Happy Birthday Katelyn!

(Can you tell it has been a busy month since we last posted?!?)

July 5th was Katelyn's seventh birthday, but it kind of ran from the 4th through the 6th. (Another tradition we seem to have continued from David's family.)

We were in Indiana to visit Matt and Julie (and gang), and Grandma and Grandpa were there too. On the 4th, we went to a minor league baseball game. (Katelyn's favorite part was the cotton candy.) After the game, they had fireworks. It was not the Boston Pops, but the kids were plenty excited about them.

On Katelyn's actual birthday, we went putt-putt golfing (no threats to Tiger, although Jacob has the Tiger celebration down). Then, we went to dinner, and then back to Matt and Julie's for cake and ice cream. Katelyn wanted a fairy princess cake, with blue eyes, blue nose, and red mouth. We did the best we could!

On Sunday, we went to church and got to see Megan be blessed. Afterward, the kids all wanted toe rest of the cake for lunch.

We are so glad to have Katelyn in our family! And we are thankful to Matt and Julie for hosting, and for letting us share the weekend with Megan. (You can see more photos from the birthday here.)

Welcome home!

On July 1, Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma Bertasso) came home to the states! They had been in Brazil (Sao Paulo) for the last three years as mission presidents for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Before that, they spent over three years in Singapore working for Heinz.

We are so excited to have them back in the USA. Our kids (and we assume all the other grandkids) are so glad to have Grandma and Grandpa back. All of the kids think they should come live at their respective homes.

It has been funny to watch them start to readjust to America. They are constantly making comments about how "open" everything is. And they are still learning about all the technology and fads they have missed out on the last few years.

This is our ool...

... notice there is no "p" in it - we like to keep it that way.

Jacob and Katelyn are so excited for summer and the chance to go swimming. David doesn't always make it home early enough to get to the pool, so when he does, they love to go. They are both becoming much better swimmers. Jacob is a regular fish!

We also brought Maya for her first time in the water. After a little while in the water, she decided she prefers relaxing in the chain by the pool rather than in it.

Happy Birthday Sharyn

It has taken a while to get the photos posted, but we really did celebrate Sharyn's birthday. (And although we are posting a month late, we celebrated only two days late. )

Unlike Jacob, Sharyn was able to blow out the candles on the very first try. (Of course, this was her 29th birthday, so she has had a lot more practice than Jacob.)

(And no, Sharyn was not working that hard to blow out the candles. She had done running between dinner and cake.)

We are certainly very glad to have Sharyn in our family. Happy Birthday Sharyn!

You can see more photos from the fun, as well as some of Maya celebrating too by looking here.