This is beautiful. It kind of sums up what we, as parents, owe to our children to know about themselves... What a different world we would all live in if only all of our parents had told us the same.
Here is a breif slideshow everyday photos of the kids, so far, this year. Gracen officially loves Tigger, her daddy, wearing hats, singing E-I-E-I-O, picking on Walker, and eating everything you feed her. Her favorite all-time thing to say is "Uh-Oh!" Walker likes to snuggle with his mom, scare you when he roars out loud and chases you, his big brother Austin, doing the itsy-bitsy-spider hand motions, and watching Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin. His new word lately is "Go!" and he pretend gasps and points like he's startled at least 30 times a day. They both are crazy for Cheetos, their ball pit, riding their 4-wheelers, playing with their bazillion toys, and being out doors. Both children can read and identify about 30 words each, and they are both picking up new words to say each day. They've grown up so fast!
Austin has been very elusive of the camera this year - when we pull it out, he tends to dissappear! He has been working hard at Boy Scouts, and is simply waiting out his time to earn his Eagle Scout rank. He keeps busy with scouts, school, church activities, and video games...your typical pre-teenager, and is already making plans for another vacation to see his cousins in Utah this summer! Aus has grown into a wonderful, kind, and considerate young man - we are so proud of him and his accomplishments!
For the twin's 1st birthday, last October, (I'm just a little behind on blogging!) we hosted a small "carnival" in our front yard. We had a bounce house, popcorn, hot dogs, nachos, cotton candy, face painting, wagon rides, balloons, and lots of clowns! It was very nice to have our friends and family turn out for our little shin-dig. Lincoln and Cooper, Walker and Gracen's cousins, were even delivered by emergency c-section that morning because they wanted to make it to the party on time! Needless to say, there was lots of excitement in the air, and all of the children who came had a great time. Everyone had had their fill of junk foods and sugar when it was all over...
This may come across as corney, but we honestly just wanted to celebrate our babies' birth date - we are still so enamoured by these two little sweeties! We are so happy that they are in our lives, and we are so thankful, every day, to be blessed with their presence. A simple "thank you" could never fully re-pay all of you for being such a dear part of our lives... we would not be the same without each and every one of you.
Here are some quick snapshots of party scenes from the day. If you missed this one, we hope to see you at the next!
P.S. ...And we owe a HUGE shout-out to Melanie, Amy, Kelly, and Jessica for helping pull the whole party together. There is no way we could have successfully done it without each of you helping.
Seriously, everyone else is doing this 4th picture thing, so... it's easy and quick enough for me to knock out. This is the fourth picture in the fourth file in my pictures folder:
This is Grandma Lois holding Ginger, with Kelly & Mike standing, Aug 6 1974, Fair Oaks, CA.
Time is so fleeting... One day, you're lounging around in your pj's at 2pm wondering what you're going to do for entertainment, if anything, and then, what seems like the very next day, you have a 12 year old and two babies! What just happened?! I'm pretty sure that we thought we knew what we were in for...
Our children bring us so much happiness and peace inside that it's unimaginable what life would be like without them. Like any devoted parents, we completely adore our kids... Austin's sense of humor and good spirit, Walker is such a sweet boy - so smart and strong, and then there's Beautiful Gracen with her many attitudes! (We all work for her, by the way...)
Despite our exhaustion and a home with rooms that look like a Toys R' Us toy store, we are so very grateful, every day for all of the challenges - you know the old saying, "Without bad times, there could be no good times." Well, it's true. We've learned that anything truly worth having never comes easy or cheap. What we have as a family is priceless.
We haven't posted in a few months, so I have tried to put together a slideshow of the kids over the last couple of months. They have a birthday coming up this weekend, so I'll try to post pics of that event before Christmas gets here!
How Time Flys - 10-22-08
Here's a typical dinner with Walk and Grace... they are so fun! They generally aren't messy eaters, but this was an exceptional day. They both love to have the camera on them and will do what ever is necessary to get your attention. Walker's favorite thing to do right now is spit his food everywhere - he's busy cutting his first teeth, finally! Gracen, on the other hand, with her six pearly whites, thinks she's ready for grown-up food. We always have lots of smiles and giggles in our home...
