Meeting Ian

In the wee hours of the morning on November first, Brett's sister and her husband welcomed their first baby into the world. We were blessed to visit Tiffany, Mike and baby Ian at the hospital when he was less than a day old. Oh, sweet babies...it's always a treat to snuggle a brand new one. And now Truett seems enormous to me. Ha!

Believe it or not, this was the best picture of our family with Ian. Truett looks a little dazed.

Maren did a wonderful job holding Ian so gently.

I love you, sweet nephew!

Tiffany and Mike are doing great. It's fun to think of the times ahead for them...welcoming a baby into the family is an incredible gift. We're thrilled for them!

Happy Halloween

Maren's cat pumpkin actually turned out pretty cute. She was a tad over-zealous on the marker sketching, but I suppose that adds to the charm.

We had some friends over for chili and cinnamon rolls and trick-or-treating. Truett was a golfer and Maren was a small doctor. Admittedly, I didn't put much effort into the costumes this year. We still had a great time. Sometimes simple is best. Usually simple is best!

The cousins {actually, their grandmas are first cousins...but our families are close enough to just leave it at 'cousins'} Julia, Truett, Maren, Hannah, and Abby. Abby made her costume...she was a rubik's cube.

And the full gang...we are blessed to have such wonderful friends. {Hannah, Julia, Truett, Maren, Will, Abby, Eleanor, and Spiderman Jack} Can you tell they were all a little pre-occupied with the business of candy-collecting?

Dr. Maren...

We let the girls stay up while we played a round of cards. I think they expended all of their energy...and experienced quite the sugar crash at the end of the evening.

Halloween 2012 was lots of fun...I love how simple traditions can become so special with time. And now we welcome November! {Today we got to meet our new nephew...more about our sweet visit with him tomorrow!}

Life lately

Good morning! We've got cinnamon rolls in the oven and chili in the crockpot this morning. Does anyone else enjoy that combination? A friend told me about it a while ago, and we've been hooked ever since. I'm perfecting my cinnamon roll recipe and hopefully I'll share it this winter sometime.

This post was so wonderful...and it's caused me to think about margin in my own life. As much as I dislike busy-ness, it manages to creep into my life in the most well-intending of ways. As the holidays swiftly approach, I am prayerfully considering ways to quiet things down a bit. Maybe I'll share more as time allows. Or maybe I won't. You know, in the interest of fending off busy-ness.

Maren took her pumpkin to preschool last night to carve with Brett. We were charged with the task of 'getting the goop out' first. I am loving that Truett is becoming more and more engaged in our family times. He has turned into quite the proficient climber, to his delight and my distress.  I anticipate a trip to the ER in the coming months...hoping against it, but feeling like it's inevitable!

Anticipation...

I love them...and I love that they love each other.

Truett was so happy until he reached his hand into the slimy pumpkin...after which he FREAKED OUT. He did not like the feel of the pumpkin guts at all. Poor kid. Maren and Brett made a cat-faced-pumpkin. I do not like cats, but Maren does. She has a fake cat that purrs and a pumpkin cat now. That's as close as we'll get to welcoming the sneaky species into our home.

This morning Maren approached me with a ball of yarn and this hippo strapped to a backpack. She insisted that I tie the backpack hippo onto her waist because carrying it around was making her hands sweaty. I do not know where she comes up with this stuff, but I'm glad she does. Her quirky ways make me smile.

Tomorrow I'll share about our Halloween escapades. We've got a golfer and a doctor in the house. And cinnamon rolls and chili. And non-sweaty hands. It's turning out to be a wonderful day.

Insta-october: our month in phone pics

A look at the past month through my phone lens...and maybe even a few September stragglers!

We went to a Brazilian steakhouse for Brett's birthday...it was delicious and a really exciting experience with 2 young children.

Craft group...more on this later!

Such a happy boy

Watching the fish in the grizzly bear exhibit at the zoo

Pausing for a rest in the grizzly bear exhibit

Maren took it upon herself to pack for Michigan during quiet time

Car riding

Pajamas for the plane

Pre-flight wrestling

Wheaton homecoming

Uncle Zach

College friends...Katie and Hannah (hi!)

Waiting for the train in Chicago

City strolling

Waiting for pizza

Giant Michigan pumpkin

Coffee with my mom

Maren playing with my little ponies...literally

Packed for her sleepover with the cousins

Sushi date!

First ballet...Cinderella!

Dancing...I think she asked to be called Jewel or Diamond or some such sparkly object

And Truett is climbing on everything

Book club reading and a charcoal mask that is so great

Again with the climbing

Winter weather cinnamon rolls

Happy October!

October in Michigan: part 2

We had grand plans to spend our last Saturday in Michigan cheering on cousin Paige at her soccer game and taking a family trip to the farm for some good ol' pumpkin hunting and other fall festivities. Sadly, we were greeted on Saturday morning by blustery winds and chilly rain. Maren had the privilege of having a sleepover with her cousins on Friday night. We altered our plans a bit, and still had a memorable day together. We met for donuts and coffee at Forest Hills Foods. What a fabulous grocery store! They had a wonderful little cafe area where we could sit and enjoy our morning. The dads sat with the kids while the moms enjoyed a separate table. We've got some great men in our family! (That's my dad and brother, Ben.)

The 2 boy cousins...Ben and Allison will even things out when they welcome another baby boy sometime in November. (Can't wait!) Truett is a little young to 'play' much with Will, but I hope these two will be good buddies sometime in the future.

Instead of going to the 'farm' we went to an indoor place called Koetsier's. It was a big greenhouse filled with fall activities. The kids had a blast. Maren loved the corn boxes. I'm pretty sure all of the kids went home with some extra corn tucked inside their clothes. :)

I'm so thankful for my Michigan family...Mom, me and Allison.

Do you think they were having fun? There was a maze the kids must have gone through a dozen times.

The three older kids enjoyed painting and glittering pumpkins. We convinced Maren that my parents really wanted a glittery pumpkin at their house...thank goodness we didn't have to carry this home on the plane!

I loved going to church with my mom and dad on Sunday. We don't always go to church when we're back in Michigan, so it was a treat to see people from my past. (We're often at the lake or visiting around the holidays when we get snowed-in!) I also spent some time one afternoon visiting a friend I grew up with who now lives right across the street from my parents. Our girls played while we caught up. Our dads grew up together, and so did we, so we've literally been friends since birth! (Sadly, I didn't take a picture with Carri!) I also neglected to take a picture during our time with my cousin, Jodi, and her family. But we enjoyed a quick visit with them as well. Josh and Jodi had just learned that their 4th baby, due in February, has a heart defect. It was shocking to hear of such a close family member who will be walking the road we walked with Truett. They've been heavy on my heart ever since. I'm so thankful I am able to pray for them and support them during this season. (Love you, Jodi!)

Three generations of girls!

We also spent an evening visiting my grandparents. Truett loves exploring new places. He only lasted about 2 minutes on Grandpa's lap, but I was thankful for this sweet picture.

Grandma and Grandpa lived on the beach in Florida for years, and my Grandma would walk the beach every morning collecting shells. She has a lovely, inspiring collection. Maren loved looking at all the shells, and was thrilled to choose a few to bring back to Colorado with us.

And with that, our trip to Michigan was complete!

I'm off to spend the remaining time with Maren away at school in my craft room. It snowed here last night (!) and I'm working hard getting ready for a little crafter's open house my friend and I are hosting. I'll share more about that soon!