Photo Shoot Preview

Thought I'd post a couple of shots from our family photo shoot yesterday. Thankfully it was a gorgeous day, at a gorgeous park. And our photographer was awesome and very easy to work with. I'd recommend her!

Look Ma, No Training Wheels!

Mike had yesterday off of work and took Aaron out for a little bike ride. This time it was with a full-fledged bike for little people -- pedals, but no training wheels! Mike gave Aaron about five minutes of help before Aaron realized he could do it on his own. He's off to the races! :)

You'll have to come visit if you want evidence (or you can just watch this video.) :)



There goes our little man!

Some Pictures From Our Amazing Trip To AZ

Spending time with my the Gore and Stone families. My sister and her family live in Maricopa; the Stones live in Mesa.


Lucia with one of the Stone children.


Sasha


Lucia


September 11th parade in Prescott


Ditto


Prescott


We loved the rock formations in this city!

We had a blast traveling around the state of Arizona and spending time with Melanie and her sweet family. We were there a little over a week and enjoyed seeing the Gores' beautiful new home. We also fell in love with a cute little town called Prescott. We strolled down to the town center the night we were there to find people dancing to live jazz music. It was almost surreal! We loved the charm, beauty, and relative simplicity of the town. (Not to mention really good shopping.) ;) Prescott was less than two hours from the Gores' home in Maricopa.

The trip coincided with the wedding reception of a friend I grew up with. She lives in Arizona, and her reception was in Mesa. To describe the reception as beautiful would not be doing it justice -- I will just leave it at that! It was a swanky outdoors celebration, and the bride and groom were stunning. I'm so glad Melanie and I got to venture out for a night and go! Thanks to the hubbies for jointly watching the kids for us. :)

Fun trip! We hope to go back again sometime.

Cowboy Lovin'

Grant giving a kiss to his sweet new cousin Sarah. Grandma Stathis looking on.


Cowgirl Leah and Cowboy Aaron posing in front of "pin-the-badge on the sheriff" poster. In addition to that game, the kids played horse shoes. Well, sort of! Top two pictures taken from Traci's blog - thanks for getting the great pictures, Traci!


Aaron with his dad and Grandpa Mathis.

We celebrated Aaron's 3rd birthday with a small cowboy party. We had so much fun, and it was wonderful (as always!) to see family. I'm realizing more and more what a great blessing it is to live near loved ones!

Aaron is fascinated with cowboys and was thrilled to play the part. He donned each guest with a cowboy hat and collapsed before they all left. Ahh, the life of a 3-year-old! We love our little cowboy!

When Baby Grant Smiles

... my heart melts! I seriously don't think I could have asked for a sweeter, more loving little boy. He is now saying quite a few words: daddy, papa, mama, bye-bye, hi, thank you, and uh-oh. I feel like he understands a lot of what I say to him. He is a joy!


Playing in the airport on the way to Arizona.


He also gives great hugs! Here he is with sweet cousin Sasha in Arizona.

Fifteen-Month Stats for Baby Grant

Yes, we're still calling him 'Baby Grant.' Habit I suppose!

Height: 31 1/4 inches ~ 50th percentile
Weight: 24 pounds 10 ounces ~ 50th percentile

Catching Up

Not sure if anyone reads our blog anymore, but I posted a few new entries tonight to try to get caught up!

This summer has been good - and busy! I got a job working at the front desk of a country club-ish gym. It is a sweet job. I just work five hours one evening a week, and I get free access to everything at the gym! It has a wonderful daycare, so I can work out during the day, and it's a very nice, clean facility. It boasts indoor/outdoor pools and tennis courts, weights, machines, classes, etc. I can also put Aaron and Grant in the daycare for free while I work so Mike can go for a bike ride when he gets home from work. Definitely a great blessing.

A highlight of the summer has been getting to see so much family and getting to spend some quality time with my sister Melanie and her beautiful girls. They came to escape the blazing-hot Arizona summer. We spent a week with them at my parents' house, and then they came to Richmond to visit us for a couple of days. Melanie treated the kids and me to a day at the Richmond Children's Museum, which was a lot of fun. Thanks Melanie!! We enjoyed having you and hope one day we can live closer!