The Roggia's: Summer into School

So I am a little annoyed at the random order in which blogger chose to upload these pics, in spite of the lovely order the folder was in, but oh well. I am too lazy to change it by dragging each picture, so we will just roll with it! The bulk of this post is from the Garner reunion this summer, so there are LOTS of pictures. Proceed at your own risk. :)

Our little blue-eyed-boy chowing on some spaghetti. He has been a pretty decent eater thus far.

Ellie dressing up for the Library's end of summer-reading party. Fun times. She looks so much older to me in the pic. Hard to believe she will be 5 in only 2 weeks.

This is Seth.... enough said.

He is kind of a crazy goof.

Looking cute... almost 10 months old here.

Trying on Pa's glasses on the last visit to Stafford.

Birthday toy time! Seth turned 3! He has come so far with his communication skills and is a blast to hang out with. Go-go all the time.

Ellie finally learned to ride her "big girl bike" this summer. Only took us 11 months to convince her it wasn't too scary to practice.

Ellie's first day of Kindergarten! She started last week and loves it! Her teacher is Mrs. Schneiter, who happens to be from Utah! Small world. Ellie is doing great and says her favorite part of school is recess when she plays "police" with the boys.

Seth started preschool at the same Elementary school here. He qualified to start this year (in spite of his young age) because of his speech and behavioral delays. I was so worried to start him so young, but I now know I made the right decision. He is SOOOO happy. He loves school and his teachers. His assigned teacher is Mrs. Brashears, but there are three others in the room, as it is a combined special education and regular preschool class.

They are both super excited to get ready and head off to school every morning, which makes me so happy!

Ellie goes from 8-3, and Seth from 8-11. Good times.

Love my silly kiddos.

Last weekend, we decided to explore the next couple of towns down, and found this beautiful national park area at Cave Mountain Lake down near Natural Bridge. Ellie can't wait to go back and camp there and bring swimsuits to swim at the lake-beach.

Daddy and James

And look, I even showed up in a pic! Say what?!

Jamesey Boy.

Ellie and Seth looking out at the water. Love those kids!

Now back in time to end of June/beginning of July for our Garner family reunion out in TN. First activity for the kids: Marshmallow Guns, of course!

James looking cute. He loves balls.

Seth pretending the bag strap is a slingshot. Yes, he is still Angry Bird obsessed. He rarely plays the game itself, but he still acts it out ALL. THE. TIME.

I couldn't resist this silly face.

Seth was mostly just happy to have Gmom for the trip. She is kind of his favorite thing in the world. Even more so than Angry Birds.

Bonding with cousin Ezra over electronics.

The crew hanging on the porch for dinner.

A lovely Heather who was nice enough to make the trip in spite of the impending birth coming their way. We are so glad baby Greta waited until they were safely home in Nebraska. Can't wait to meet her on the next trip!

Ellie and Jensen enjoying some s'mores.

Hot tub time!

Bunny Ears from crazy uncle Eph.

Taking a break in our bedroom of the cabin. It was huge!

Griffin ~~strangling~~ hugging baby James. :)

Craft time!

They made button pictures with the letter from their name. And Gmom even framed them for them. So fun!

Gmom also made some flubber for playtime.

Adorable Duke.

Then the flubber ate Jensen's hand.

And freaked James out a little.

G-mom + Angry Birds = Seth Heaven

It was a lot of loud, crazy fun.

Gmom's story time for Family Home Evening.

Plus a game. Gmom is the best.

I can't resist a good Griffin shot. He is so cute!

You would think after all these years, with all of them being such mature adults, I could safely sit for this picture. But no, they are still my brothers, and I was immediately being pinched and poked from all sides. How did I not see that coming?

Trying to convince them to stop so I can smile for a pic.

They are my brothers, and I really do love them. It was so fun to have everyone together at once!

Then the complete package. Love it!

Pa was so sweet and always taking little ones for walks and such.

James chilling on the porch.

And playing with Uncle Alex.

And a Garner family event would not be complete without some fresh baked cookies.

This is how we watch shows with Jake.

You won't like him when he's angry.

A hazy day, but still a beautiful view up in the smokey mountains.

Gmom and Pa were kind enough to rent out these two awesome cabins so we could all meet together in TN. It was so fun and I can't wait for our next reunion!

Ellie was super excited for Dino Day.

Lidia looking cute.

Searching for their "fossils".

And then uncovering them.

So glad Adam got to come for the last two days of our trip after a work conference and mini Roggia reunion in Utah.

Max showing his fossil.

Phil with two of his adorable kiddos.

Ellie was very thorough in cleaning all of hers.

An "UNbirthday" celebration since we never get to have parties together.

Happy faces all around.

Everyone tried to wait patiently to blow out their candles.

Oh, Griff.

Sweet Lidia.

James loved all the attention.

Talent show night... Max told the story of the dinosaurs while Ezra acted it out. Pretty amazing.

Ellie performed some Carrie Underwood (her FAVORITE) and rocked the house.

Izzie, Will, and Lidia did some Rio-inspired dancing. Adorable!

Then Ellie sang again (The Band Perry) and added some dancing into the mix. I was so surprised how much she enjoyed performing in front of everyone.

Pa handing out fresh Cowboy cookies to the audience.

DJ Jake handled all the music for the show.

Gmom and Pa performing some oldies.

And somehow Jake and Adam ended up acting out a Taylor Swift song...

Which I was dragged into singing...

They kept everyone entertained.

It was a little frightening.

The kids finished up with a Beastie Boys dance party.

The stiffest robot ever... Ellie's favorite dance.

And the finale, a throwback reenactment of Eph's awesome home movie dancing from.... maybe 1990?

It was pretty rad.

Then because Adam had a few more days off, and we can never get enough Gmom and Pa, we drove back up to their place after the reunion to play a few more days.