Kamden Meets the Greats

The fence enclosed the yard, and the gate was barely finished when the guests arrived for a BBQ yesterday afternoon, first Nick and Christina with baby Kamden, then more family to welcome him with gifts and love. The day had come for Kamden to meet a few of his many great-aunts/uncles/grandparents.

Oh look, some gifts to open!

My niece Brittany and husband Cody, who are expecting their own bundle of joy next month,
Aunt Stephanie and her brother Tyler, Great-Aunt Jean and Serena 

Serena and Great-Aunts Jean and Carol

Great-Grandma Troyer makes beautiful quilts!

Great-Grandma Troyer, Great-Aunt Linda, Great-Uncle Galen

 When Christina opened our gift, she read the card and passed it to Nick, who looked askance at me and then asked if I wrote it a long time ago. "No, just yesterday. Why?" Oh my goodness. According to my card, I am praying for God's blessings on Connor's life. Yes, I know my grandson's name is Kamden. (But up until about a month before he was born, he was going to be Connor!) Oh how embarrassing. But then again, I AM a grandma, and that's a great excuse to be "forgetful". And it was good for a few laughs!

Serena peeking at Kam with Great-Aunt Carol

 Serena loves to look at pictures of Kamden on my phone. As she was scrolling through them, the baby pictures were interrupted by a bunch of fence-building pictures. With annoyance, she informed me, "These fence pictures are sure not very interesting to look at!"

Cousin Venisa looks lovely with a baby in her arms!

Such a cute little man in his flannel shirt and jeans! He was so good,
sleeping like a baby in spite of being passed around  to various relatives.

Serena followed Kamden and his grandma inside for diaper changing…surprise, he didn't need it.
Do you know the diaper gets a blue line if it needs to be changed? Amazing!

A somewhat awkward posing with the baby cake. What was the photographer thinking! But such a cute family anyway!

I didn't get nearly enough time with his sweetness!

 I neglected getting pictures of Eric and Molly, who were late because Molly worked today. Craig missed out altogether due to work. I think we had 22 people here. Oh, 23 counting Kam!

Great-Aunt Anisa finally gets him!

Grandpa gets the last turn.

Oh goodness, another awkward picture. Though we wanted Brittany's awesome baby bump visible, the shadow in this picture makes her appear far larger than she could possibly ever be, as well as looking like she to might have three legs. Sorry Brittany, my conscience tried to prevent me from posting this but it is just too funny! You are actually tiny compared to this!

Poor Brittany is a little upset with us for putting up the fence that separates her childhood back yard from ours. I had to point out that our front yards are still open, and a gate will be at the front, we just didn't take the time to do it yet. Later on in our yard, I saw a baseball being tossed in the air on the other side so I knew her younger brother was back there. I went over and yelled through the fence for him to tell his parents to come over and see the baby. And sure enough they did. So I think we'll figure out how to still be friends! It has been great having our yards open, especially when they were kids, and I will miss seeing their beautiful yard and flowers. But a fenced back yard is a very good thing for dog owners to have!

As the sun sank in the sky and the air grew chill, a fire was built. And oh what a fire! I don't think I've ever seen chairs quite that far away from our fire!

No, Venisa is not on fire.

On another note, did you know that my baby brother is going to be halfway to 100 later this week? He's somewhat thrilled with his annual rhubarb custard pie birthday present that Mom brought him today.

A contented man in blissful contemplation of the rapturous consumption of this treasured treat.
 (Despite many broad hints, he made no offer to share the wealth.)

I look forward to having the little boy Kamden around our fire with cousins, aunts and uncles, both great and ungreat!  Although I suppose that means the marshmallows and roasting sticks and s'mores fixing will have to be present. And so it begins again!