I love Sundays

It's so energizing to me when we actually get a day, all of us together, where we laugh, rest well, accomplish things around the house, and do it all really enjoying each other. Those are my favorite days. I would always get so annoyed when I'd ask my mom 'Mom what do you want for Christmas?' or 'Mom what would you like for your birthday?'

She'd always answer 'I just want to spend time with you and your sisters.' I always wanted her to say 'A sweater would be nice, or a necklace.' Something easy and fun. I never understood why she wanted to just be with us, until now. It truly fills me up to be with my family.

Merrick is 7 months now! He's a whopping 23lbs, 30 inches, blabbing and humming, sitting up, and trying so hard to crawl. It's a bit harder for the really chubby guys... He loves the bath, anything Weston does, being outside, and snuggling.

Although he has more energy than anyone I know, Weston can surprisingly sit still and concentrate very well with his Playmobil people. A very lucky boy opened up a special gift from Grandma Joyce and Grandpa George today. A barn with animals and every little detail you can imagine that would belong in a very upscale horse stable, made by Playmobil. We walked into his bedroom and he had each horse lined up with a person grooming it, perfectly in a row... in some ways, (very few), he's a bit more like his mamma.

Love

Relationships are the best gift I believe anyone can give. To have a loving relationship with family, friends, and Christ, is my deepest desire for my boys as they grow. Since we've moved closer to our families, they all have amazed Ryan and me by selflessly giving their time with visits, phone calls, special gifts, and hosting us over the last couple of years.

Thank you for loving our little guys and playing such an amazing part in our life "story".

Lots of special visits

Great Grandma Emily and Great Grandpa Don, gave us tons of hugs and yummy treats...

Merrick and Marin met for the first time! Weston was so excited to show Eli all of Grammy's toys. They are getting so big!

Great Grandpa Keith and Great Grandma Jean came to visit and even played soldier with West. They are such great sports!

What a week!

How to tell if Spencer really loves you? He brought Weston an extra vacuum, just for him to play with. Vacuums are gold to Spencer... especially sharing them at Grammy's house.

We've started an annual tradition to celebrate my Oma, Uncle Tony and spend time with my overwhelmingly big family on my mom's side. It was a total success, very well done Mom! We made over 400 cookies, a few dozen loaves of German bread, and a classic Grandma Trudy dinner to feed us all.

Everyone was there, even Auntie Emmers!

The fun never stops when Grammy's in charge.

Fire Station

Weston and I hosted "ABC School" this week and were we ever lucky! We walked around the block to our local fire station and had a full tour. The kids were incredibly cute, curious, and well behaved. The firemen did a great job teaching and kindly let the kids explore everything. I even learned a bit! Weston was thrilled to see all of their 'gear'.

Smiles

If there's one thing you can count on Merrick for, it's smiles. They are so precious, I just find myself squeezing him all the time. He's quite happy in our friends 'Jeep'; moving around with a bit more freedom. He's on his way to seven months! Crazy.

Family

We shared lots of smiles, delicious food, and quality time with Meme and Papa. There's nothing quite like family; we sure are blessed to have so many wonderful people to share our lives with.

Hey, you guys ever heard of bed head?! xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving

They made it! Meme and Papa are here to play with us for the weekend and boy are we excited... Weston is running around in circles, wrestling everyone and everything. With all of his 'gear' on, of course.

Ryan's yummy turkey that he was just a bit proud of.

You can't have holidays without being festive! Weston helped us decorate pilgrim hats with very fancy stickers and sang us jingle bells. Thank you Lord for all of our wonderful family!

Playing

I left the boys in Merrick's room for a minute this morning by themselves. I went back in to find them giggling together, Weston told me he build Merrick a 'nest' out of blankets. I am so thankful they are such loving brothers! Merrick thinks Weston is hilarious and laughs at almost everything he does.

Double turkey time!!!

Weston "the knight in shining armor", had a special visit from Grandpa George this weekend. The giver of West's new daily soldier attire also cooked us a delicious, 'pre-Thanksgiving' feast!

We're hosting Meme and Papa this week for Thanksgiving and will get yet another wonderful weekend of special memories and yummy food.

Merrick was a little unsure at first, but after the first few hours Grandpa had him smiling and laughing all day long.

Thanks Grandpa George for all of your help!

Advent Conspiracy

This idea has changed our lives (for the better!), at Christmas. But even better, it's opened our eyes to the direct impact we have on so many other lives across the world. The power to save families, little kids, who die because they don't have access to clean water. I can't imagine if I couldn't give Weston and Merrick clean water. Because I'm shopping less and being more intentional with my time and money, it gives me the opportunity to give more of myself; to my family and friends, the most special gift of all! I know I sound dramatic, but the truth is dramatic. Check out the video and read the stories on the website. Thanks...

Happy boy!

I keep forgetting that Merrick is growing bigger everyday. He's more capable of doing new things, like the swings! He loved it.

A special weekend with Daddy

Ryan took us out for a family drive and a good old country breakfast. The colors were beautiful and there were cute little farm animals to feed, pumpkins to look at and lots of room to run.

A "Trick or Treat" preview...

After these photos Weston added some muscles to his costume. Now he's really a superhero!

Thank you Grammy!

Last week Grammy made an extra special trip to visit us, and oh were we excited!

This chubby guy has already out grown the clothes she brought him...

"Are you talking about me mom?"... He's my rolly, polly, jolly, sweet boy. (Thanks for the studly pj's Pam!)

House guests!

Last weekend we were able to hang out with the Cameron's! Ryan and Mac went mountain biking and we played and showed Tanner around town...until, the HUGE rain storm drenched us from head to toe. At least we got outside.

They were good company for one another; energetic, wild boys. We finished off the evening with s'mores, yum!

Pumpkin Patch

What to do on a beautiful, dry Fall morning? Pumpkin patch! It was an adventure hauling the pumpkins and the boys...

There was no one else there! We were the only ones who thought heading out to the fields on a Monday morning was a good idea!

All the more fun for us!

Just try it

Merrick is my big boy, very chubby indeed, and I love him. He's been eying our food, grabbing, and chewing on everything, so I thought he should try some food. Not what I expected though, he's not quite a fan yet. We'll try it again tomorrow!

To make the weekend the best it could be, we were able to spend it with Grandpa! He helped Daddy winterize the garden (it's getting cold!), played Legos, cooked, and blessed us with his company. Thanks Grandpa!

First things first...

Last weekend was very special. Uncle Rob and Aunt Katie came to see us, and some minor little detail about running the Portland Marathon or something like that... Katie has finished some ridiculous number of marathons and is going to continue her crazy love for them a couple of more times this year. Way to go Katie!!! Later last week Weston and I hosted "ABC School" at our house. Yes, I was the teacher. It was great; partly because West loves it so much and my wonderful friend, Krista, was staying with us. She happens to be a kindergarten teacher and kindly took over for me with the kids numerous times. Here are the kids, during snack time, listening to teacher Krista read a story.

Our visit to Los Angeles

A work trip for Daddy, a wonderful wedding for Mommy, Disneyland, friends, the beach, and sunshine! We were so lucky to stay with our dear friends the Patays, who shared all their toys, home, and made us feel completely relaxed. Weston moved right in and spent tons of time in the garage play room. We loved being able to visit with all of our friends. Thanks for such a wonderful time!

Disneyland

If I'm completely honest, I've always thought people who take children under 10 to Disneyland are crazy. They won't remember, it's over stimulation at it's best, and never completed without a total breakdown. Merrick was wonderful, although I did feel a bit guilty dragging him on rides that made his eyes as huge as can be as he tried to absorb his surroundings.

But, somehow here we are, pushing through the crowds with the rest of them. It was absolutely a wonderful time and Weston was so happy, after recovering from no nap and at least 90 degree weather. He was so cute and very thankful to go on all the rides. We were able to spend the whole day with our friends, the Websters. Weston and Eden loved exploring together, and Desi and Logan are great tour guides being season ticket holders!

Beach time!

Weston has no fear of the water, he's hilarious to watch in the waves.

Ryan had some people approach him who he thought wanted him to take their picture. They were actually asking permission to take Weston's photo. He ate it up and started rolling around in the sand posing for them. He is so dramatic it kills me sometimes.

Playing

This is a picture of Weston (above), at about 6 months. Below is a picture of Merrick in the same toy. I think they are two very different boys, both so handsome!

While I'm at work on Saturdays I often wonder how the boys are doing at home. This is what they do while I'm away. Oh how fun to be with daddy!