All Good Things Must Come to an End

Goodbye July

Hello August!

My children hate August.  August means Summer is coming to a close and school will be starting.  School starts 3 weeks from yesterday for our kids.  I say they've already definitely met their Summer fun quota!

Estabon knows what he likes and he wants what he likes.

He put down 2 Carls Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburgers for lunch.  He loves those things.

Then we set out to get THE COOLEST ice skates football cleats he has ever seen.

Slap a blade on those babies and they double as ice skates :)

I tried to talk him into a less expensive Nike pair but he wanted no part of it.  His feet are growing SO fast I'm afraid they won't last him through the season.  But in the end, he won.  It's his money and who am I to tell him how to spend it.

He was also concerned they match his football outfit jersey.

He came home from practice with all sorts of stories about how those cleats improved his performance.  And alright, I will admit, they are starting to grow on me.  They are pretty cool looking and the ankle support is a definite plus.

Lots of Grandpa Sollie's and Grandma Emmy's posterity gathered tonight for our annual summer reunion.  It's been 2 years since I've seen a lot of the family and it was crazy how many of the great grands are now teenagers and so grown up!

All 12 of Grandpa Sollie and Grandma Emmy's children (grandma Emmy always said she had 12 children, 6 by birth and 6 by marriage).  I'll list them from left to right, top row first.

Carol Strong, David Sollis, Larry Sollis, Rob Benson, Mark Sollis, Jan Sollis

Bob Strong, Tammy Sollis, Marlene Sollis, Kay Benson, Betty Sollis, Tom Sollis

All the great grands had the best time playing at the park and the splash pad.

Lilly just bein' a pintest in her swim suit.

Of course Janie is the only girl among the boys :)

Meet Tanner, my cousin Cynthia's son, who likes to have his picture taken :)

We said our goodbyes to the cousins tonight.  They were all so cute hugging each other.  Emmy's going to miss her Kayla for sure!  They won't see each other for at least 19 months.

Well, this marks the end of the first official Tom and Jan Sollis family reunion.  

It has been a great 2 weeks of family time and fun.  I am so grateful all these cousins can be such good friends and I'm grateful for the friendships I have with every one of my brothers and sisters.  I wish I would have liked them all this much when we were growing up--I had no idea I was living with my future very best friends :).