Fall Family Photos

It's been almost a year since we've had our family photos taken, & my friend Lindsey had a slot open this week, so I jumped on it!  It was a misty, gloomy morning, & Grady was acting INSANE, but she somehow made it look bright & happy & managed to snap some great pics of him!  The kid always looks cute in pictures...I don't know where he got it from as both of his parents feel incredibly awkward when in front of the camera.  I don't know what his deal is.  He's typically a great kid, but once he gets in front of the camera he goes crazy.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a kid that does this?!?  Please???

Anyway, this post is mostly for me to remember the day & also so far-away family could see the pictures...it's nothing too exciting, & the pictures are just a few proofs that she posted on Facebook, but thought I'd share them here anyway!

Our first stop was a random field a few miles out of town.  The grass was soaked & within 2 minutes of being there, Grady was running wild, fell in the ditch & got grass & mud stains down both of his pant legs, & my hair was windblown, damp, & frizzy.  We just rolled with it.  :)

Afterwards, we went back into town, & took a few shots at an old, rusted building.

My favorite of all of us below...

I can't believe how old he looks in the picture below.  The kid just turned 4 & looks like he's in second grade.  How did this happen?!  He kills me.

Lindsey does such a great job & I'm lucky to have such a talented friend!  I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures from our session in a couple of weeks.

Easter in NE

We hopped on down to Nebraska this year again for Easter.  It's always nice to hang with our family from down "south"!  Not to mention it's more fun for Grady to have other kids his age around.  My side of the family doesn't have any "kids" under 26 that make it to our Easter dinner = incredibly boring for a 3 year old!

Easter morning we woke up at Grandma & Grandpa's new townhome & found Grady's basket.  He was spoiled.  He got the "Rise of the Guardians" dvd, a new basketball, a Bingo game, book, a couple of Star Wars candy eggs, and his favorite, a "Master Splinter" action figure.

After church, we headed out to Eli's aunt Amy & her family's house.  The weather was in the 60's (as opposed to 30's at home), so we spent most of the day hanging outside & enjoying the sun!

Now for some pictures...because that's the fun part!

Time to pack up the pastel colors until next Easter!

A nice bonus upon returning home...we can now see little patches of "grass" amidst all of the snow in our yard - woohoo!  I think the temp is supposed to reach the 40's today so hopefully more of that white stuff will disappear while I'm at work!

PS, Look who's project was featured on Apartment Therapy this week!!!  What an awesome surprise!

It's Fall!

As much as I dread the long, cold winter that's right around the corner, we're getting into the fall spirit around here.  We got fall decorations up last week, & this weekend I started making a quilt (first one ever...eek!) & we attended the Foli-Ole (Foe-lee-Oh-lee) Fest in town.  (Foli as in "foliage" & Ole as in the viking "Big Ole"...our town's mascot.)  The weather was gorgeous & we had a lot of family time.  It was a nice way to spend our last weekend before Eli starts coaching again!

My goal is to get the zig zag quilt done by the middle of November & use it in our family photos.  Hopefully it'll be presentable enough at a distance!

 

Such a little big man with his "hot" cider on the hay ride!

I just love his face.  :)

Happy fall y'all!

Michigan might be my favorite state...part one.

My mom's sister & her family moved to Michigan when I was in second grade.  My aunt & uncle's youngest kids are twins who are the same age as me, & who I was very close with growing up...& still love being around today, even though we only see each other a couple of times a year (boo!).  Now, all three of us have kids around the same age who love to play together!  :)

Anyway, since then (23 years ago - wow, I feel old now), we've tried to make the trip out there once a year.  I think there are only a handful of years I haven't been able to make the trip...mostly during college when I played volleyball & couldn't take the time off in the fall.

My aunt & uncle used to farm when they lived in Minnesota, & when they moved to Michigan they continued with some of that as a "hobby".  We joked that Grady was on a "gatherer" diet while we were there as I swear he only ate raspberries out of their garden & nuts for the first 3 days of the trip!

Patty & Mike also have chickens that give them fresh eggs every day!  Oh, how I would love to have a chicken coop someday!  As much fun as it was for Grady to pick the eggs, I think he enjoyed chasing those poor birds more...

These guys were also fascinated by the cows...

This year we were in town during ArtPrize.  It's basically an art competition spread out within a 3 square mile area of downtown Grand Rapids (indoors & out).  In just a few short years, ArtPrize has become the largest art competition in the world!  I think there were over 1500 entries with $500,000 in prizes this year that are voted on & awarded by both a panel of judges as well as the public.  I'd recommend it to anyone...art lover or not.

The day before we left, we all packed up & headed to Grand Haven, a beach town on Lake Michigan.  It was insanely windy that day & the rain ended up cutting our day a little short, but it was b-e-a-utiful!  The boys braved the cold to splash in the water a little bit & enjoyed playing in the sand & running around being crazy & silly & weird...they're boys after all, it's what they do best!

Stay tuned for part two - our day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  AMAZING!