colors.

we soaked up the spectacular fall colors, full moon & refreshing family-time tonight at hawk's ridge. it is especially during this season that we are filled with awe & appreciation for our Creator.

babies.

today was an unusual day... rather than favoring one particular baby (jenna), kj was intent on including allllll her babies in the morning's activities. couldn't let that go by undocumented! sweet girl.

indian.

indian summer day and wonderful friends... we couldn't have asked for more!

raspberries.

and here we come to the place where our boy is blowing raspberries. messily and frequently. of course we must respond in kind. is there any other choice?? ;)

also, for statistics' sake, let me report that we have quite the healthy fellow on our hands... 18lb 4oz in weight, 27" in height & 17" head circumference at 6 months. doctor had to double-check that last number; seems like we've got some brains in there!

reconnected.

ah, what a sweet privilege to reconnect with old friends. and especially to share our home & city with them! to watch the kids play together, to introduce them to our Great Lake, to talk for hours about anything & everything, and of course all great fellowship must include dining together... ;) thank you so much for taking the time & making the effort to visit, h family! come back anytime you like.

it was a great bonus to hand over the aforementioned quilt in person! i love that the moment it was unwrapped, it went directly on rmh's babe & into the crib for the very next nap. here's to many great naps with that cozy blanky! ;)

(and, thanks for being on top of things like photos, rmh!)

quilt.

wow! i finally finished my first-ever quilt! thank goodness it is for a baby-friend & has a deadline (they arrive tomorrow for a visit, hurray!). can't wait to gift it to her. enjoy, ah!!

the beautiful backstory: ever since we have known rmh, which would be the early days of our small group in tx, she has been a magnificent & generous quilter. at the time, we were all young married couples sans kids. now, if we were to reunite, there would be eleven children underfoot, with more on the way... and rmh has showered each babe with loads of love & prayers, all wrapped up in a handmade quilt! we mamas vowed that when she had her first child, we would make & gift her a quilt as well! well, when the news came that they were expecting, we made a plan... each gal would choose two fabrics within the color scheme of black, white & green, then send them to me & i would muddle my way through a bunch of straight-stitching til it became a quilt. lucky for me i have access to quilt experts (a mom, an aunt, and a local friend) to call upon. which i did frequently. i made up a pattern that would cover up any sure-to-come imperfections and began marching through the steps of ironing, cutting, sewing, repeat. within a couple months, i had pieced together the top. yeah! of course it took me another 16 months to finish the rest, but here it is in the end. what a privilege to wrap up their family in the warm love of a one-of-a-kind quilt, just as they have kindly shared with us. love you guys, h family!

patch.

kj's visit to nanna & poppa's house included a lot of play, quite a bit of work in the garden & one very special visit to their pumpkin patch!

dejavu.

remember this post? helper.
lj's turn! welcome to the crib, kiddo.

bunked.

somehow we managed to get adorable photos of the cousins today, even one of the brothers, but completely missed documentation of the whole reason for this wild & crazy daytrip to the cities... we are the proud new owners of bunk beds! kj is likely the proudest. and if all goes well, tomorrow marks the day that kj & lj will begin sharing a room. crossing our fingers, but not holding our breaths! ;)