Where it all began

For a little one-on-one time with Caleb, I took him to the Portland Temple grounds to show him where his parents were married.  We had such a nice walk & talk.

While I was in OR I was able to proxy all the ordinances in the temple for several ancestors.  It was so amazing.  I love the temple!! 

Oregon sans Tyler

We spent the 5 weeks without Tyler at my parents house.  My little brother Cory was home that whole time and my little sister Jackie came at the tail end.  It was so nice to have help!  Of course we got to see Caleb's cousins, their parents and my sister Sydney who live in town as well!  While we were there we had lots of visitors too: my sister Claire and her daughter Kate and my grandparents.  There was lots going on to pass the time.  Here's a review in pictures.

Grandma was so happy to be reunited with Luke!

Meeting their new cousin.

Bridget read to the younger boys - so cute!

Checking out the baby.

Couple of play-dates with my childhood best friend and her two kids.  So fun!

Play-date in Washington with our Pgh friends!!

While my sister was there we had quite the line up of car seats.  If you had three kids in three years this would be your reality...

Luke with Grammy - his great-grandmother.

Luke with Great Grandad.  I'm SOOO glad they decided to come visit and meet Luke!!!

Mom, don't hate me for posting this picture (I know you won't like it because your hair was not yet done).  I have to post it because Caleb went on so many morning walks with the dog during this trip and LOVED it.

My boys and their one male cousin!  Caleb was obsessed with him the whole trip.

Isn't she just the cutest?!?!  My sister and I both have kids that look like their dads, but it's okay because they are so cute!!

Will you be this amazing when you're 79?!  I can't imagine I will be!

Yes, that is blue highlighter on his face...

So sad, but so cute!!  All she wanted was her mommy.  Is that such a crime?!

My brother Cory was another one of Caleb's favorite people while we were there.  He was so good to play with him.  And yes, that's the blue highlighter on one check and lunch on the other...

New adorably preppy shorts that were gifted from Tyler's childhood daycare provider!  How's that for keeping in touch!

Luke was given a new outfit by Tyler's uncle and aunt.  So sweet and SO CUTE!!

Trampoline + garden hose = endless fun.  Didn't you know?

Tyler was learning all about his new uniforms... cute huh?????  These are in his little dorm room.

Bath time with cousin!!  Are you in love with this girl yet?  She happens to be turning ONE today.  Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

BBQ Pizza - Claire's specialty.  YUM!

We tried to send Tyler lots of photo treats on his phone so he could remember us at the end of each day.  Even though the quality isn't great, I love these.

And we'll end with this beauty.  Can you believe he'll be SIX MONTHS OLD this Friday?  I know, I need to catch up.

Redding

We spent a few weeks with Tyler's parents, just playing, after graduation.  We had such a great time!  Here's the time in pictures.  This is a mixture of cell phone, snap & shoot and nice camera photos so some are blurry and some aren't.

Celebrated Luke's 2-month birthday.

We went up to the fish hatchery at Mt. Shasta and fed the fish!  Caleb really got a kick out of it.

We ate lunch at the Black Bear Diner and Caleb found the jukebox.

One of our first stops in Redding is always "the office" - the dental office of Tyler's parents.  It's always fun for Tyler to see everyone there.  Caleb brought home a new toy....

We did about as much with the Hatches as we could!  It was so fun!!!  It definitely eased the blow of leaving Pittsburgh to be able to be with one of my Burgh girls for a few weeks.  Their kids are beyond cute!!  And I loved how Caleb played with them.  It really was such a treat!

Here we are feeding the parrots at Turtle Bay.

Water table at Turtle Bay.

 

We spent a few hours playing at Tyler's elementary school. It was very nostalgic!

Of course In N Out had to be one of our first stops.

While we were there Tyler's grandparents visited so Grandpa Russell could meet Luke. So sweet!

Picnic in the park!

We snuggled with our little Lukey a lot.... the sleeping with a newborn phase goes way too fast!!

And we snuggled the Caleb.

BBQ!  Have I said how cute these three are together?!

Spending time with Tiffany is always fun.  She was the one who got me (and all the other dental wives) together when we first moved to Pittsburgh (and many many times after) and helped showed us all the great things to love about living there.  So grateful to have Tiffany for a friend!!!

We tried to go on a lot of dates, especially once our babies were sleeping. We tried the new ice cream place in town.  Yum!

Grandpa took us out to see his cows. This is where he keeps some of the younger ones.  We got to see some of them nursing which was so sweet.

I think this cow is so pretty!

Caleb & Grandpa: love this genuine smile.

Whiskey Town Lake

Grandma borrowed this little car from a friend and Caleb loved to ride down the hill in it... for a few days.  Then he moved on to being the one who pushed someone else down the hill.  Haha!

Another favorite thing to do at home was to visit the horses to pet them and feed them and he even got to ride one once!  We didn't get a picture of the ride though.  It was fun watching him become more and more comfortable with them while we were there.

Walked the sundial bridge with Grandma.  The river and riverbed were very pretty that day.

Marveled at the beauty.

Dinner & playdate with this lovely girl and her family.  So bummed my only pic of them looking is blurry!  Micci made us what is now my new favorite veggie side dish: zucchini & yellow squash sauted in EVOO, salt & pepper, then topped with fresh parm while hot so it melts.  LOVE IT!

Cooked with Grandma.

Visited Waterworks.  It's a bit of a tween hangout, but still totally fun.  Definitely worth it when it's 100 degrees outside! He was a little scared up there by himself.  The Hatches came too but somehow we didn't get any pictures with them that day.

Gosh, I love my boy.

Luke slept through most of it, sweet angel.

We had some fun playdates with the twins at home.  One day we just decided to put them in the water, so since we didn't have Caleb's swimsuit with us we just went with the diaper.  Good choice because the pictures are so cute!

The twins were so adventurous sliding down into the water.  Caleb wouldn't try for a long time, but eventually he went for it.

The night before Tyler left for Officer Training we went on one last date alone.  That night he gave me a very sweet blessing and while it's never fun to be separated, we felt at peace.  I'm glad the 5 weeks apart were preceded by a few weeks of fun together!