THIS MADE ME LAUGH !!!!

It was kinda like this at our house last night,( if you know what I mean), although the dog's name would have been changed! LOL
And NO, it wasn't me! LOL

WEEKEND WITH CURTIS & DEEDRA

Curtis is home from Iraq for a couple of weeks. He wanted to spend some time at the cabin and Tony was already there with his folks so I drove up Friday night after work. Curtis and Deedra and the kids beat me by 15 minutes. It was so good to see Curtis! He and Deedra are both shadows of their former selves! :) Both of them have lost weight and look great! They also looked very happy to be with one another!

Saturday, Curtis wanted to go hiking at Ponderosa Park on Payette Lake in Cascade. I had never seen that side of the lake so it was an adventure for me!

Little Jack got to ride on daddy's back. Here he is getting strapped in. He looks pretty excited about the adventure too!

Daddy and number two son!

Before our hike, we walked down to the waterfront and planned our hike with a map that the park ranger gave us. Mom and dad Norton and Nikki taking a little rest on a park bench.

Jack thoroughly enjoyed his ride on daddy's back.

This was one of the short hikes to a scenic location. It was some cliffs that overlooked the Payette Lake and it was a sight to behold!

Just to prove I was there, I had Deedra take a picture of me and my man!

Nikki and Garrett found a big rock at the picnic area where we had some snacks before starting the long hike of the three we took.

I laid down on my back on the picnic bench and took a picture of the trees straight up! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!

We left Grandma and Grandpa Norton in the car while we took a hike into the marsh lands. It started out really nice. A nice shady path with lots of lush greenery and huge trees. Then for a while we were out of the trees and the path became very rocky and dusty but after a bit we were back in the trees and shade. However, the closer we got to the marsh area, the worse the bugs got!

However, we did discover HUCKLEBERRIES! Garrett and Nikki loved them! We picked quite a few and ate them as quick as we picked um!

Garrett needed a little assistance from mom on the trek back!
It was a lovely day. After we got back to the car we all drove to "MY FATHER"S PLACE" in Cascade and got hamburger's, fries and shakes! It was delicious!

We then went back to the cabin and Curtis, Deedra and Nikki and Garrett went swimming. I watched Jack and Tony, mom and I watched a movie.

After they came in we played UNO (Of course!) and went to bed.

Sunday morning we went to church in Cascade and after church Tony took family pictures while I cooked dinner.(with some help from mom and dad)

It has been so nice to see Curtis! We sure miss him (but not as much as his little family, I'm sure)

MY WATERMELON BIRDHOUSE IS OCCUPIED !

I came home at lunch today and was talking on the phone to my folks and looking out the back window and I saw something move in my Watermelon birdhouse!
Low and behold, it was a baby bird! I was so thrilled and mesmerized that I kept watching the little critter. He'd stick his little head out and tweet........................

Then he look around and tweet some more. Then all of a sudden............................

Here comes Momma Bird and she would sit on the little perch and feed her baby. Then she would fly off and find some grub and return...................

and feed her baby some more. It was awesome. So cool to see my Birdhouse occupied!

TILL WE MEET AGAIN...............

My brother Dave and his wife Janet and kids stopped and spent the night with us Wednesday after leaving the reunion. They spent a couple of extra days in Montana going to Glacier Park and visiting an Uncle of Janet's who lives in Stevensville Mt. We had a nice Lasagna dinner (thank you Costco) and a GREAT VISIT! Mom and Dad Norton came over for a bit and viewed Dave's pictures from their week trip. After they left we retired outdoors and visited till around 9:30 and then Traci and Jason & family left. It was a fun evening. It's always nice to see family whom you don't normally see....(maybe once a year and sometimes less)........:(

This is Jack.....I believe this is Dave's favorite child! LOL

Andrew.....looks like he's on a mission, determined to get somewhere !

Caden ! He sure had a great time with Matt and Mike!
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Traci, Jason and Janet visiting. Janet was trying to avoid the camera!

The McGregors

The boys of the family!

The girls!

Melanie, my brothers only daughter and her boyfriend J.M.

Mike, my brother's youngest and his girlfriend Alyssa.

Matt, the famous baseball player :) and his little brother Mike.

Sophia, Melanie and Isabel. These two little girls are in Heaven when they are around Melanie!

MARY MARY QUITE CONTRARY, HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW ?

Remember how our office is doing the campaign......"DEPRESS THE RECESS" ? I'm making quilts for a giveaway for this fall and we had our "free flea market" the 1st week of this month.
Our 3rd part of the project was to have each office plant a garden. Well, I'm here to brag that our Nampa office has the Best garden!!! The proof is in the pudding!

JUST TAKE A LOOK.......................
Nancy and I planted zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes and then my dear husband came over one day and helped me plant squash and pumpkins.

Check out the squash and pumpkin plants! They are superb, if I do say so myself. We had 6 tomato plants growing. (all of which I got from church with Mother's Day and I got more at our singles conference) Then the neighbor on the other side of this white fence came over one day while I was watering and asked if I would like some more.................... I said yes and I got........

SIXTEEN MORE! I have 22 tomato plants now! The ones in the back are alot further along than these but they are coming along nicely!

This afternoon my dear husband came to my rescue again and staked them all!

HE ROCKS! I'm sure we'll be able to supply the temps with a fair amount of free produce this fall!

MOVIE CRITIQUE.........LOVED IT !!!!

I CAN'T SAY IT WAS THE BEST BECAUSE I HAVE LOVED THEM ALL BUT THE STORY JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER! THE LAST ONE WILL WRAP IT ALL UP AND TIE IT ALL TOGETHER AND IT WILL BE A SET OF MOVIES WORTH HAVING !!!

BEREZAY REUNION 2009

Tony and I left for Montana and the 63rd Berezay Family Reunion. We took off on Thursday afternoon around 4PM. I worked thru my lunch break so I could get off at 3:30. We drove as far as Cascade to Mom and Dad Norton's cabin and spent the night. Mom and Dad Norton were there so we picked them up and left Friday morning at 9AM. This is Tony at the lake on Thursday night.
Entering Montana ! Land of the BIG SKY! This is at the top of Lolo Pass. It was a wee bit windy!

We made it safely to Missoula by 3:30 or 4PM. Stopped and had some dinner then on the road again for about 45 minutes to Seeley Lake! After checking into our room at the Wilderness Inn,

we drove to the Haven.

This is my brother Dave and the "GrandDog". "JACK", or Jackaroonie as they so lovingly call him. ...LOL
Dave & Janet have 4 children but none are married yet so they joke with my parents and say a "Granddog" is the best they can do at this point in time!

This is Jack, Lynn, Mom, Tony, Dad and Art visiting right after we arrived.

This is the "WILDERNESS INN" where we stay. I swear the whole place is filled with Berezay relatives. It's not the Ritz but it's a nice bed and a shower. All we need.

This is the entrance to the "HAVEN" . It is the property my sister and her husband Jack, and my parents bought when prices got off the charts at Lake 5. (That's where we use to go) It is on the Clearwater River between Seeley Lake and Salmon Lake.

This is a picture of the property. You can see Donna and Jacks home and all the tents and trailers from family there for the reunion.

Here's a better shot. A little closer and a better look at the river (OK, it's a small river....more of a creek but it is called the Clearwater River) Looks like "TENT CITY".........

SATURDAY: LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

After breakfast on Saturday we had a fun filled day. We began with a "Guitar Pinata" for the little kids. Donna made it and she said it was built so sturdy that the kids would need a chain saw to get into it! LOL It held together really good so all the kiddies had a whack at it!

Janet and I were in charge of the "Basketball Toss" for the wee ones! Katie helped us. Here she is with a couple of our regulars!

We had the music from "High School Musical Three" playing LOUD!!! (Get your Head in the Game"). We'd have the little ones dance with us before they were allowed to shoot the ball. When they made a basket, they got to keep their ball! Some of them needed a little extra help! LOL It was so much fun! I'm sure Janet and I had more fun than the kids! We shook our bootie and were sweatin like the pork on the spit that our husbands were in charge of!

Some of the older kids just wanted to test their skill with the big ball! Here's my brother Rick's son Will ! Janet was still gettin her groove on! I love that woman! She is sooooo much fun!

Tony and Dave were in charge of "Spitting on the pork". They cooked 65 pounds of pork on the BBQ Spit and kept it basted with Coca Cola! This is my brother Rick, Tony and my brother Dave visiting as they baste!

Mmmmmmmmmmm, Don't that look Goooood!

The older kids played "GUITAR HERO" under the pavilion!

It looked fun but I think Janet and I did a lot more movin and shakin with "GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME"

And still others played Volleyball and Horseshoes and enjoyed the sun!

After our morning games, we started gathering all the "Homemade" items for the family auction.

My cousin Patsy and her husband bought a painting. It was a "Berezay Family Tree" . We raised $2449 for the family fund! We use it for family Missionaries and the property and reunions.

One of the Daddy DenBoer's and his baby son found themselves exhausted after the auction! Isn't that baby adorable ?

SOUPS ON! One of the best things about our reunions is the food! Everyone contributes to the Saturday and Sunday potlucks! It is fabulous!

More coming! We are all getting hungry! Smelling that pork cooking all afternoon was tantalizing!

Food, glorious Food!

Melanie stirring the pot....her mom says she good at that. LOL

More Food, Glorious Food!

Here's the line up for the food! It was long! We had 240 people in attendance ! What can I say, us Berezays are rabbits! LOL

My cousin Tom Watson and his wife Julie. They live in Boston! We were behind them in line and had a good visit! We had family from Boston to Hawaii in attendance!

This is the food line from a different angle! NOW THAT'S A BUNCH OF HUNGRY RELATIVES!

Even the Missionaries showed up! There were actually 6 of them but I only got a picture of the two.

After we ate, we had a short reprieve and then set up for the SNL. Here is my Aunt Marie on the right and my cousin Glenna on the left! Aunt Marie is my dad's only sister and was youngest in the family. Glenna is the eldest grandchild of my Grandparents.

My Uncle Dean is ALWAYS the Master of Ceremonies at our Saturday night program! He can talk like NOBODY you know! He's awesome!

This is my cousin Karrie. She did some fancy MJ dancin. She dresses up like a little Hooderite named "ESTER CHEDDAR" and WOW, is she ever entertaining! It was so Hilarious! She was my flower girl when I was 1st married back in 1972! Hooderites are people that live in colonies (kinda like the Amish) in Montana and Canada. They dress very modestly and plain. They have accents ( I think German) but she does a great impersonation! Very FUNNY!

This is Russ Storey! He is married to my cousin Patsy. He was "Ratsy Cline" and lip sinked the song "Little Things."

I was going to do it but when I found out Russ was planning on singing it , I graciously backed out and left the stage to him! It was much funnier with a guy doing it!

This was the Don Berezay Group doing the "Flying Purple People Eater" .....as you can see, even the youngest of his family participated! It was darling! Little Brooklyn Grace was only 3 months old!

The female cousins from Spokane Washington sang and danced to a Bette Middler song! Uncle Dean was behind them and he said "You should have seen it from my angle".......he's so funny!

The boys from Spokane did a tribute to "Arnold Schwarzenegger"...................... No girly men in this outfit!

Mya Fadley and some of her children (she has 11) sang "PRAYER OF THE CHILDREN" and it was fabulous! They sang ocapello and honestly, this group was definitely the talent of the night. These kids have REAL TALENT!

There were more numbers after this but I had given my camera to Cauleen to take pictures of us and she's not quite as trigger happy as I am! GO FIGURE! LOL

We nearly ended the show with our "Infomercial for the CAR PHART"...... Tony was Billy Mays and Ryan and Will , (2 of my Brother Ricks boys) were in the 1st car and Mike and his girlfriend Alyssa were in the 2nd car. Mike is my brother Dave's youngest son) Janet and I were the girls who held up the bumper sticker that read "This car is protected by CAR PHART". It was stupid but fun! We had 2 cans of canned fart spray. At the appropriate time, Will sprayed his can into the audience and we had Paul (another of my brother Dave's sons) planted in the audience and he let it rip unbenounced to anyone. People were covering their noses and some even got up and left. One of my cousins was heard to say..."That just isn't right." Everyone had a good laugh and after the air cleared they all forgave us! LOL

The program ended with Jack and his son Eric singing "Lost River" by Jon Denver. It was a fun day but we sure missed ALL our kids! NEXT YEAR ????? Maybe?

Sunday was of course Church under the pavilion! It's actually the highlight of the entire reunion. We had 2 family missionaries report on their missions. It was very spiritual and uplifting! We then heard from all the living Patriarchs of the families and then turned the remainder of the time over for testimony bearing. It always leaves us feeling so boyed up and loved! I love my family and I love the good feelings I come away with! Awhhhh, the strength of belonging to a family! Nothing better!

It was noon after church was over so we said our goodbyes and jumped in the car to leave. Unfortunately, the battery was dead and we had to get a jump. Then we were off like a dirty shirt! I told Tony that next year we are going to plan on staying for a few days so I can take him to Glacier Park. He will love it!

Here we are at the top of Lolo Pass again only on the way home.

We stopped at the cabin in Cascade so the folks could get their truck. After putting their things in their truck we took off again and arrived home at 10:45 PM. It was a wonderful weekend and a GREAT REUNION!