A Decade Later

I love to see the time lapse photos of a person from year to year and look at the changes.  We just recreated something similar on our trip to Seattle.  Mark and I were there in 2004 and we went back earlier in June. I thought it would be neat to compare photos from 10 years ago to the photos we took on this trip.  We happened to be in the same location in some of the photos.  In the photos on the left, we are in West Seattle near Alki Beach with the city behind us.  On the right, we are at Pike Place Market.  It's pretty cool to see the difference that a decade has made in our lives.  In 2004 we still felt young and fun.  We'd only been married a couple of years, and that trip to Seattle was our first big trip since our honeymoon.  We have really good memories of that visit and spending time with Kayreen and her friends.  Ten years later, we are still happily married, but with two little boys along for the ride this time.  It was special to experience the city with kids.  Kayreen and her sister Kendra were the perfect hosts for our family and we did a lot of kid-friendly sightseeing.  I look forward to sharing more about our vacation soon.  I'm still feeling under the weather, but once I'm up to it I'll blog all about it.  Even though a lot has changed in 10 years, my love for Seattle has not.  Seattle was one of my favorite places then and it still is today.  

Flashback Friday: September 9, 2006

This photo was taken at the baby shower given to me by our church.  That was such a fun day.  I love this photo because my grandma and mother-in-law are in it.  Will's due date was October 28 (even though he was almost a week late and born on November 3).  It doesn't seem like it's been 7 years since this photo was taken.  I'm so glad I took a walk down memory lane last night and found it.  Brings back such wonderful memories of a very special day.

Flashback Friday: November 2, 2006



Six years ago today, I was fully confident that Will's birthday would be November 2nd.  That morning we went to the hospital for a scheduled induction expecting to have a baby boy later that day.  Well, that was just the beginning of learning that when your children are involved things don't always go as planned.  I had a difficult labor and eventually after many hours of pushing and a c-section, Will was born just after midnight on November 3rd.  

I love looking back at old photos and reminiscing.  A few things that caught my attention...

We look so young.

Some of the things in the living room have changed but some are exactly the same.

I was burning a fall candle.  I can see it in the background.

My belly is huge!!!  My goodness!  Little did we know that Will would weigh in at 9lbs , 7ozs.  Surprised us all, including the doctor!

I remember really wanting to take this photo even though Mark was anxious to get to the hospital.  I think I knew our lives would be forever changed after this moment.  We left the house as a couple and returned as a family.  Incredible!

Tomorrow we celebrate Will's birthday.  He's so special to us, and we are blessed to be his parents.

Flashback Friday: Pennsylvania

Flashback Friday {Thursday}

Pennsylvania

June 2008

The last stop on our road trip {read about Virginia here and NYC here} was Pennsylvania.  After our short visit to New Jersey and New York City, we made our way to Pennsylvania.  Angela was living there at that time.  Madelyn was 2 and Claire was only about 4 weeks old.  Will was 18 months old and he loved playing with Madelyn and all of her toys.  Gosh, the kids look so little in these photos!

Since Angela had a newborn, we kept our plans simple.  We toured an Amish community not far from where they lived.  We didn't really know what the day would be like with three young children, but it ended up being one of our best memories from the trip.  I love it when something like that happens. We decided to take a buggy ride through the countryside.  While on the buggy ride we passed by an Amish farm that had a little stand set up by the side of the road selling homemade root beer and lemonade.  They stopped the buggy and allowed us to purchase some.  I took the photo below of Mark after the tour and you can see he's still holding the cups.  I've lived in a rural area most of my life, but the farms in this area were idyllic.  I wish my photos captured their beauty.  After the buggy ride we toured the village and then made our way back to Angela's house.

Doesn't Angela look great for having a newborn?  Claire was so tiny!

Will and Madelyn

After we left Angela's we made a short drive to Hershey's Chocolate World.  We only toured the free part and didn't go into the amusement park since Will was so small. 

Before we left Pennsylvania, we stopped by the Gettysburg National Military Park and Museum.  Mark and I are both history nerds so we take advantage of any opportunity we get to visit and learn more about history.  Gettysburg is a significant battle in the Civil War, but I won't bore you with the details of why.

Flashback Friday: New York City

Flashback Friday {Tuesday}

New York City

June 2008

When we left our family in Virginia, we made our way north to Princeton, New Jersey.  We stayed in Princeton and took the train to New York City.  Our day in NYC was packed full.  We went to a Yankees game, which was special to Mark.  He saw a game at the original Yankee Stadium in its final season of use.  It was also a special father-son moment because he had Will with him.  We'll have to make another trip now that we have Ben so we can all go to the new Yankee Stadium.  We've always heard that New Yorkers are rude, but our experience was quite the opposite.  I was offered a seat every time we rode the subway.  Also the workers at the Yankees stadium were extra helpful.  Fans at the Yankees game helped us to our top row seats, and one gentleman even offered to help carry our stroller.  I think New Yorkers are pretty friendly.

Do I look smarter?  Maybe not!  I felt a little smarter walking around the campus of Princeton University.  It was such a beautiful campus.  So much different than anything I've been to in Texas.

Flashback Friday: Virginia

Flashback Friday {Monday}

Virginia

June 2008

The first stop on our road trip in 2008 was in Virginia to visit family.  Will was 18 months old and this was the first big trip we'd taken with him.  After leaving Virginia we went to New Jersey, New York City and Pennsylvania. 

Since we'll be in Vegas most of this week, I won't be blogging.  I'll share flashback photos all week of our road trip in '08.

Mark, Will and I are with my two brothers, sister, sister-in-law and niece.

My brother Brian lives in Fredericksburg, which is a very old town founded in the 1700s.  The downtown is a historically-rich area.

Maybe not historically significant but still recommended by the locals.

One final shot with my brother Chris, Laura and Will.

Flashback Friday: Great Smoky Mountains

Flashback Friday {Saturday}

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

June 2011

Last year at this time we were in Tennessee spending time at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Will was 4 1/2 and Ben was 2.  We made the trip with Mark's parents.  We enjoyed driving around the national park and hiking on several trails.  I love looking back and seeing how the boys have grown and changed.  It's also sweet to reminisce and remember the good times we've had on our vacations.  More photos from that trip are here.

Mark and I will be leaving for Las Vegas on Monday morning.  I'll have several posts lined up for next week to share flashbacks from family vacations/road trips we've taken in the past--Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and maybe some vacations before we even had kids.

Flashback Friday: 2009

This is one of my favorite photos of Papa Ralph.  It was taken about 3 years ago.  It was just before Ben was born and Will was 2 1/2.

Papa passed away 6 months ago and a day doesn't go by that I don't think about him. 

People say the pain of the loss gets easier over time.  I'm not sure.  Maybe it does, but I still miss him.

Flashback Friday: February 2010

Flashback Friday: February 2010

Something about this photo is so sweet.

Will had just turned 3 years old a few months earlier 

and 

Ben was 8 months old.

It's one of the first photos I have of Will and Ben together where they are 

grinning from ear to ear.

I just love 'em so much!

Flashback Friday: Halloween

I love Halloween!

Growing up I lived outside of a small rural town in the country.  There were no neighborhoods to go trick-or-treating.  We had a Halloween Carnival (or is it politically correct to say Fall Festival) where we could dress up at my school, but other than that Halloween was something I didn't get to celebrate. 

When Mark and I married and built our little house in town I was so excited about our first Halloween.  I bought lots of candy and waited in anticipation for our first trick-or-treaters.  I had the best time seeing all of the kids (and some grownups) in their costumes.

About five years ago we started giving away candy for our church at our town's local Halloween festival "Halloween on the Square".  Local businesses, organizations and churches line the streets of our downtown square and all of the kiddos walk around and fill up their bags with candy.  There are bounce houses and a costume contest.  These are the things I love about living in a small town.  It's safe and so much fun. 

Since Halloween is one of my favorite times of year, and I've only been blogging since May 2010, I wanted to flashback to some of my favorite images of the boys dressed up for Halloween.  Get ready for some photo overload!


Will
2007
This was Will's first Halloween.  He was just about to turn a year old.  He's always loved monkeys so when we saw this costume we knew it would be perfect for him.  It was so neat to get Will dressed in his adorable costume and go downtown.  I remember the weather was perfect and we all had such a good time.

Will at his first Halloween on the Square.

Probably one of my favorite photos ever of Mark and Will.

 

Will
2008
Will was almost two and I was pregnant with Ben.  I had pretty yucky morning sickness and was exhausted because I was still in the first trimester.  We decided to go with the super hero theme and Will was Batman.  The Batman mask stayed on for about 2 minutes so the rest of the evening he just wore the costume minus the mask.  Still very cute!

This was his first year to get in the bounce house. 

Trying to get him to pose for a photo was as hard as it was then as it is now. 

Will and Ben
2009
This was such a special Halloween.  I love celebrating holidays with both boys.  Ben was four months old.  This spider costume was perfect for my little guy.  He was my Itsy Bitsy Spider.


I love the expression on his face in this photo.  If we could put a thought bubble above his head it might read, "What the heck have my parents made me wear?"

Will was the King of the Jungle.  So far, Will's lion costume and monkey costume have been my favorite.  We were pleasantly surprised when Will kept the hood to his costume up all night.  He also let me paint his face, which made the costume complete.

More bounce house fun :)

I still have this photo framed on my desk at school.  Since I was still recovering from Bell's Palsy, this photo was one of the first where I actually felt like myself after months of facial paralysis.

Could he be any cuter?!?  I think not!

I wish I could go back in time and kiss those sweet baby cheeks!

The fun is over.  Time to go home.

Did you notice Ben's super cute baby Chuck Taylors?  Awesome!

Will and Ben

2010

I wrote a couple of posts here, here, and here about Halloween last year.

Will was Buzz Lightyear and we recycled Will's first costume and Ben was a monkey. 

Halloween

2011

We're going with the super hero theme again.  Ben will be Batman and Will is going to be Spiderman.  I can't wait to take photos on Monday when we are at Halloween on the Square.

Hope you have a safe and fun time trick-or-treating!