Christmas Tree Hunting

We bundled up and headed out to find our Christmas tree last Saturday. Brandt loved the snow...but it got a little cold after a while.

Mishap

You may be able to tell from this picture that our shed door is busted. I had to bust it open. While I was looking for more leaf bags in the shed yesterday, Brandt swung the door closed and it latched behind me. I was locked in the shed and Tim wasn't home. Brandt initially thought it was pretty funny that I wasn't coming out, but the laughs turned to cries and I had to kick the door open. Fortunately, Tim was able to fix my damage when he got home.


Tim and I decided that living in a neighborhood with mature trees has it's blessings...but it also has it's burdens. Below is 26 city yard waste bags filled with leaves from our yard....we have a good 10 more bags to go... :-) We love our trees, though.

Fall Fun

Brandt has been having fun this fall. We've visited Robinettes' Apple Haus and a pumkin patch. Yesterday Brandt got to wear his Halloween costume to the library for story-time and go trick-or-treat-ing. He's also been a big "helper" in raking the leaves in our yard. What a fun season...

Hilton Head Trip

Brandt and I went to Hilton Head, SC at the beginning of October to visit my parents. Unfortunately Tim couldn't join us and we missed him. I managed to bring a 17 month old on 4 plane trips as a single parent....what a journey :-) We had a great week playing on the beach, swimming, visiting a petting zoo, and playing with Grandpa and Grandma.

Summer Vacation

While Tim was between semesters, we took a vacation up North. We spent two nights in Leland, where we hiked, tasted wine, and just relaxed. Above, Brandt is relaxing on a rocking chair in downtown Leland. Below, is the Leelanau River.

Below is the view of Leland Harbor outside the apartment we stayed in.
A gorgeous sunset over Lake Michigan, North Manitou Island is in the background.

We took a hike along a nature trail near Leland. Brandt didn't even mind the backpack too much!


Below, Brandt is contemplating life while looking out over Sutton's Bay.

After spending a few days in Leland, we spent the remainder of the week and Labor Day weekend at Big Star Lake with my family. Brandt loves splashing in the water and throwing things off the dock.


Below, my nieces Lauren and Sarah are fishing at sunset.


Can you tell I like sunset pictures? Isnt' this beautiful!?

First Haircut

Brandt had his first haircut today. By haircut...I really mean a few hairs cut. He doesn't have all that much hair but a few long ones in the back needed some help. Our friends' sister, Erika, came over and did the honors. Brandt wasn't too sure about the whole process but there were no tears or whining- so I considered it a success!



Here's Brandt showing off his new 'do to Tim along with a goofy smile!

Summertime Fun....

Here are a few of Brandt's favorite things right now. Above, he loves playing in the water at Frederick Meijer Gardens. Below, we meet every dog in the neighborhood because Brandt loves dogs so much. Bella, the beautiful white dog, is one of his favorites...

Our sidewalk has never been better than this summer...Brandt "mows" it at least once a day!

This is the end result of a big day of summer fun....sleeping with Bear in his carseat.

Brandt's silly personality is showing itself more and more...he thinks my sunglasses are really cool.
This is the new pot we bought for our back patio; since it's still empty, it makes a great place to play peek-a-boo.

Summer....

Apparently we've been pretty busy this summer, because I haven't posted pictures in a long time! Here are a few pictures of things we've been up to recently. Above, Brandt is becoming more and more independent, he loves using his own silverware.

Brandt is wearing his special 4th of July shirt at the lake last weekend. The water's a little cold to go swimming, but he loves splashing around. Somehow Brandt slept through 3 hours of fireworks on Saturday night. After all of it was over and quiet, he woke up at midnight....go figure!!

We celebrated my parent's 40th wedding anniversary as a family a few weeks ago. What a special occasion that we could share with them.

One of Brandt's new favorite things is walking up and down the dock at the lake....up and down....up and down...It's really hard to read a magazine or book when you're following a one year old up and down the dock....up and down....

Since we're raising a child in the 21st century, we thought we'd teach him texting early....he's getting pretty good, much faster than me.

This past week...

This past week I was able to meet up with some friends from nursing school and all our kids. There were 7 women and 16 children!! We were able to catch up on each others' lives, have lunch, and go swimming. It was so good to see and catch up with everyone.


Last weekend Tim and I took Brandt to the Grand Rapids Festival. He had a riot! Here are a couple of pictures of him exploring downtown.


We have some excitement in our neighborhood right now. The old Ottawa Hills High School is being demolished and replaced with the Grand Rapids Christian Elementary School. Brandt was able to take part in the 'ground-breaking' ceremony of what will be his school. This is a picture of him with the shovel he was given at the ceremony

One of Brandt's favorite new 'toys' is the watering can. He helps me water the flowers...what a good little helper...

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent the holiday weekend at my parents' cottage on Big Star Lake. Memorial Day weekend means putting the dock and boats in and preparing for summer! Brandt had a great time playing in the sand and exploring outside. He liked going fast in the boat and even wanted to get into the water to go swimming...the water was a little to cold to let him do that though.



It was my mom's birthday on Saturday and I thought this was an adorable picture of her, my niece Julia, and Brandt.