4th of July picture, but since the kids were all patriotic for church yesterday, I decided to do a photo shoot.

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This one is better, but I cut Sarah off.

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I was in the other room and I heard Dan calling me, so I came back into the boys room and found Andrew and him sitting on the backdrop. He said, "Okay, we're ready", so I took their picture!

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Today, we took the kids to the cemetary to put flowers on their Grandpa (and Grandma) Dempsey's grave for Memorial Day. I hadn't ever been there, so I was surprised when we got there and the only thing sticking up out of the ground were the urns of flowers! All the headstones are flat to the ground!

Turning the urn over

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Getting the flowers ready

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Putting the flowers in

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Admiring the flowers

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Although Bill served in the Navy during WWII, he doesn't have a flag. Dan let the cemetary know and they put his name on the list of veterans so hopefully next year he'll have one.

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The kids next to the headstone.

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Dan's "baby" brother is also buried here, but doesn't have a headstone (although he's on the list of those buried there) William Joseph Dempsey, Jr. lived only a ½ hour. His foot prints are only as big as my thumb print, so I'm assuming he was premature.

Portrait Backdrops

I have been trying to find some different backdrops for taking the kids' pictures besides the fleece I usually use.





I have used a tablecloth before

A piece of fabric

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(backside)

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I found this party decoration at the dollarstore (in a 2 pack)

Fun & Games

This is Andrew's first time at the sandbox

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He thought it was a buffet

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Emily drinking ice tea

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Sarah's school had a carnival

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Andrew wasn't overly impressed!

Funeral for a Fish

While we were staying at my parents' house, their fish died.

William had pulled the chair over to look at the fish and he said, "Oh, no!" I came to look and this is what I saw:




















Rover was almost 12 years old!

House Sitting

We stayed at my parents' house while they went to visit my sister in Arizona. Here are some pictures of our stay.





William loves trying to carry the cats.













art work













Dan and his "mini me" eating pizza

Andrew visiting with the dog

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The morning "ritual" usually started out with watching "Blue's Clues"

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William was tired of the "Mommarazzi" trying to get the perfect shot!

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Tired boy

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Classic "Spaghetti smeared face"

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More "Blue's Clues"

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Andrew thought the little cars were great

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Andrew getting in some "crawling up stairs" practice time

Happy Birthday to Daddy

Dan's birthday was last week.

Will helped me make the cake.

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He enjoyed licking the batter after we were done!

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William thought that we needed candles, so I asked him how old Daddy was and he said "3"

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Sarah didn't think it was right since she knew Daddy wasn't 3 (She said that he was 14, although the day before she said he was 21)

She asked me how old he was and so we got the correct candles for the cake!

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This morning, I came out from using the bathroom to this:

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Field Trip!

Sarah had a field trip earlier this month to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum . It was on Dan's day off, so he went along!







Goodbye!















on the bus













mosaic wall














BUBBLES!














Sarah being a vet

















Giddy up!


























These are the other 2 girls in Dan's group













Sarah being a back seat driver
















"Look how tall we are!"










































Sandbox

























art center




















Afterwards, they went to the Danish Kingdom playground.

We met them there

"Hi, Daddy!"

William is in the red shirt in the middle

Sarah is in the green shirt at the top

Andrew chilling in the stroller













Emily followed Sarah around

Andrew liked the swings!

William pushing Andrew in the swings

Andrew LOVED swinging

There were men dumping/spreading new wood chips. William liked watching "Scoop".

When play time was done, they walked back to school (Sarah is the 2nd student from the front)

Dan is right above the gator