The First Three

These three spent a lot of time together...for six years.  

Some of my favorite  photos are the ones of the three of them. 

Cousins...Elijah, Charlotte, and Penelope.

2009

You didn't have to ask them to hold hands.  They just did.

They really love playing together.

2012

Happy, Happy, Happy!
Not really realizing that this would be there last 
threesome photo shoot for a while.  But I knew....

2015

Hope my family notices that these photos are 2009, 2012, & 2015.  
That means a (whole) family reunion is due in 2018...for sure!

Family Fun

  A trip to the Zoo provides a lot of opportunities to see animals.  

It provides opportunities to mimic them too!

Charlotte enjoyed walking like a Chimpanzee.  

She's got the knuckles part down pretty good.  

Now if only her legs weren't so long!!

Here she is practicing her Chimpanzee communication expressions.  

This "full closed grin" means "I am afraid. 

There is danger nearby."

I think Charlotte has the "full closed grin" perfected.  

Lulu....she's been working on the "Relaxed Face"...which means "I'm OK, You're OK."  

I guess she isn't phased by the "nearby danger"! 

I'm not real sure what Charlotte is practicing here.  

Maybe her Gorilla stance...or perhaps her unhappiness at not 

being able to climb the rocks! 

Here we have the easiest pretending of all...and two of my 

favorite photos from our trip to the Zoo!

  

Happy Halloween!

 

At first, we were a little disappointed to learn that Main Street in Disneyland Paris would be decorated for Halloween while we were there. 

It would have been nice to see it without all the orange!

But it was really nicely done...and I for one was pleased with all the happy Halloween finery!

 

 

Thanks to Mark, there's a photo with me in it! I'm behind the camera 99% of the time. 

 

 

Main Street....filled with pumpkins and musical ghosts.

 

 

The colors were amazing...even with the overcast skies we had most days there.

 

 

Sleeping Beauty's castle.

 

 

Our two little "masterpieces"!

 

Not only is Mark wearing a cute bow, he also has "rabbit ears" thanks to Katie!

Mandy met a new friend.

Lulu met THREE new friends!

Charlotte's turn!

 

Hope you have

a very

Happy Halloween!!! 

Love This Photo.

It's a little grainy...I took it with my phone...but I love this photo!!

We went to a park and this bunch had a blast.  I took quite a few "action shots" but I really 

wanted them to "pose" for one.  This is the result!

Elijah had just finished crying, Penelope was crying, Caleb just wanted to escape 
(Hey Elijah, thanks for hanging on to him!), and Charlotte was looking at her shoes, 
oblivious to it all!

This shot earns the "my favorite photo of the week" award!!
  

Ain't Life Grand!

I borrowed some photos from the Instagram feeds of Katie, Joe, and Johanna; and from Jacqi's Facebook page.  I love visiting them...it's the best place to see some really adorable kids!

Lots of fun for the "littles" the past couple weeks!

Charlotte on her first day of 1st grade...showing off her toothy grin!

Caleb visited the State Fair on Sunday....here he is cruising in a banana!

Elijah went to the fair too!  Look at all the stuffed animals he won!

Lulu knows the importance of exercise....she loves her giraffe cycle!

Fletcher loves beets, Penelope loves the Tire park, and yes, they definitely
look like brother and sister!

I am so grateful to have these sweet children in my life!

Before and During

Katie and her family have been staying with us while their only full bathroom has been undergoing a transformation.  Having 2 more adults and two small children in the house all the time has been fun...mostly!  :)  No where is the addition of them more evident (to me) than the kitchen and dining room.  The first photo was taken the day before they arrived.  The second one was taken Monday night.  This is after we cleaned up from dinner.

August 4, 2014

August 18, 2014

Yes, that is a bottle of wine in the above photo...see it there on the right?  It's still unopened...I'm saving it for the day they're able to move back to their own home.  I want to celebrate the quietness that follows their departure the completion of their bathroom!

You can see s little bit of the transformation if you visit Katie's Instagram....the link is in the sidebar.

Really it hasn't been bad at all...in fact Bill and I both commented about how we'll miss them. We'll just have to adjust to regular visits again. (and the clean counter) 

Oh, and speaking of Instagram....take a peek at my page.  Click on the photo of the white box that has arms and legs (it's actually a video). You'll get a ten second sample of some of the entertainment we got to enjoy the past two weeks!!

Party Time!

Earlier this month we celebrated Caleb's birthday...bet you can't guess how old he is!  Those balloons stayed on the window for about three minutes!!

 

 

The party was at our house...we had a house full of littles!! Eleven to be exact. So many cute faces.  It was hard catching some of them "not in motion"...at least until the food was served!

 

Caleb and Charlotte sharing a seat at the picnic table I recently "picked" from a neighbor's trash!!

Mr. Elijah's new haircut has aged him...he looks at least 7 in this photo!!

Fletcher is reading some real estate literature.

 

Lulu was watching everything going on around her...all

the while hanging onto those balloon strings!

Penelope's expression seems to say, "Gramma, you sure do take a lot of pictures"!

Here are some extra littles...Caleb's party guests!
 

 

Fun times...memories made...and a happy birthday boy!

Mission accomplished!!

Caleb

Up...

Down...

Up...

Down.

I guess he likes it!