Weekend in Murrieta

After a fun Friday drive, 

(I'm serious. I LOVE driving with this fam) 

we woke up at Aunt Caitlynn's and Uncle Zach's!!

Brother in-laws...They stick together.

Graham was thrilled to put shoes on 

and head to the Farmer's Market.

Dropping a nap is tough, buddy. 

Jaff is his BFFffffff.

Hi Bell family and Asian produce.

Dummies.

Kyle stood for a good 7 minutes and gawked at the crepes. 

We started to get in line...maybe next time, love.

Perfect fall weather.

Sweet, sweet, SWEET.

Cutie snacks can get messy up there...

Walks through Pleasantville. Stepford. 

Or any other perfect neighborhood on TV. 

Sometimes Graham just wants to walk in duck poop.

Duck poop island, probably.

We love you guys.

Instagramed inspired.

Well, hello...

This boy...

Graham adores Aunt Caitlynn.

It's mutual.

Hey Ducks.

Hey leaky, half-dead, miracle, parking lot, turtle.

A delightful weekend, Cait and Zach.

Thank you for letting us take over your apartment 

(and bedroom!)for the weekend.

We looked forward to it for forever.

Repeat?

While Mom is away...

I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude.

I don't know how to even express 

how thankful I am for my mom and 

how she loves on Graham 3-4 days a week. 

All I can ever come up with is 

"thank you, I don't know how to thank you enough."

Being at work is annoying. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm so blessed to have a job and love where and who I work with...

But how can your heart not want to be with your own son?

Knowing that he gets to spend the day with Grandma fills my heart with inexplicable peace, joy, gratitude, and relief. 

Thank you, Mom, for giving up your days. 

Thank you for your generosity, encouragement, and selflessness. You are a true blessing.

I especially love getting little pictures of G-Unit adventures through out the day. He LOVES going to Grandma's.

Longreach Adventures:

Feeding ducks in Bear Valley Springs.

One for ducky. One for Graham.

One for ducky. One for Graham.

Another special relationship that 

I adore seeing develop...

Graham gets to see "Papa" and "GG" 

about every other week.

So much to love about this.

Hello friend...

Fun in GG's sandbox on Turnagin Ct.

These two...

Sheesh. It's a love/hate relationship.

But mostly love. 

Graham plays fetch with Molly now. 

So that helps.

Park time with Grandma is way fun 

now that Graham is a walker, crawler, explorer.

Who would have thought this boy was ready 

for Chad's old Brio train set??

Not I. 

It's more of an obsession really... 

He can really do it! And looooooves it.

Who wouldn't want to spend their days at 1208?

All Grown Up Now...

Lot's of growth around here...

Things currently GROWING on Roehampton Avenue:

Color in our yard!

Peace out brown dirt beds.

Well, one dirt bed at a time.

Well, one a year.

Graham Thomas.

 The boy's imagination and love of 

trucks, dirt, and rocks.

New Boxwoods, Iceberg White Roses, 

and corner color!!

Our love of Da! Da! Da!

And wanting him to see and be excited 

about everything new we see...

Graham's mobility!! 

He's a speedy crawler, but at 14 months 

he can now take 5 to 6 steps...

He just prefers to crawl...

Soon, G, soon.

Baby 2! And this belly of mine.

22 weeks... 

I'm loving feeling this little life 

growing inside of me.

He's kicking, rolling, stretching, 

and I love that I can feel him move 

more and more each day.

(Clearly this picture is more symbolic then literal.)

GTU's development! 

Legos? Seriously? Already?

I don't know, obviously this is my first kid.

But watching him stack Legos the right way 

and push with all his might 

with his little tongue out...

Sheesh. We're going with genius on this one.

Aaaaaand this just in, 

Graham's bottom molars are growing in!

So naps, not so much this weekend.

But gnawing on dirt and rocks?

Yes please.

Weekend Haps.

Weekend at hoooooooome!!

And the first weekend that if felt like 

Fall may finally be upon us.

Windows open, cool breeze, no sweat...

Sigh, I think I forget what it feels like every year.

Welcome back 70 degrees...

Saturday morning we were trash picker-uppers 

at Independence High School.

My trash bag got cut off so it looks like I'm flexing.

We allotted different point values to 

certain pieces of trash...

Kyle won in points. 

(He found the "big" winner.)

I won in weight. 

Graham won in charm.

I'm sure comparing is frowned upon 

when you are serving but oh well. 

We had fun.

Later we had a lunch outing at In-n-Out...

and I fell in love with my boys a little bit more.

One, or both of my boys, needed a hair cut.

Problem: 

1.Graham wants to play outside ALL the time now.

2. We have zero outside toys except a plastic pool. 

(which can offer some fun learning how to pretend moments)

3. We don't really have room in our budget to load up the backyard.

SOLUTION: 

Spying a box with the words FREE 

written on it in our neighborhood, 

and glancing quickly enough to see 

a bulldozer arm emerge!!

Thank you generous neighbors!!! Free trucks!!!

Oh also, Kyle thought he'd give the 

free screen door a shot, too.

Objects on curb are larger then they appear.

Woops.

A ill-fitting diaper combined with a poop 

resulted in an impromptu nakey pool time. 

We love when the Swens come over...

Graham is so drawn to them.

Thanks for being our spontaneous pals.

And for staying late, conversing, 

laughing, and being weird with us...

So delightful.

Haircuts!! 

Look at these handsome guys.

I love you, you snicky baby, you...

You are becoming such a big boy...

And I treasure each day.

Birthday's and Goodbyes

Last weekend, well two weekends ago, 
was a wonderful down south weekend!

It was one of those weekends that I 
looked forward to all month long. 
But I also pushed part of it in the 
very, very back corner of my mind. 
It was Erin and Jill birthday weekend! 
But also our last moments with Erin 
before she leaves for Berlin for a year.

We started the weekend helping our dads cash in on a 
Father's Day gift to a Dodger game.
It was awesome. 
We were with our dads.
We were super close.
We got drinks and Dodger dogs.
We won!
I said hi to Ed Helms while 
fixing my Dodger dog soooooooo... 
Yeah much awesomeness. 

And we got to go on the field afterwards!
For fireworks!
That were set to Frank Sinatra tunes!

I felt a rush of sentimentality.
The last time we were on the field I said "yes" 
and promised marry my best friend.
Sigh.

After a slumber party at Erin and Jill's apartment, 

we soaked up the last of the summer sun with 

a stroll down the streets of Downtown Fullerton. 

By soaked I mean we were dripping in sweat. 

But still, quality time.

(Peggy and Jill you were greatly missed and 

we are terribly sorry about the 

free-single-cup-coffee-maker-giveaway-and-tow-away. 

I'll never look at a Keurig the same.)

A used book sale and a park were nice 

little stops along the way.

No pictures of the library stop...

but they did take our picture for the 

"Friends of the Fullerton Library" blog soooooo...

That counts for something somewhere 

on the world wide web.

Birthday dinner! 

It really did feel like a holiday... 

So delicious. So enjoyable.

Married, parents, best friends.

Jenny came to the birthday dinner!  

So lovely to have new friends around the table. 

Such a trooper to put up with all of us.

So blessed with sisters that I adore.

Quarter of a century sisters at that.

Our last picture of togetherness until Fall 2013...

Weird. 

I wish we took more pictures. I guess I dropped that ball. 

But what a perfect evening to celebrate. 

My heart was filled with admiration 

and love for Erin and Jill. 

The night overflowed with laughter and tears.

We prayed together, hugged a bajillion times, 

and tried to soak up the final minutes. 

Grahamy fell asleep on Erin's chest while we prayed. 

Sweetest thing ever.

I'll visit a goodbye post another time... 

For now, such a lovely weekend. 

I thank the Lord over and over 

for graciously blessing me with a family 

that loves me, loves each other, and loves Him so well...