Summer Adventures

I began this blog before our unexpected trip back to TX and wanted to share it even though it goes back to late June through July.

Sit down, grab cup of coffee or tea or your favorite beverage, and enjoy some pictures of our summer! We have had such fun and we are left with extraordinary memories from time spent with family in the past month or so of traveling! We took hundreds of pictures, and actually, I felt overwhelmed by trying to pick any for the blog. These are a sampling and though there are more and better photos from everyone's cameras, these are some favorites from our camera to make it simple. Hopefully you'll get the idea!

We first spent a week with Jeff's family in Estes Park, CO - a special vacation destination with lots of family tradition! Kiran and Ellery had so much fun playing with their cousins, Addie and Doak, and of course Cookie, Papa, Aunt Natalie, and Uncle Keri, too! We had such a great time with everyone! What a restful and playful week in the Rocky Mountains!








After resting for a few days, my dad flew to TN on July 4th. We loved having him here if only for a day to hang out in the backyard and to celebrate the 4th. Then, my dad drove with Kiran, Ellery, and me to TX for a visit with family. Daddy stayed behind for 2 weeks! We had a great trip with Grandad. The drive was not too bad, and the kids did really well. We had a special time with all of my family. We stopped for a night to see Ninny and Glenn. What a fabulous adventure. Kiran had such a great time on their "ranch." Debbie and Tommy came for dinner that night, and it was such a blessing to see everyone! I realized it had been since early in our marriage that Jeff and I had been to Ninny's! We drove on westward again the next day. It was wonderful to visit with Sal. Amanda and Kurt got to stay 5 days with us, and of course we spent lots of fun time with Granna and Grandad. We drove to see David, Karen, Kirk, Kade, and the goats! And, June came to meet us at the park. All in all, we are just more and more grateful for our sweet families all the time and can't wait to see them again soon!







Ellery is Walking!





















After a week with my family, the kids and I met Cookie and Papa. Then, we all drove to pick up Natalie, Addie and Doak to drive to Missouri for a family reunion and special celebration of Pa's 80th birthday. More road trip! And, again, the kids did amazingly well! We spent time at Big Cedar Lodge (we are so glad Aunt Mardi knew about this great resort) and Table Rock Lake - such a fun place to take a family! There was so much to do and see! All of the kids loved playing together again so soon (it's usually 6 months between visits!)! And, we all felt so blessed to spend time with Ma and Pa and most of Jeff's extended family! I missed pictures of the teenagers in our group, but what wonderful young guys and girls they are, and Kiran had a blast getting to know them!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ellery! (Updated)

We celebrated Ellery's 1st birthday in Colorado! Here is our sweet girl on her special day!


Kiran picked Ellery's birthday party theme! He knows just how much his sister loves BANANAS, and he thought she should have a cake with bananas on it. Then, we thought about how our little girl is quite a little monkey, and the rest was history! :)

Rody!

Big Brother is great at helping open presents!
Opening a specially wrapped gift by Addie and Aunt Nat with Colorado wildflowers on top!
Birthday fun with cousins! (Poor Doak, we scared him trying to get the kids to smile! )
Yummy! Ellery loved the CAKE, but she ate the banana bites out of her bowl first!

Big Cousin Addie eating monkey cake!You can't celebrate a 1st birthday without boots and jeans, folks!

Cookie and Doak playing!
Mommy and Daddy help blow out the candle!

The Fam in front of our wonderful cabin!


Thanks so much, Cookie and Aunt Natalie, for all of these wonderful pictures!

Steppin' Out with My Baby!!!

Ellery took 4 steps today! She was super excited and so were we! Kiran did a great job of cheering her on! She has been standing up from a squatting position then staying there for a few seconds for the past 3 days. And, she has tried to to take a couple of steps before, but crashed. Today, it all came together and off she went.

We can hardly believe that in one week Ellery will be 1 year old! I know this saying is overstated, but, " This year has flown by!" We will be in Colorado for her birthday, so I wanted to share some of Ellery's activities from the past couple of months, and we'll have a birthday blog after we get home.

Things Ellery has been up to:
1. Ellery is famous for her motor noises, now, just like her brother! It is hilarious to hear her "start" the riding toys!
2. Ellery loves climbing - since the last blog where she was walking up the slide, she can now reach the top, but hasn't quite figured out how to turn around when she gets there.
3. She has 4 teeth!
4. Ellery is saying several words! They are not always plain to everyone, but Mommy, Daddy and Kiran can understand most like, "Mom-ma" "Dad-da" "Bub-ba," "Book," "Ball," " Dink" for drink, "Eyes," "Duck," "Bath."
5. When I put lotion on, Ellery puts her hands together and rubs just like she is putting lotion on, too. It is too cute!
6. Ellery loves water! Playing in water is her favorite thing to do outside!
7. Ellery has been walking holding on to walls to go room to room for about a month.
8. Ellery loves putting things around her neck - a real no-no for this age, but definitely makes a statement. She gets purses, ribbons, play necklaces, and puts them around herself with no prompting from us.
9. I just can't say enough how much fun it is to see Ellery and Kiran playing together. They are true buddies, now! And, it is very evident now that they are brother and sister. For as much fun as they have together, they definitely find themselves wanting the toy the other one has. And, Ellery can hold her own vocally regarding these situations!
10. Ellery is so sweet. She loves hugging and giving pats around our necks! And, even though she usually wants to be on the go, she is a great cuddler!

Happy Father's Day!

Today, I am especially thankful for 3 dads I know well: my dad, Phil (Jeff's dad), and Jeff! What a blessing to have the gift of incredible fathers!

To my wonderful husband, I say thank you for all that you do to love our children. It is so obvious that they have an amazing relationship with you. It is such a joy for me to see their excitement and anticipation just before you walk in the door each evening! Kiran and Ellery know they can count on Daddy to be ready to play, to teach, to get excited about bugs and sticks and blowers and weedeaters and silly sounds even when (especially when) they happen over and over again. Thank you for being such a great dad!

Missing Farmer

Tonight was my girls' night out night! Yea! I'll post more about this later. Anyway, the first thing Jeff said when I got home was, "I have a story to tell you." Apparently, Jeff went upstairs to check on the kids sometime after I left. He went into their room, bent over to give Kiran a kiss, and our child was not in his bed. Not on the floor. Not in the room. This might seem okay, but we had put a gate up (this helps Kiran stay in bed most nights, and he usually asks for it). Jeff said he had noticed I had put the gate up really high, so he thought maybe Kiran had crawled under. Sure enough, he went on a hunt for our son in our bedroom, and there Kiran was curled up in our bed (still asleep even though Jeff had turned the light on in the room when he first went upstairs). The story gets better. . . Tonight, Kiran had decided to wear only boxers to bed (like Daddy) with no shirt. I had wondered if he might get cold since he is not used to this attire. But, our child is a great problem-solver! As Jeff leaned over to pick Kiran up and return him to his bed, Jeff realized Kiran had taken a clean sundress of Ellery's from the bed (from a pile of clothes that were not yet put away) and had somehow covered himself as best he could by pulling the straps of the dress over his arms. What a boy!