4th Of July 2025!

This year's 4th of July was completely different than the last few years. Ga-Ga & Pa had sold their house in Orting so instead of them putting on a huge party the Kuch family took over the mantle this year. 

This was the worst weatherwise it's been on the 4th in a long time. Most of the time the weather cooperates and is beautiful, but it was quite cloudy and cool. In fact it was so cool I spent more time inside than out. The kids had fun playing games outside though. 

Showing off their new matching Old Navy shirts

 

We had some yummy food to eat and the girls also wanted to make us homemade ice cream for dessert. 

Their ice cream maker was the crank kind so you definitely had to work for it. Pa was being silly about having to work so hard. 

Eventually we were all inside since it was so cool outside. It was weird not running a bingo game or doing some sort of craft with the kids, but those days have passed. At the same time it was nice to just get to bring food and show up and not have to plan anything. 

We all just got to rest, be present and enjoy each others company and conversation. 

These boys love being inside if it means they can play a game. 

Such a great hostess! 

We did have to venture out to take our traditional 4th of July pictures! 

My favorite pose! 

Pretty girls! 

The girls started a new tradition in regards to the photo props. Here's the last 3 years! 

2025

2024

2023

My sweet girl was in a little bit of a funk that day, but thankfully as the day wore on she brightened up a bit. 

All the family & photo prop pictures! 

My sweet man! 

At one point a few of the kids started playing instruments and singing songs. I love that they do this sort of thing all on their own. 

Earlier that day we stopped at Bill & Christina's church to buy fireworks...it's so nice to know the money is going towards God's Kingdom and there's no tax! 

It's also nice now that the kids are older I mainly just let them do their thing and I just get to sit and enjoy watching them. 

The moon was so bright in the sky and thankfully even though it was a little cool it wasn't raining! 

The people in Bill & Christina's neighborhood are just as crazy as the ones in Ga-Ga & Pa's old neighborhood so we had lots of different fireworks to watch. I was trying to snap some cool shots of the ariel fireworks and instead I got this one that literally looks like a nuclear explosion went off and the world is coming to an end. 

Even though it was a little sad experiencing the end of an era, it was fun to start something new and we had a great time celebrating 4th with family and friends! 

Papa & Pa's 75th Birthday Celebration!

Last year we decided to hold Papa & Pa's 75th Birthday party at our house. I didn't really think about how busy our lives would be come May and June. It definitely made it so I had to reach out and get help for the event...which in all honesty was probably a good thing for me since I usually like to do things all on my own. We settled on Saturday, June 28th for the party since that would work with all those involved with planning the party. 

Papa's birthday is June 10th and Pa's birthday is June 25th....just 15 days apart! 

Miss Ruth was amazing in reaching out to Papa's side of the family and getting some of his siblings to come. Papa is the oldest of 5 kids and 3 of his siblings were able to make it. The 4th sibling lives across the country though so she couldn't come. The weather was gorgeous so lots of people were enjoying sitting on the deck. 

Michael had worked so hard to get our basement to a point where people could go down and there and be comfortable. We had lots of tables and chairs set up, but in the end if you look at the picture you can see a lot of grey hairs so going down stairs wasn't something that many people wanted to do. Instead they gathered in the living room, office, dining room and deck. It made for a full house, but I loved every minute of it! 

Pa is talking with his older brother my Uncle Cliff. Right after this Uncle Cliff took a turn for the worse health wise and he is still struggling. 

The birthday boys! 

75 years....that's so awesome! 

If you look over Papa's left shoulder you can see a lit up cabin. Pa has built so many of those and he built that one for Papa & Ruth. It's probably my most favorite one he's built because it has a bunch of cooper accents. 

The party was an open house style...it started at 1pm and went until 5pm. At 3ish we gathered everyone....as well as we could in the living room, office and entryway to offer a little bit of time for people to share if they wanted to. 

A few people spoke and it was a sweet time. 

There was laughter and a few tears. 

Since it was so crowded, Michael went outside to the front window and removed the screen so he could get a better view. 

All of those involved with the planning chipped in with food...which was so helpful! We did decide to purchase the cupcakes from a baker that one of Michael's co-workers introduced him too. Her cupcakes are heaven and that's super appropriate to say because her bakery name is A Taste of Heaven. You can check out her website here. The carrot cake cupcakes were literally the best cupcake I've had in my life. So yummy! We also got chocolate and vanilla raspberry....they were all amazing! 

Love this lady right here! 

Always fun to see the guys getting some time to chat. The majority of the people stuck around until the cupcakes were served and then quite a few people left after that. That is always my favorite part of any party. I love seeing, chatting and hanging out with everyone of course, but there is just something special about the core folks that hang out until the bitter end. 

Such beautiful young ladies!

Micah and Kim were at a wedding earlier in the day, but they were still able to make it to the party!

Michael's oldest brother Rick and his wife Michelle stayed for the long haul. 

Rick and Michelle's foster kids had fun jumping on the trampoline. The trampoline has now been relocated to Micah and Kim's house though. 

I've been better at taking pictures with my Dad....I need to remember to take more pictures with my mom. I love a good selfie! 

The Kuch family! 

We always try to find time to go camping with the Kuch's once every summer, but this year both of our families summer plans were so crazy! We did purchase Silverwood tickets and so did they...we were hoping the timing would work out where we would be going at the same time, but that didn't end up happening! 

Justine worked the day of the party, but Ella and I ran and picked him up so he wouldn't miss it. 

Papa and Jack meet every Tuesday for guitar lessons. They had been working on playing a couple songs for us so when it was just the core group left we all sat around and they led us in a couple songs. I find it hilarious that that Andrew is in the middle of taking a bite in the background of this picture.  

The very next week after the party Ga-Ga & Pa moved from their house in Orting to a condo in Des Moines. It was a huge transition and a ton of work. I just love that they are so close to us now and we get to see them anytime we want. 

This guy has worked so hard the last year and a half since the pipe broke in our master bathroom. Our house is almost completely redone now and it's gorgeous. I love being able to host events like this and use our house however God wants us to. That's not to say we didn't host things in the midst of the chaos because we most certainly did, but it's nice to have almost everything finished. 2024 we finished the first floor, 2025 we finished the basement (I'll blog about this later) and 2026 we will finally address the area where all the trouble started....our master bathroom.