Aug. Trip to Boston

We were able to visit Mark's family in mid August. We had a really great time and got to do all kinds of fun stuff.

Hudson and Gamma playing WITH checkers.
Ice cream at Kimball's... the best ice cream on the planet.

Mark and Elliot with Pa.

Several of the afternoons were spent splashing around in the pool. Everyone got wet even if they didn't intend to! :)
We were able to see our good friends Dawn, Savannah and Andy several times during our trip.
Mark's parents were gracious enough to send Mark and I on a Boston harbor dinner cruise for our anniversary. It was a beautiful night and wonderful treat.
View of the city from our cruise.

Auntie Anne with the boys and me.

Mark and Hudson with Ma and Pa at a fish pond.

Uncle Dave took our friend Andy, Mark and Hudson out on the ocean in his Boston Whaler. Hudson couldn't get enough.
This is all the great grand kids. From the left... Elliot, Nathanael, Hudson, Danielle and Luke, which are Mark's cousin Erika's kids, and then sweet Tatum.
Ma giving Nathanael a bottle.
Kelly and Alora with Tatum.

Grumps

Have you ever seen such pouty faces? They were both being punks at breakfast one morning so I thought I'd take a few pictures to show them when they're 25.

1st Rice Cereal

We've just started giving Nathanael solid food. This was one of his first rounds of rice cereal. He did pretty good except he kept wanting to suck his fingers in between bits.

Our Little Gladiator

Nathanael had to get a Doc Band helmet to reshape his head. He had a tight neck muscle that made him tilt and rotate to the right, which in the process caused some flat spots and misshaping. It kind of looks like a gladiator helmet. Here are a few pics.

We had another opportunity to see Kenan and Emsleigh. She and Nathanael are either having a wrestling match or Emsleigh is trying to get some love, not sure which. :)

He's so cute I think I might be a little sad when the helmet has to go away!

Tatum Faith

Mark's sister, Kelly and her husband, Dave had a baby on July 11th! We've been waiting for her for a long time! Thanks be to God for her safe arrival.

Isn't she a cutie!?!

Hud's Big Fish

My mom took Hudson fishing and low and behold he caught 2 within a 30 minute period. He caught a large-mouth bass and a catfish, both of which weighed probably 4 or 5 lbs. They were BIG! and he was SUPER excited. Not bad for his 2nd time out!

5 Year Anniversary

It's gone unbelievably fast, but we happy to say we been married 5 years this July. My mom took all 3 boys so we could spend the weekend in Grapevine at the Gaylord Texan. It was a great time. So nice to wake up when I wanted too! :)

The hotel had a huge atrium with a river walk, beautiful plants and flowers, and fountains. This was a really pretty flower I'd never seen it before.

This guy was dressed and painted to look like a statue and sat in the atrium for all to stare at him.

This is a picture of the atrium from our room.

Family vacation

In June, we took a road trip up to Missouri. Our first time to drive so far with all the boys. We broke up the trip and they did great. Our first stop was in Oklahoma city where we stayed with our friends Ryan and Dara Steward. Unfortunately this is another experience that I neglected to take pictures of. Thankfully Dara is much better at this than I am. If you want to look at pictures of our time with the Stewards, check out her blog. It was a great time catching up with them. Very restful and relaxing.

After a few days with the Stewards we drove to Pattonsburg, MO, to stay with Jeremiah and Kenan Bradford. I took a few more pics of our time there, but again, Kenan did a better job. You can look at her blog for more pictures. We were hoping to escape the heat and spend some time in a cooler area, but of course we would visit the weekend that happened to be the hottest of the whole summer. This was Mark's first taste of small town America. It was good times in the little farming community of Pattonsburg. We cooked out a lot and made our own fun. We really enjoyed getting to visit with the Bradfords.

We were also able hang out with the Comptons, see Mark's roommate from college, Cody Busby, and have dinner with Casey and Sarah Shutt. It was great getting to see so many friends.

Nathanael and Emsleigh (Kenan's little girl) having tummy time together.
"The Lone Ranger" or "The Lone Stranger" as Hudson called himself. He was a little confused by a Veggie Tales video, "Moe and the Big Exit."

Kenan took us to some friends' house who live on a farm. The boys had a blast on all the farm equipment. Hudson is pretending to drive "Frank the combine." (Frank is from the movie "Cars.")

Visit from Pop and Aunt Kelly

Mark's dad and sister came to visit us at the end of May. We had a really great time. I've realized as I've gone back through our pictures to catch up on this blog, I'm really bad about taking pictures. The only ones I have are a few from our trip to the zoo. I didn't even get a picture of Aunt Kelly's big belly. As you'll see in a few posts, she had a baby in July.

Hair Cut

We busted out the clippers since it's been so hot lately. I miss their long hair, but it's fun to see them with buzz cuts like daddy. Much easier in the bathtub too!

Cute Pics

Aren't these the cutest boys you've ever seen!? I know, I'm a little biased. :)

Visit to Kenan's

Nathanael and Emsleigh (Bradford) Hamilton. Just kidding...I know it's a little early, but a mom can hope, right? :)
Jeremiah, Kenan and Emsleigh.

Ah, so cute! Nathanael and Emsleigh are exactly a month a part.
Mark and my mom as well as sister and grandmother were all really gracious to let me take Nathanael to visit my dear friend Kenan. We had a wonderfully relaxing time. Lots of laughs and lots of good food.

Owen's 1st Birthday

We all had a great time at Owen's party. A wonderful way to celebrate April 15th. God has done so much to preserve his life. It was a great day of praise to our God. (Owen is my sister's little boy for those of you who might not know.)

Egg Hunt

So excited!!! One to hunt and the other to eat... I bet you can't guess which one... :)