Michigan

I went with the kids to Michigan to see Grandma and Grandpa while Gary went to Germany for work. We had a lot of fun. Grandma and Grandpa oohed and aahed over Luke, and kept Trey busy with lots of fun stuff. Trey drove Grandpa's tractor like a pro. The first day we were there he helped my dad move some dirt. I took Luke outside to watch, and I heard my dad yell to Trey, "give it some more gas!" And my jaw dropped as I watched him do exactly as he was told. Shortly after that my dad put the key in the 4-wheeler, and Trey started it up like he had done it every day of his life. We went to Frankenmuth to see the Christmas decorations, made Christmas shirts at Grandma Lou's, and had an all around good time. We came home and welcomed Aunt Melina for Thanksgiving, and now we are finally finding our way back into our routine...I wish you could hear my sigh of relief. We have had an amazingly fun month, but I am exhausted!!!! Luke's new found obsession with walking has sky-rocketed our stress level too. Please pray for his safety as he finds more stability day by day.  

Sword fighting with Grandpa

Playing with Pablo (Uncle Garrett's new Puppy)

Checking out Frankenmuth

Making applesauce

Working

Making a shirt

No caption necessary

Busy, busy, busy...

We are on the go almost constantly as of late! Here are some of our recent highlights:

1. Nana, Papa, and Lynnen came to visit for a weekend. Everyone got to see how big and handsome Luke is getting, and be amazed by how smart and charming Trey is :) 

Rockin' out with Lynnen

Luke eating a half moon cookie...I asked him to share with Nana and I swear he spit at me (Nana can attest to this)

Hanging with Nana

Finding "his fish" on Papa's shirt

Playing with Nana's headband

2. We headed to Florida for a weekend to visit my sister and see her new house. Luke had his first experience with the ocean. He couldn't get enough of it. I think he would have ran all the way in if I would have let him (the water was freezing, by the way). We went to the Air Force Armament Museum and saw lots of planes. The boys really enjoyed playing on Aunt Melina's jungle gym in her back yard. Trey pretended it was a pirate ship. He put Gary's hat on and called it his "arrr matey hat". And when he and Gary heard gun shots in the woods behind my sisters house (there is a training range or something back there), he ran into the sunroom and told me, "mom, we heard gunners and we're going to take them alive" with a true pirate tone in his voice.

Checking out a C-130 (The kind Uncle Scott flies in)

In the cockpit of an A-10 Warthog Trainer

Beachin'

Checking out the ocean for the first time

3. Luke finally decided to let go of my finger and start walking on his own. He gets so proud of himself when he walks to one of us. I'm proud of him too :)

4. Trey is growing up scarily fast. Some of his new quotes/phrases/favorite things include: shortening words - my personal favorite was halloween night when he said, "mom, I want some can out of my punk" (translation: "I want some CANDY out of my PUMPKIN"). His friend Brandon is now Brand, Nana is Nan, and Aunt Melina is just Aunt. He has picked up on Gary's little sayings and adds "dot com" to the end of things. He calls Luke, Lukey-Pie-Dot-Com. And he "dominates things", as in "I dominated that milk". While driving to the beach, he started a conversation with his dad by saying, "what's up, Gar?" And he does an amazing impression of the GPS saying, "turn right". 

We have lots more upcoming events, so we will be posting many more pictures in the near future.

Halloween Fun

What a difference a year makes! Trick-or-treating this year was far different than last year.

Last year: Trey was shy and quiet. He would say "trick-or-treat" and "thank you", but we had to  sort of prod him to go to the doors. He got scared by a lady dressed up as a witch.

This year: Trey was finding the houses to go to (noticing which ones had their lights on and which ones didn't). He was running to the doors and having a blast. We went to one house where a teenager answered the door with a scary mask; Trey's poor little friend, Ava, was terrified, but Trey just said, "that guy didn't scare me". He wanted to keep going to houses even after everyone else that we were with went home. He didn't want to stop. The only hitch we hit was that he didn't want to wear his costume. I had to explain no costume=no candy. And then he was willing to wear it.

Trey's Volcano

Luke-never without his thumb in his mouth

Chocolate face (yes, it's dairy free!)

Luke, the lion and Trey, the chef