Days gone by in the Butternut Valley

100th Annual Wilber Reunion

Actually it was the Wilber, Rowe, Foster Reunion.

My grandparents grew up, married, and started a family in the Butternut Valley. It is beautiful there. The farmlands are stunning. I have always loved being there... as if I was going home again. Every summer there is a reunion. I have missed it for a few years... (it's also Madison-Bouckville Antique show the same weekend ;) But this year the antiques would have to wait. It was important to my grandfather that all who could attend, would.  It was nice to see everyone. 90 people were in attendance. Lots of old photos were passed around, genealogy being gathered, and great food being eaten. After the reunion my grandfather drove us up to the old family farm were he grew up. He shared a lot of memories with us. It was sooo nice. There was no one home at the farm so we took the opportunity to walk around a little bit.

We had a really beautiful day.

*** Sorry about the sloppy collages. I had so many pictures to share and not a lot time to fuss. You can click onto to the pictures to view them larger.

Wilber Hill Farm

Beth, Sam, and Livvie

(Isn't Beth getting so tall??)

The VanScoy House

This was my great great grandparents home. 

It was also the first house that my grandparents had. It's one of my favorites.

Grandpa and the Barn

My grandmother's old school house.

I can't take 100% credit for this find. My Uncle Paul thought this would make a nice shot. So I walked around and found the best angle. Love this picture... it's by the schoolhouse.

Thanks for taking this walk with me.

Tara xoxo

*** If anyone is wondering where Brian is... he is in Canada fishing with my dad and brother (Patrick). I'll have pictures to post from their trip in a few days. :)))

Our Last Katie

Katie and Sam

Sam has been in speech therapy since last September. We were blessed with Miss Katie who came to our house twice a week for almost an entire year. Through our 1/2 hour sessions and  many months, our family formed a special bond with her. She always arrived at our house with a smile on her face and the aura of eagerness to teach  and make  a difference. I will tell you that through out the year, Sam sometimes didn't want her to come. It was usually when he was involved in something ,(and you know how 5 years olds are) sometimes transition is tough. She never took it personally and would have a super fun activity planned for them. He ALWAYS was attentive and tried his best. They worked on his 'snake and shark' sounds for months and when he finally got it, I think she was as happy as me. They moved onto more complex sounds and proper language skills. He has really progressed nicely. 

Today was our last session with Miss Katie. Last night I told him it was going to be his last Katie. I was half expecting him to be upset but he wasn't. He just yelled out YEAH!!! So I said- ok why are you so happy? He told me that it just meant that he was closer to his first day of school and he was really excited. 

So in thinking about that for a while, I think Katie gave him more than just learning vocabulary sounds. She helped nurture a love of learning. Isn't that the best gift a teacher can give?? :)

Beth will definitely miss prancing around in her princess dresses and showing off for Miss Katie. 

Thank you Katie for coming into our crazy lives with patience and guidance. 

Thank you for helping Brian and I add one more brick to the ever rising foundation in Sam's life. Please keep in touch. We wish you all the best in all your future endeavors.

xoxo, Tara

***Quick Side Note***

She really does have remarkable fortitude because, me being an older sister, I of corse tried to set her up on a date with Patrick. Wouldn't they be cute??? Oh- that's besides the point. Thank you for ignoring me and my crazy ideas. Thanks for not being too uncomfortable to come back to our house. :)

BUT... if you ever change your mind.... :)

Always have to have hope, right! :))))))

Sunflower Maze

There are sunflower fields just a little drive from our home. There is a sunflower maze too which the kids LOVED!! They had so much fun running through the aisles of towering giants. 

Of corse the combination of the kids and sunflowers at sunset had me all ready to go into a photographic frenzy. It didn't work out quite as I planned. The kids were not cooperating with any of my ideas. All they wanted to do was run and hide. So I gave up and just let them have fun. :) I'll be honest, it was ok because I could have walked through there for hours all by myself and take hundreds of pictures of sunflowers solo. 

As Kristin said, "As soon as you get a really good view of the fields it's so overwhelmingly beautiful it's make you want to cry a little."

(I'm paraphrasing slightly.)

I have to whole heartily agree. Gorgeous doesn't even begin to describe it. For whatever reason the only thing I could think of was HOPE. Don't ask me why. 

It's weird how just a few acres could represent such beauty in this world.

So, now that I have you all puking on sentimentality....

ENJOY the Pictures!! :)

Happy 25th Birthday Patrick!!!

My Brother Patrick's birthday is today.

It is the on-going rumor in our family that he is everybody's favorite. Why? Because he gets a long with everyone, stays away from all conflict, always has a smile on his face, is an expert at flying low under the radar, is as laid back as they come, loyal to the core, is always there for you when you need him, is ALWAYS hilarious and has lots of "trick-isms" we can all count on. 

Basically he is an all around GREAT guy!!!

So... HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT.

We all love you to pieces!

(And, if anyone out there is single..... :) I'm always looking out for him. That's the price to pay for having older sisters.)

I had lots of the cutest baby pictures you've ever seen of Patrick BUT my scanner isn't working so all these pictures are within this last year. He avoids embarrassment... this year!Enjoy!

Brian and Pat

Rope swing on First Lake

4th of July 2008

Throwing his girl, Beth.

Final jump

First Lake  4th of July 2008

Fell asleep cuddling with Beth.

July 2008

Patrick and his big buck.

Nov/Dec 2007

Me and Patrick

Old Forge Fireworks, on the pond  2008

(and no I did not do anything to his eyes... they are that blue!)

The Gang.... Luke, Brian, Sam, Dad, and Pat

Father's Day 2008

Happy 25th.

Love you!

What's with the Name?

This is "Stick" aka: Brian.

We are the "Bones" aka: Boneheads, aka: Beth, Tara, and Sam

Brian has been called "Stick" by his entire family since he was a very little boy. He was very skinny. Skinny as a stick. Well, it stuck. (hehehe) All his school friends know him as that. When I met him though he asked me to call him Brian and not Stick. So, I do. If you have met him with in the last 10 years or so, he'll prefer Brian unless you are family or you've been "grandfathered" into the old name. There is a loop hole.... if you've been hunting, fishing, or some other type of manly activity with him where others have are calling him Stick than you get the green light. 

We are lovingly referred to as boneheads by none other than himself, Brian/Stick (whatever you call him :) It is a term of endearment that he uses with us quite frequently. Sometimes he even drops the proper/full name and uses the nickname of Bone/s. ;)

I am sure he will read this later, and shaking his head, will say...

"You are such a bonehead!"

And that is how I will know that he thinks I have completely over analyzed and dissected such a frivolous thing. It'll also be confirmation that I have been spending too much time on this and  the reason why the laundry is not done. ;)

So there you have it... 

the Life of Stick and the Bones!

36 Hours Isn't Enough Time....

Abbey, Paula, Emily, Craig, and Wendy

The Roberts (my cousin Paula and her family) came for a quick visit this weekend. They were able to visit here on the East coast because they had been on vacation in the OBX the previous week. Even though we are so grateful that we were able to see them, it just wasn't enough time!!! :( 

We did cram a lot in while they were here. Lots of laughing, giggling, catching up, playing, shopping, belated and upcoming birthday celebrations, an excursion to the park wit bike riding, a quick photo session, and a tearful goodbye. Our family is full of "goodbye criers". I think we all silently were trying to be strong at the end, and everybody was doing a great job..... It's all Emily's fault!!! One glance at her crying in the doorway sent us all over the edge! 

Meg and Stan - the two who started it all (my grandparents)

We all congregated at my grandparent's. They were so happy to have all the chaos and confusion of lots of kids running around. My Grandmother was in her glory having us all around her. Especially her little Elizabeth. Se loves getting up close and whispering in her ear. 

All of us at the park. Craig took this picture for us. 

Sam and his girls!

This is called a conference bike. It seats 7 and from the moment we got on Denise didn't stop laughing. In fact, we all couldn't stop smiling and laughing. We were definitely a spectacle through out the park.

Ok- so they're coming towards me on the path. And pictured below is the surrey bike we rented also. My mom, Angela, Abbey, and Beth were on this one. Sam insisted on riding solo. He loved that he was faster than all of us. 

We had a friendly competition between the rentals. Who could pass each other and was faster.

Sam tried a new trick... High fiving as he rode past... he was so proud to have mastered riding "one-handed"!

After the goodbye crying fest that ensued at my grandparent's house. Some of us decided to head over to the airport to watch them take off. We aren't sure if they were able to see us or not but we had fun trying! 

My mom, Donna, Denise, Sam, Jake, Amanda, Angela, and Beth waving goodbye at the United flight carrying the Roberts family back to California.

(Try to imagine us screaming and yelling "goodbye" while we were frantically waving our arms. Can you feel the love?)
Thanks for the wonderful visit. We had so much fun and hopefully you'll make it back out here this winter. Love you.