the farmgirl diaries: Bun in the Oven and FAMILY!

So yesterday was probably the best day of my summer :) Most of the Petrick side of my family gathered at Elkwater Lake, just 45 mins from home, to spend a day together just like we used to growing up. So much has changed in our lives but one thing I am truly thankful for is that we will always have our family! Our grandparents passed away in '97 and '98, but up until then we spent every Saturday at their house..every single one of us! And every summer we would spend as much time as possible out at the Lake at the cabin our great-grandparents built so many years before. We would go to the beach daily, walk to the candy store for snacks, make popcorn at night after our bbq and walk down to the outdoor theatre and watch a Saturday night movie and almost every morning we would gather for a rather large pancake breakfast!! No it wasn't trips to Disneyland or fancy malls..but my childhood was magical..my childhood was treehouses and sand castles and soft ice cream and family everywhere you looked! Its a childhood that I will embrace my entire life and one that I will strive to ensure my children get as well.

(us walking down to the Lake yesterday from our cabin)

The idea for "A Day at the Lake" came to me last month after my mom's 50th birthday party.. I really hated that since our grandparents passed away we only see each other on major holidays. Sure, dad see's his brothers and sister a little more often then that, but not like it used to be..and I am determined to change that! So yesterday, 21 of us gathered here..

Some of my cousins now have children of their own, such as Ryder here, and it was amazing to watch yesterday as my cousins and I have now moved on to be adults with little children running around the cabin! It seems like only yesterday it was us..

It was an awesome day and by the end of it..we had already planned next years "reunion"! We finished the day off with a bbq at my cousin's cabin and of course tons of photos!! My cousin had found this photo of us with our grandparents, circa 1989..

So for fun, we tried to pose for another photo, 20 years later, in the exact positions (we were missing 3 cousins and Jenn and Aaron are standing on opposite sides, but other than that we did it!)

And since I was meeting up with my cousin Jenn yesterday, I decided to make her a quick card to celebrate the news of her expecting her second child! I recently purchased this over stamp from Stamping Bella along with this sentiment..