January 27, 2010

A New Year

January 29, 2010

Happy late New Year's! We had a great time celebrating with Dan, Kendra and the little girlies.

Smiles from Jaelynn Grace.



Who would know which girls were the aunties and which were the nieces?

Jayni and Lilly bounce off the walls in anticipation of a visit from Jaelynn and Livy.



Miss Emerson Faith is growing like a little sunflower! She has a smile that would bring flutters to any heart. We love you sweetheart!


Kisses

It was SO good to have some catch-up girl time with Kendra! She's my big sister in all but blood.

Precious . . .


When Mom and Kendra took off to scour the Vintage shops in downtown Visalia, the boys took Daniel out to join the ranks of the Parish brigade. :-)

Thank-goodness for ears. Hats would be awfully bothersome without them.



Earlier that day, Daniel and Jeremy worked on some finish work for the Guest House, which, now that Simon is home, will hopefully be finished soon.

New years or not, Saturdays are the Parish work day. It's great for the mind and the muscles!



Preparing to paint a masterpiece.




Mom has discovered a Christian decorating magazine, called Life Beautiful, that she is showing here to Kendra. We've only received two issues so far, but both Mom and I have been uplifted and inspired by its encouragement to live a beautiful life.


Once a lego boy, always a lego boy.



December 23 marks a very important event in our family. Jaelynn turned four! We didn't get to celebrate with her until New Years time, but it was still special to share in the beginning of another year in her life.


Princess things


Sweet Livy kept me laughing with her sense of humor. Happy go lucky and outward focused, Livy is always up for an adventure. We miss you Livs!




Saying goodbye . . . it's been too long already since their visit already. Come see us again soon okay?







January 24, 2010

January 25, 2010

After we said goodbye to the Welch family Tuesday morning, we packed into a rental SUV, and set off to Oklahoma. We arrived late in the evening, too late, unfortunately, to see Graham, but early enough to settle in to the cozy yellow home on Frank street, give hugs all around, and begin catching up with Max and Jenny. Those four and a half days flew by! In the meantime, Max and Jenny were gracious to overlook the piles of bedding and large suitcase stacked throughout their home. :-)



Cuddling


Stories with Grandma, Aunties, and Uncle. :-)

Catching up

And playing games

One evening, we enjoyed the company of M&J's next door neighbor. He kept us laughing with his stories, yet, we appreciated the 'life advice' he shared with us as well.





We celebrated Jacob's 7th birthday while we were there. Happy Birthday Jacob!

Another afternoon, Max gave us all a tour of the University. The architecture was spectacular!


Unfortunately, I was not allowed to photograph my favorite place . . . the library. Just sitting in a place as beautiful as that must inspire great scholarly reflections.

Morning sunshine!



What a crack up!

Graham-boy is very loved.



In fact, we even had the privilege of watching him practice walking.

When Saturday rolled around, we tidied up for company. Dad's brother Uncle Craig, his wife Aunt Rene'; and Dad's sister Aunt Lisa, her husband Uncle Jung, and their two children, Eliot and Elianna drove over from Texas to spend the day. We enjoyed catching up, celebrating two birthdays, and even a great conversation in the evening about courtship and marriage. :-)

Aunt Rene' is sitting beside Mom in the picture above, with Aunt Lisa beside her.

Swings provide amusement for Littles and Bigs. :-)

Aunt Lisa, Jenny, and Graham.

Max and Jenny are only a short walk away from a park. Jeremy was excited about that! :-P

So was Simon it seems.


Two birthday boys, Eliot Paek and Jacob Parish.
Aunt Rene' brought the cake . . .

Along with a stack of fun color and activity books for the Littles. A big thank-you to Aunt Rene'!

Chattin away . . .


Brothers - and both history buffs! In light of our recent reenacting adventures, we had a lot of Civil War talk going on that day.

Uncle Jung is a wealth of information. A few years ago, he and his family moved out onto a ranch in Texas. It was great swapping stories about the many things animals teach can teach us. :-P Some of those lessons aren't so fun. He is also the one who helped us into target shooting. The guys have done a little hunting with him as well.

Gals on a bridge. Original eh?

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We laughed when we saw the next sequence of pictures. These are the events leading up to a family picture.

Can't you hear the wedding photographer . . . "Okay, everyone look at them kissing!" Ha!


The final 'goodbye' shot.


But . . . since those often nasty, necessary words, 'good-bye', are not a pleasant ending . . . I decided to end on a much happier note. Grandpa and Graham!