Tropical Soles: October 2011

Fall Birthday Weekend

I've said it before and I'll say it again. We like to party. Or at least I think we do. We celebrate everyone's birthday, every year. The fall is particularly busy with birthdays: me, mom, Vicki, Grandma Violet, Matt, Dad, Dave, and, now, Julianna. The fall is starting to give May Mayhem a run for its money. We celebrated most of the birthdays on a beautiful fall day at the beginning of October. The Geha's even came to town from Arizona and Nebraska so we could meet their new little ones.

Here is the obligatory try to get all the kids together for a picture, picture.

Brookie took care of the out-of-town babies, Kaylee and Violet

Timmy takes the cake for cutest big brother

Dr. Geha (Andrew that is) with his sweet baby Violet (on the left)

They named her after my grandma Violet

2 Violet Gehas in the world.

What a blessing.

Fall is my favorite for so many reasons.

The smiling faces of these cuties playing outside is only one of them.

I mean, I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I think Dave is model material

And when you thought it couldn't get cuter

We went to Long's Orchard for some harvest fun

My favorite thing about this picture is the little girl at the bottom

...and Melanie's facial expression.

My sweet daddy with Cruz

We really tried to get a cute picture of the kids with my dad

Poor Jenna

Until the next party....

(which was the next day when Greg and Chandler got engaged!)

A Riebel Visit

Our sweet friends the Riebels came to visit us last month. They have 3 boys (all born in March) and are a pretty stellar looking family. We decided to head out to a local fair to exhaust some energy before Dave, Austin and Kyle went to a Tiger game and left Amy and I to man the children. 2 hours and $50 later, we came home from the fair with a few parachute soldiers.

Don't worry, he's not throwing the kids over

No, really, he's not.

The next day we headed to the farm across the street.

The best entertainment in town. Cost: Free.

You should come visit some time.

Luke's killer smile

Joey (who shares a birthday with Cruz) pulling the toddlers

Gorgeous Johnny

His hair is amazing. It requires more conditioner than mine.

The snake in Luke's mouth was also a prize from the fair.

My sweet friend Amy.

The brave mother of the 3 boys.

My Arab buddy (We're both just half, but still embrace the ethnicity)

We like all the same foods, and, therefore,

we love to cook and eat with each other.

And maybe drink some wine.

Thanks for coming to visit us friends! We love you.

The Big Sister

Isla loves being a big sister. In fact, just today I caught her trying to ride on Cruz's back :) But she really does love her brother. I'm sure she only hits him in the face and pushes him over because she loves him so much. Hopefully he'll be big enough to defend himself from all her love soon.

This was their first bath together

Not pictured is 30 seconds later when Isla pushed Cruz over and he went under the water

The camera almost got a bath

But I managed to save both Cruz and the camera (in that order)

Don't let the holiday apron fool you, we aren't baking Christmas cookies just yet

Those eyes...

Someone at the Farmer's Market told us he had "Paul Newman" eyes

A compliment? I suppose, I like his salad dressings

I love you

A bushel and a peck

A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.

Hope they always love each other this much

She should've been mine

I don't think anything in the world brings me more joy than babies. I love em. I don't love being pregnant, but I love the babies. Which makes being pregnant more bearable. Kind of the Lord's way of having women with not so glorious pregnancies do it again and again. I'm not pregnant. And, for the first time in 3 years, neither are any of my sisters (that I know of, well, I take that back, my sister-in-law Shannon is pregnant.) Anyhow, my sweet sister Melanie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on August 18.

Isla sat in the hallway eagerly awaiting the arrival of Bebe, Poppy and the big brother