branson family vacation

we had the privilege to travel to branson a couple week ago to celebrate jon's parents 40 years of marriage. we met up with his mom and dad, great grandma and all of his siblings and their families. it was a wonderful time to hang out, eat great meals together (that we took turns providing), being on the lake, take in some sights around branson and celebrating norm and bettys wedded bliss! :) with the guests of honor
sharing a rootbeer float

riding the carousel with nana

daddys pushin the babies

sweet cousins

we rode the ducks

don't let elli's face fool you... she had a good time... it just happened to be 108 degrees that day. it felt like we were in a furnace!

daddy's co-captain brotherly love

lake time

family water gun fight... even nana and gigi got into it!!

so there was our vaca in a nutshell... it was definately a wonderful week!! tons of great memories were had!

jedidiah .18 months

here you are. you are 18 months already! here are some things i want to remember about you at 18 months:you sleep like a champ or maybe more like a teenage boy... usually around 12 hours at night and take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. you eat like a teenage boy too. you are finally saying please and thank you (sometimes). you outweigh your older sister. you love kisses and hugs and snuggling with your mama. you think your dad is about it!

you like to read books by yourself. you enjoy carrying around random junk and if anyone tries to take that little junk away from you, they WILL hear about it! you are not a huge fan of the pool, you prefer to fill buckets with water and carry them around. you love any sort of ball. you love your two blankies.
your dark hair is bleaching out and almost blonde now. you have had one haircut but those curls have quickly come back and in the humidity get really tight. you love accessories... especially hats. if you spot one you have to put it on! jedidiah. we love you so much and are thankful that you are our son! we look forward to each day we have together! happy 18 months!

photo challenge day twenty nine: black and white

the second this guy caught site of daddy's tractor he wanted to get as close to it as possible! he even said "daddy tra ter" and if you know jed, he doesn't say much! i let him sit on it and when i told him it was time to go he shook his head no. i have said since he was a tiny baby that he had a black or white personality... and to this day he seems to hold true to that! its seems that tractors and things of the farm make this kid smile.

photo challenge day twenty eight: flowers

to say i'm a touch excited about my zinnias (and other rows of flowers) would be an understatement. my mom has been planting cutting flowers for a few years now and this is my first year to do it right... well kind of. i want to cut some and bring them in but they are so pretty i don't want to bother them. the row behind the zinnias in sunflowers... gasp!! to think i planted sunflowers within feet of my husbands bean field!! i better pick them before the spread or do whatever they do! i'm excited to see the other flowers pop out! i love that there are certain things that can be passed down from generation to generation and even when the person you loved so much is gone... you can enjoy that activity for years and years after. a love of flowers is one of those things that i remember my grandma kaliff just loving. her yard always looked so nice and she loved flowers... and cactus... which i do not love! my mom also shares this same love and my sister and i have both followed in their footsteps. i am in the stage of life right now where weeds do get in the way and i don't tend to things the way they should be cared for or in a timely manner... but i'm thankful that they flowers continue to grow to be that gentle reminder of grandma.

photo challenge day twenty seven: from a distance

today's challenge: from a distance. this wasn't really taken from a distance but more looking off into the distance and i actually took it today which means i at least followed part of the rules! except maybe this was yesterday's challenge. at any rate... its a cute kid!sidenote: this boy will be 18 months tomorrow. seriously. where has time gone? consider this a sneak peak... more 18 mo pics to come tomorrow!

photo challenge day twenty six: closeup

'cause they won't be like this for long...

photo challenge day twenty five: something pink... and blue

once again... i'm cheating. i have gotten behind on the photo challenge but not being one to quit, i'm just going to change the rules for myself and forge ahead which means digging in the archives.. and adding a color. pink AND blue... because i do love both!

take 1:take 2:take 3:take 4:

when you have subjects this cute they don't really need to look at the camera! there you have it... a little pink and a little blue!