Adventures at Grandma and Grandpa's

Smelling Grandma Pat's heather blossoms and snot rockets are a perfect combo.

Swinging with Fluff, the most tolerant cat in the world.

Swinging is way more fun if you have cool sunglasses to wear. 

The Beginning of an Office

Lately Jo has been working really hard on the extensive book cases for the office. Pepper and I always enjoy a trip out to his shop to check on his progress.

Clean

Pepper loves showers.

Stinker

Pepper's language development is progressing rapidly. We are now able to get her opinions about various things, which is really fun! She is also inching towards 2 years and the independence of that age is showing itself more often. It is a hoot...almost always.

A couple cute pictures of Pepper on a walk we did around the property. Pepper can't pass up a good climb. By the end of the winter most of this wood will likely make its way into our stove to keep us toasty warm.

Fackenthall Family Foto Shoot

The birthday girl and the youngest of her sweet grandkids

Zeke makes this picture awesome!

I'm not really sure what to say about this...

It wouldn't be a family get together without some family pics. Thank you to everyone for cooperating (I'm talking to you, Katrina). Until next time we are all together, love and hugs to all!

Mini Concert

It is always nice to listen to Bella and Bria play their violins. They are quite talented and are learning quickly. I love how little and cute their violins are!

Helping with Presents

Helping Grandma open presents.

Sebastian, Isabella and Gabrielle snuggle close

Family spectators

Grandma Pat received some fun things for her birthday, but her favorite gift was having her family here!

Evan and Lincoln saying hi.

The kiddos hanging with Grandma

Pepper and Grandma

Natalie and Miss P

Bella, Bria and Zeke

Nothing beats a family get together. It is always so fun to see how much kids have grown and I love watching them form friendships. They always have such a fun time together. We are so blessed to have this amazing family!

An Extra Special Happy Day!

We are so blessed to have Grandma Pat in our life. She is our Mom, Grandma, neighbor and friend. She is turning 70 today. Oh, that we all could age so gracefully!

Happy Day Katrina!

Happy Birthday Katrina!

She is obviously needing assistance.

Lots of laughter and teasing as usual.

Pepper's first ring pop. Aunti Ing ROCKS!

Aunt Kitty Kat's birthday is the day before Grandma Pat's, so we had everyone out to our place on Friday night to celebrate. By now, everyone was here. Peter, Joy and the girls had successfully surprised the socks off of Grandma, driving all night to get here from Angwin. Ingrid and Natalie were here from Houston, and Katrina and Sebastian came up from Vancouver. It was so fun to have the Fackenthalls gather at our house for the first time. Each get together makes our house more of a HOME.

Cousin Time

This weekend is a very special one because Grandma Pat has a land mark birthday. Pepper was so excited that her cousins were coming! We heard, "Bastian, Natalie" over and over the week before they arrived. We decided not to tell her that Bella and Bria would be there because they were going to surprise Grandma, and knowing Pepper she would be saying their names incessantly and give it away. The second that Natalie and Sebastian arrived they dug right in, making some nice adjustments to Sebastian's fort on the berm. Pepper did her best to follow them around, mostly getting in the way. Regardless, her cousins are amazingly sweet to her and make her feel like she is part of the team. It is pretty cool that all it takes is a pile of dirt to keep kids entertained.

Winter Hike

 

It is so nice to get outside for a little hike at our old favorite, Southfork. 

Thankfully Pepper still loves the backpack!