Family Portraits

It's been a few years since we've had extended family portraits taken.  This year we got portraits of both of our families within a few weeks of each other.  First up:  The Family Idaho.  We had our friend Cowboy Joe take these shots for us.  He was the perfect blend of fun and bossy--just what we needed to get us all positioned and smiling.  We used Uncle Alan and Aunt Heather's backyard beauty for our back drop.

 We all started off in a jovial mood...

 Heads were nearly popped off.

 And Joe started snappin' shots.  Long about the below photo is where things went south.

 We really wanted a picture with ALL the kids in it--so Tadd made sure that the crying one was also in the picture.  This about sums up her feelings on having her picture taken.

 We gave the crying one some time to calm down while individual family pictures were snapped.  Uncle Nathan and Aunt Megan's crew.

 Uncle Alan and Aunt Heather's crew.

 Our own little brood.

 Everyone stayed happy for pictures of the Grandparents with all ten.

 And then we managed to get a picture of the kids all happy.

 Finally, a whole family picture.  Yeah!  Something for our walls!

 This is how boys feel about family portraits.

 Next up:  The Tractor Family Portraits.  These were taken by the lovely professionals at The Picture People.  They were not quite so jovial as Cowboy Joe.  We were late to our photo session and so they felt the need to rush us through at top speed.  Unfortunately someone decided to close his eyes for all three shots that were taken.

 The kid shots are fun.         

 They were kind enough to try another picture with all eyes open. 

Again--Yeah!  A shot for the walls. 

Uhhhh, Where Was I?

 I'm having trouble remembering where I left off!  I know that I was going to do a few more summer recpas--so these will all be jumbled up together.  The Seahawks started their preseason and we resumed blue-Fridays.

 Henry enjoys wagon rides, but he requires a person in the wagon with him as a safety belt.  Would you look at those thighs?  I think they've already slimmed down a few inches as a result of walking/running.

 We held a garage sale one weekend.  What a lot of work! I made enough money to fund us going to a Mariner's baseball game a few weeks later.  I guess all the sorting and lifting and talking to the local crazies was worth it. The kids held a bake sale and used the garage sale to bring in customers.  It was supposed to be a huge learning experience.  The kids were going to help with all the baking.  They would use their cash register to take in money.  Make their own signs.  Do it up all cute.  But then they started getting sick.  One by one.  It was also vacation Bible school week.  Ugh.  It turned into a disaster.  We had all these baked goods and a bunch of sick kids.  I made the signs and set up the sale.  They sat there and tried not to look sick.  They handed customers a bag and had them pick out their own goods so that no germs would be exchanged.  Their goal was to make enough money to go to the zoo.  They accomplished their goal, so I suppose it was a success.  It was so sad, though.  They took turns going into the house to take naps.  Ezra just passed out in the shade of the table a few times.  It was a really hot weekend and their fevers made it feel really hot.  Turned out that they all got hand-foot-mouth disease.  Ezra and Caroline had had it when they were little so I didn't think they could get it again.  Unfortunately I learned that there are a dozen or more viruses that cause HFM.  Also--I learned (through Henry's experience) that you CAN get it twice in a row.  I learned a lot this summer.  Caroline has lost three fingernails and one toe nail from her HFM.  Henry lost one fingernail and is now losing another.  And they had HFM over a month ago.  I think I'd like to be done learning now.  Don't you wish you could've bought a cookie from them? 

 Moving on from one gross subject to an even grosser.  When we got home from Idaho we found evidence of rats in our garage.  Lots of evidence.  We keep a "pantry shelf" out there since I don't have much storage in the kitchen.  The rats were very thankful to me for my pantry goods.  My personal exterminator has fixed the problem.  He's cute, huh?

 Henry met Ezra the second for the second time.  This time they interacted.  It was stinkin' cute.

 Until Henry tried to maim Ezra.

 Ezra's siblings carry him everywhere.  All.  the.  time.  They never put him down.  He loves it.

 Nora thought she should carry her baby around too.  It doesn't look so graceful with these two :) 

 Being with Sarah (Ezra's mommy) makes me happy.

 Also this summer we had fun play dates with friends.  Nora wanted to match Jeremy. 

 And evening camp fires with s'mores.  Mmmmmm....

 There was some water fighting going on along with marshmallow roasting.

 And photo bombing.

 I'm getting  hungry looking at these old photos.  Too bad it's rained two inches in the past 24 hours.  I'm afraid late evenings around the fire pit are simply a memory at this point.

 And so is the wading pool.  And a baby who can't walk. 

Henry is One!

 Our sweet baby is officially a toddler.  He's not a tiny, precious little baby any longer.  Well, he's still a baby and I suppose he was never truly tiny.  But, you understand the sentiment.  AND--this year for Labor Day weekend I did not have to go through labor!!!!  Praise the Lord!  Instead we spent time with family and had a birthday party.  Much more fun.  And a lot less painful.
Cooking for a summertime birthday is so fun.

 Henry doesn't like to eat a lot of foods--but chicken is one thing he has enjoyed--so we grilled some chicken for his birthday party.  Watermelon is also on his list of faves and lucky for him, August is a great month for watermelon.

 Mostly he ate watermelon.  And even though Henry can't enjoy summery drinks like iced tea, lemonade and limeade, the girls and I had a blast setting up a cute drink station.  The girls love to juice citrus fruit, which saves me from that time consuming job.

 His cousin Ollie came over to help him celebrate.  Oliver just had his 1st birthday back in April, so he was able to fill Henry in on how it would go down. 

 They might look nothing alike--but I think they are already forming a friendship. 

 Ollie brought his parents with him.  It took them about 65 hours to get here in that little red car.

 Caroline and Ezra had both purchased Henry gifts with their own funds and were very eager for him to open them. 

 Henry ate a lot of wrapping paper.  That was his favorite part of opening gifts.  He might not like food--but boy does he love to eat paper, rocks, pieces of bark and little toys.

 Grandpa and Grandma Idaho sent a dump truck for Henry to use in the sandbox that Mommy and Daddy are supposed to be building as his gift from us.

 Grandpa and Grandma Tractor got Henry a new jersey for the season. 

 In case there was any question how old he was turning.

 As per typical he burst into tears while we all stood around and sang to him.

 He was able to pull it together and stare in bewilderment while listening to the cacophony around him.  And apparently Tadd thinks I should remain headless in all photos.

 Finally!  He got to dig into his cake.  I found myself wondering why I had used so much food coloring on that frosting!

 I think he made a better mess than any of our others did on their first birthdays.  That high chair has seen a few birthday celebrations. 

We had Henry's one year appointment today and other than another ear infection, he's healthy . He ended his first year at 25 pounds and 32 inches.  He has 8 teeth and is working very hard on his first set of molars as we speak.  He started walking about a month ago--one to two months earlier than his older siblings.  He jabbers a lot--but no real words other than "boo!" and an occasional "bonk" while he bonks his forehead into one of us.  He has semi-curly strawberry blond hair just like Ezra did at this age.  He is precious.  And he is loved.  So very loved.