Birthday Announcement.....

Ashlee invited us all over to celebrate her birthday on June 26th. She had planned a barbecue and was anxious for us all to see the new remodel of her main level.

I was quite impressed as I walked through the doors
It looked absolutely beautiful. They had put in new floors and painted some walls. Tyson and Ash did this all on their own. I think Ty's dad may have helped some but I was so impressed with how professional it all looked.

It really made their home look more spacious and bright. I was also impressed with how perfectly aligned everything looked. VERY professional. Tyson and Ash have been struggling in the past few years with finances but I can not believe how hard they have worked and how much they have cut back on the "luxuries of life" to make it through. I was happy to see that they were able to do this for themselves. Great payoff for all of the many, many hours of work they both do on a daily basis. Great job guys!!!!

As I entered their home I noticed this picture hanging on their wall. Tyson had painted it! He explained how it represents the plan of salvation. VERY COOL EXPLANATION by the way. Hopefully Ash or Ty will post it on their blog with the full explanation of the meaning of it. Very awesome Tyson.

She also had on the wall above her couch, family pictures. Smack dab in the middle of our family grouping was a picture of us all together. This was originally a picture taken just after Lee had left. So the only people in the picture were Me, my girls, their husbands, and Karah and Brayden. Ashlee has been asking to get a new family picture for about a year now and we just haven't found the time. SO....she inserted our new members into this old picture. She photo shopped Howie right in the middle, behind me, right where he belongs. THE CENTER OF OUR FAMILY!!! She also replaced Shawn's head with Jared (GREAT TRADE UP... BY THE WAY!!!!) He is so awesome and we all love him so much!!! She also inserted the boys on one side and the girls on the other. ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY! Well it took a while for me to realize that Ash had a baby on her lap still. In the original picture that baby was Brayden. She had written something on the shirt of the baby. Some NAMES!!!! WHAT????? WAS SHE ANNOUNCING A NEW BABY???? It took me a while to finally GET IT! I was so excited that I instantly started crying. A new baby to join our family. I have been wanting a new grandchild for quite a while. She has been trying to get pregnant for about a year now (I think) so this was WONDERFUL news! I AM SO DANG EXCITED!!!


We're having a BABY!

Once we got the great announcement and gave out the many hugs and congratulations to Ash and Ty we went outside to begin the party.

The kids played for a while on the swings set they have.

While the adults just laid around and enjoyed the beautiful summer evening. Very relaxing!!

I am so impressed each time I visit with Luke. I have mentioned before in prior posts how he is a BIG helper to everyone. No matter what project someone is doing Luke is there to help out. He has been that way for years now. Well his mom asked both boys to take their chairs out of the bag and set them up for the picnic. Luke instantly did what his mommy had asked while Brayden threw a fit! Luke is such an obedient little guy. It probably doesn't seem like a big deal to most people but I wanted to write about it because it really has impressed me with how eager he has always been to help out. GREAT KID !

Aunt Ashlee pulled out the croquet (spelling?) set for us to play. The kids were all eager to learn!

Luke getting trained by his mom....

Alyssa's turn....

It was funny to watch how they would pick up the ball to place it where they wanted before they actually hit it. It took some time till they got the hang of it but I think they did quite well.

Karah posing for the camera....

Aunt Cassidy helping Brayden learn how to play some electronical game of some sort.

This kept Brayden entertained for a LONG time....

Ashlee had planned a wonderful meal for us ......

I felt really bad because she was working WAY TOO HARD on her birthday. She should have been sitting down and relaxing as we all served and spoiled her! It was all very delicious Ashlee. YUM YUM YUM!

After dinner the kids kind of diasppeared inside for a while. Then we heard some giggles as they came out of the house to show us what they had been up to. They all chimed in and said....TRICK OR TREAT!! They each had on a different outfit and had little bags to go out trick or treating. They are so funny! WRONG HOLIDAY KIDDOS!

They also planned to roast marshmellows in the new fire pit that Tyson made. They came over to my home several weeks ago and took some bricks I have been storing at my house since 1990 when we first moved in! Then he created this fire pit for their home. I like how it is up off the ground so the kids can't get burned as easily.

Nothing quite like roasting marshmellows on a nice summer night!

The kids really enjoyed doing this with Tyson....

We used a BURNING MARSHMELLOW as a candle for Ashlee to wish on and blow out!

Along with a barbecue and marshmellows, Ty and Ash had also planned a drive in movie in their backyard. They have a huge screen that they can project movies on to. Everyone got settled in with their chairs and blankets.

Tyson however had some problems with the computer set up so we weren't able to get the movie started.

We all headed inside to watch it. BUMMER! Oh well it was a very funny movie and a great ending to a nice night at the Veenendaahls.

Zonked out!

I really enjoyed myself this evening. Steve was able to join us towards the end and watch the movie with us. It was a great night. I am so happy about the exciting birthday NEWS that I received that night. I think that the baby is the BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER! Thank you Ashlee for inviting us into your home. I love the remodel and I love your cute family so much. Happy birthday, Dawnster Doo!