Cousin Time

Jude shooting me with a water gun at Lone Star Lake. He is obsessed with guns. Very scary.

Maeve loving Roman's new sand toys from the Tolands.

Adelle and Maizie being silly.

Grammy with her clan.

Cousins M&M. Aren't they adorable!

My children get so much more cousin time than I ever did growing up in Alaska and I love it. We have so much fun whenever we get to visit with our Texas family. And we love having cousins live close by in Topeka. We went and played at Lone Star Lake with the Tolands and Grandma for Memorial Day. It was a great afternoon.

The walk down the hill

KU commencement starts with a walk down the hill, through the campanile, and into the football stadium. Roman made the walk with me. Even though some believe that if you walk through the campanile before graduation you curse yourself and then you will not graduate. We took our chances. He always has BYU has a back up school! :)

Graduation

We had the hooding ceremony at the Lied Center. Mom came from AK and Michelle drove from Texas with two kids for the weekend. It was wonderful to have them here, especially because Joel was in Ireland for the event.
It has become a tradition to get pedicures when we are all together ever since Sueight's wedding. Here is my jayhawk pedicure. Isn't it awesome!
Dr. Kapp is one of the funniest professors. I took a class from him for my BSW and we served on the MSW curriculum committee together this year. After a few meetings I mentioned that I had taken a class from him in the undergrad. When I told him my maiden name he totally remembered me (I had helped coach one of his children at a soccer clinic) and couldn't believe that he hadn't recognized me. It is a good thing that I don't take offense easily. I didn't think I looked that much older/different!

Dahle Clan. Notice Maeve and Jude's shoving match.

Remke Clan. Those two middle kids did not want to cooperate in any photos. Minus Matt, who was in China for work, and Joel and add a bunch of new kids, it is the same crowd that cheered me on at my BSW graduation. I am very lucky to have so much supportive family.

Birthday party

Joel returned from filming in Ireland so we celebrated Roman's birthday a few weeks late. He made this awesome squid cake. Isn't it so cute? The first birthday is great because the parents get to pick what the cake is. This was Joel's choice.
Roman really wanted to grab those frosting tentacles. Without planning it, this photo has a memorial to the potty training days of Jude. He is so much easier to potty train than Maeve. He is completely motivated by M&M's. He gets one for pee and two for poop. He has no accidents if we don't try to put pants on him.
Roman did not actually like the cake as much as I thought he would. But he liked tearing it apart and spreading frosting all over. I am a little sad that my baby is one. He is growing up too fast.