Recap: Summer Fun

In between road trips, we explored our new city, scoping out the best places to play  =)      Having new adventures as a family and making fun memories... we played hard, stayed up late and squeezed every bit of summer we could out of these few months!

A favorite park

Not very crabby

Brooke's big girl bed! (Good thing Daddy has these helpers)

Very proud  =)

The girl loves her smores

Lots of visits to check on our house (ice cream often followed after)

Playing in the rain!

Family Arcade Night

...and a very funny attempt to get us all into a tiny picture booth

Daddy and his sleepy girls - makes my heart full 

Recap: Summer Road Trips

"Enjoying summer" took on a whole new meaning for me this year, knowing Kate would start full time Kindergarten in August. We took advantage and made several trips to Kansas and Indiana... a couple of them with me driving 3 kids, while Daddy stayed behind to work. It's awesome to be so close to Wichita now, it's just 2.5 hours. And even Indiana is a lot closer - 14 hours instead of 20, which makes a one-day trip possible. Our kids are such great travelers too, which helps a lot. (Although don't underestimate the power of fun snacks and movies)   =)

At the Fire Department for Grant Jr's birthday party

The kids loved it! Brooke was fine letting Kate spray that crazy hose though...

Smith helping Johnny work the Fire Truck

Grant loves his cousins!

Reading a very funny story...

Sweet girls

Grandpa always stops to play with whatever playset, game or toys are sprawled out on the table

Daddy looks very comfy

Brooke found the Batman mask... and isn't too sure about it

First time for sparklers! Holding them at a careful distance   =) 

And onto Indiana... Happy Birthday Paul!

Brooke imitating Paul with Johnny   =)

PaPaw getting some giggles 

Just 3 girls, out for a very important evening with Beauty and the Beast

Enjoying the lake! Kate was all about "driving" the boat this year

And Brooke finally loves the water now!

There's lots of pictures with Gramma swinging her babies here over the years

Plenty of room for everyone!

PaPaw loves his girls

11 Months Old

I cannot believe my baby boy will turn a year old tomorrow!!! I've known for awhile the lesson of “take time to soak up the moments, it all goes so fast”... but what do you do when you’ve taken time to soak as much as you can and it still goes so fast??  Sighhhh. And yet, as much as I’m going to miss this baby season, watching them grow into little people is just THE. BEST. 

At 11 Months Old, Johnny: 

• will take 1 step before collapsing to the ground... he’s getting close!
• loves “driving” when we’re waiting in the school’s car pickup line
• plays peekaboo with his bib to pass the time at the table 
• loves to laugh! He'll even start a fake chuckle with me that then turns into a fully belly laugh
• favorite foods are bananas, peanut butter crackers and strawberry yogurt. and ice cream. and oreos 
• has 3 bottom teeth now! And you can see 4, 5 & 6 almost popping through - he’s making up for lost time  =)
• weighs 19.5 lbs and is 29.25 inches long

10 Months Old

At 10 Months Old, Johnny: 

• is walking along furniture... I have a feeling he's going to start walking sooner than his sisters did! 
• likes lots of foods now - bananas, yogurt and green beans are favorites
• loves dancing (aka bouncing up and down) anytime there's music on, which is frequently since his sisters love dancing too
• got his first haircut! He did so great - I couldn't believe it. Except now he looks super grown up  =(
• still has no teeth - poor guy
• gives kisses, which mommy loves!! Especially since he's showing less interest in cuddling lately... sighhh

Getting so big!

He loves the water! We've spent lots of time at the pool this HOT summer 

Chillin 

Sitting very still!

So handsome (and about to fall asleep - it was nap time!)

Compliments of Daddy and his crazy posed pictures

If Johnny finishes his bottle and isn't ready to go to sleep, he'll toss it out of the crib and start fussing (not sure what he thinks that will get him??)...  here he is trying to shove it down between the crib & wall 

9 Months Old

At 9 Months Old, Johnny: 

• has no teeth yet! He's shown signs of teething for probably 6 months... I'm getting pretty anxious to see some pop through
• still loves eating, but he hasn't ventured out too much beyond baby food. I think the textures weird him out... we'll just keep trying!
• is still doing an army crawl, but is SO fast at it. I'm kinda hoping it will slow him down to crawl on all fours   =)
• is going to need his first haircut soon... it's hanging over his ears and starting to fall down into his eyes 
• loves cupboards, the dishwasher, the fridge, the entertainment center... everything we don't want him to play with

A Big Move

Well most of you know by now, but we have moved from Colorado Springs to Oklahoma City! John took a job with YouVersion (the company that makes the Bible application for smartphones, tablets, etc) and they relocated us to Edmond, OK where their central offices are. So in a very quick and chaotic few months we accepted a job, put our house up for sale (having lots of house showings with 3 young kids keeps you on your toes!), house hunted in Edmond - which led to deciding to build a house and rent an apartment for the summer, sold our CO house, packed up everything - storing half of it (thank you Grant & Addie!) and moving the other half into our 3 bedroom apartment. Needless to say, it's been quite the whirlwind of emotions! It was really hard to leave CO - the close friendships we had developed there, our wonderful church, John's great-grandpa, our neighborhood that we loved... but we know, without a doubt, that this is what God has for our family right now. And knowing that has led to such an excitement about this new journey! We're part of an amazing church here that is doing incredible things for God, we've been welcomed by lots of people eager to get us connected, and John is loving his new job - which is basically to help others engage God's Word more. 

So as difficult as change is at times, I'm so thankful God isn't interested leaving us where it's comfortable. Cuz I think He's got some great plans in store for us...  HERE WE GO!

Once last run through!

Leaving the empty house - you were so good to us

Here's some pics of various goodbye moments with our precious community in CO...

The Rae Family

Our neighbor Miss Bonnie

The Burch Family

The Guthrie Family

The Cooper Family

The Cox Family

And just one last goodbye hug from Mabry   =)

Our small group of four years hosted a wonderful last dinner for us, with these 3 dear families:

The Cartons

The Tisthammers

The Nelsons

And even though we'll get to see John's grandpa plenty... it was awful hard to say goodbye to Hoppy