Coming from a small family, I’ve always wanted MORE PEOPLE (hence my passion for genealogy and family history). This new baby, when we were already content with the adorable grandsons we have, is such an unexpected joy to have in our lives. We are so happy for Matt! And so I am thrilled to present this photo of our descendants!
Both my kids and their spouses and all 3 grandchildren in one place!!! Who knows when that will happen again?
Caleb couldn’t take his eyes off his Aunt Caity, the experienced mom and charmer of all children. Caleb’s proud daddy couldn’t take HIS eyes off Caleb.
The boys were excited to meet their new cousin (a boy- FINALLY!) and were excited to hold him.
It was a wonderful day!
How sweet it has been to spend time with our daughter’s family this week! We had four days with them in a lovely resort in Indio- just swimming and hanging out. An added treat was having our son-in-law’s parents with us as well- we always enjoy our times with them. We leave today- and it will be sooooo hard to say good-bye to THESE GUYS:
Miles at TEN- so smart, full of facts, and an avid reader. At home he is an outstanding skier (on a ski team with older, bigger kids) and mountain biker. This week, he made a major leap in his swimming skills. And he is still the sweet, loving boy he always has been!
Henry at SEVEN- what a great reader he has become! And he continues to be the friendly, helpful, outgoing little soul he has been since birth. Like Miles, he is a good skier and biker- and is becoming a good swimmer as well. Always Papa’s boy (like Miles), he chose a Hawaiian shirt to meet us on this trip, because he wanted to be like Papa.
These photos were taken one evening while I was watching tv with their daddy (their mommy was at the store with her dad). They were supposed to be in bed, but came out for a few extra cuddles and giggles.
Stay tuned for photos for when the boys got to meet their new cousin, Caleb!
Since Caleb was born, my mind has turned to mush, but my heart has expanded! We are so thrilled to now have THREE grand-boys! We are spending time with our beloved older two now before heading back to Arizona. Life is good!
This is an exciting time in our family- we have a brand new grandson! Caleb is less than two days old- so far he looks like our side of the family but with his mommy’s hair.
Here is our beautiful daughter-in-law with her brand new son.
There is something so touching about seeing your son as new father!
A sweet Alaska memory- Miles showing me some wildflowers
Here are the two main reasons we visit Alaska:
Miles at age 9: bookworm, lego-builder, adventurous skier and mountain biker
Henry at age 6: friend to all, gardener, adventurous skier and mountain biker
These two grow and change so fast- we don’t want to miss a thing!
One of our children’s favorite toys when they were little was a Lite Brite. When I taught preschool, I had one for my students as well. You can imagine how excited we were to find a WALL of Lite Brite at the aquarium. I think Miles would have loved to play there a lot longer.
Life has been too busy and full of fun to do blog posts! We are just home from taking the boys to the airport in Phoenix, and the house seems very empty.
I did post these on Facebook, but never got around to putting them on the blog. Treasure hunts have been a tradition in our family since I was a little girl. This time, a leprechaun upstaged me and borrowed my treasure chest to create a treasure hunt for Miles and Henry on St.Patrick’s Day.
The festivities continued on into the evening with a non-traditional St. Patrick’s day Chinese fried rice dinner and hot fudge cake and ice cream to celebrate the birthday of their 2 year old golden retriever, Penny, who is back home in Alaska. Tons of fun!
The boys are here, and life is good! We are busy with outings and play and just hanging out. I’ll share photos when I can.
My pig collection, probably only about a quarter or less of what I had when I was teaching, has been supplemented with Bun Bun, Ottsie, and Fro Fruie. I’ll be so sad when the boys are too old for stuffed animals!
We have just returned from a weeklong trip to Alaska, where we had a wonderful visit with my daughter’s family in their beautiful new home. Alaska is everything we heard it was and more- majestic peaks, glacial waterways, wildlife, and an abundance of wildflowers. We can’t wait to go back!
Of course the reason for our visit was these guys! They are settling into their new life and were eager to tell us about the otters and other animals they had just seen, as well as the wild berries and mushrooms growing in their yard. They will be starting school in a couple weeks, so their lives will quickly become very busy.
The photos below are from a walk we took at the Eagle River Nature Center, just a few miles from their house.
Next week, I will share some of the photos I took of our short trip to the Kenai Peninsula and our all day boat trip to the Kenai Fjords.
These are just a few of the many expressions that drifted across Henry’s face as he played a game of Mancala (thank you, Debbie!). No one could ever accuse him of being self-conscious!
We are having a major heatwave, so our two days at the Grand Canyon were punctuated by frequent stops to refill water bottles and stand in the shade. The highlight of the trip was the boys being sworn in as Junior Rangers by a close family friend of theirs, who is indeed a big important ranger at the Grand Canyon. The boys completed all the required pages (at different skill levels) of their official Junior Ranger books and then were sworn in front of a small crowd of curious tourists. They already have badges from Yellowstone, but this particular badge was significant because of the friend that did the ceremony for them. A sweet moment! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of them wearing the badges. . .
And here is a shot of the canyon (I’m amazed it’s as sharp as it is, since it was too hot to carry a tripod and the railings were too hot to lean on to steady the camera!):
We just returned from the Grand Canyon and had the joyful experience of watching the boys have their first look at one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Here’s Henry taking it all in:
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