Buddies

 

These two honestly have the sweetest relationship. I'm so grateful.

Our Annie

Happy Birthday to the sweetest, kindest, happiest, most darling eleven-year old we know!
We think you are absolutely amazing Annie girl.  And are so grateful you are in our family.

(Eleven fast years and this girl continues to be as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.)

Nathan and his coat of many colors

Gratefully, his siblings won't be offering him up for sale anytime soon. Or ever.

Ben's first bus ride and preschool field trip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember something similar about, oh let's see, yesterday or so?

Baby boy

This baby boy is eleven months old.
And every bit this sweet.

Some visitors across the street

Adam and Kaylie

Remember when I talked about how Jacob's brother, Adam, is living with us for a few months? But come December, will be marrying the beautiful Kaylie? And that they will not only be getting married, but will consequently stop living 2396 miles apart?  And that the one weekend Kaylie came to visit last month, I didn't get any photos of them? Yeah, that last part was dumb.

But sweet Kaylie sent me the photo below, at my request, and now all is well. Because I can at least represent them on our blog.  They are truly two of my favorite people ever. And not just because Adam praises my cooking every night and is one of those good-to-the-core kind of guys. Or because Kaylie makes me laugh and makes me want to be a kinder, better person. But mostly because they are just awesome.

Anyone else counting down the days until their wedding in Orlando? My guess is that the excitement our kids feel, not to mention Jacob and I, does not even come close to Adam and Kaylie's constant countdown. And who could blame them? Not me for sure.

Marriage. Is. The. Best.

Fall soccer ~ Nathan style

 

Fall soccer ~ Benjamin style

Ben was finally old enough to sign up for a season of soccer and I'm pretty positive there is
nothing more darling than watching a bunch of Pre-K kids run up and down a field, all trying
to get the same ball. They were hilarious and several of them were really good. Although
I do have to admit, at times I felt a bit guilty. I'm pretty positive Ben was the only one in the
group that had three older siblings that played soccer with him nearly every day. It really
wasn't fair, but I was so proud of our guy for being calm about the whole thing and even
though he handled the ball a lot and scored his share of goals, he was really concerned
that the others got a chance too. And not just on his team. Boy do I love our Benjamin.

And boy does he love soccer.

 

 

Fall soccer ~ Matthew style

Fall soccer ~ Annie style

 

 

Fall soccer ~ Campbell style

 

 

Big brothers are the best

Park break in between soccer games

A beautiful photo courtesy of Annie

And courtesy of our new backyard view.  Bitter much?

Rock climbing, with a long prologue

Did I mention Jacob's brother is staying with us for a little while? And that his fiancé flew out to visit for the weekend a couple of weeks ago? And that they have to live in separate states for the fall semester of school? But that come December, they will be getting married and get to live in the same state?  Maybe not. More on that later. But what in the world does that have to do with rock climbing? Glad you asked.

When Kaylie was here visiting, she and Adam, along with Jacob and the kids, went rock climbing. Since Nate hasn't quite mastered the art of climbing rocks (everything else in the house, yes, but large boulders, no), I stayed home with him.

And as you can see below, from the fabulous pictures Kaylie took (thanks Kaylie!), they had a great time. The three oldest kids made it to the top and back down again. And Ben, true to his adventureous self, made it very close to the top. And Jacob is just wonderful and handsome.  And Kaylie and Adam are fabulous. Which is why I need a photo of them. How I got through the whole weekend without one of those is beyond me. I plan to remedy that the second the two of them are together in Boston again.

Until then, we'll just focus on these fabulous rock climbing photos. And be glad we have fun uncles and future aunts that are exciting and fun and invite us to be exciting and fun along with them.