A May Full of West Moments

We just seemed to hang with the West side of the clan the month of May.  Lara and the girls came down for a visit and we went up to spend the weekend in Fayetteville since we missed James' birthday.  Poor little guy then got so sick while we were there and we didn't get to see them.

Here are some moments from our month...

One of Gray's favorite games on this trip was going to the beauty parlor....don't tell Matt or Papa.  :)

Our attic renovation was slowly coming to a close and I was just finishing out the reading nook (which you can read about on my other blog).  Pretending it was a stage, the kids danced and sang the days away...so cute!

We were able to hang out at the barn to see the horses for a little bit with mom.  I think Mary Ida loved it the most.

Grayson was equally excited about playing in the feed.

some story time with Aunt Lara

I think the fact that he's in his underwear butches up the tea party just a bit.  And check out Mary Ida's hat.

This was also the day Ava started walking!!  SO exciting!  We were letting the kids run out the rain wiggles on an obstacle course we set up in the playroom and she just randomly took her first steps.  I was literally jumping up and down!  And I caught the whole thing on video!

Just ignore my weird self in the background.  We'd been inside from the rain...for a long time.

We also headed up to Tennessee to hang with the fam at Nonni and Bubba's house...

The kids had such a fun afternoon playing outside...I like to think Nonni and Bubba's feels a little magical to them.  It's so green and has such character there.  I can definitely imagine forts and castles being built there sometime soon.

Ava loved the swing!

I mean, really loved it!  They got her one for her birthday so she could enjoy it at home, too.

We all got some swinging time in with the homemade swing (courtesy of Bubba)

Don't these two look like brother and sister???  Every time I see them together, that's all I can see. So cute.

Their Uncle Jim took them to find some honeysuckle...he's always doing such fun things like that with the kids. 

And then Grayson must have had too much, because he was getting all smoochy with Mary Ida...

and I'm not sure she liked it.

But she started warming up.

What faces!!  That's got to mean trouble.

One last random pic from our weekend trip to Birmingham...for our 7th anniversary!  We had a great time and, wow, what a treat it was to sleep in!! 

That's it for our May....I'm catching up, see?

:)

The Rest of Disney

Well, I know I'm way behind since this dates back to April, but I'm working on it. :)

Here's the rest of our Disney trip in a nutshell.  We took one day and headed to Downtown Disney; there's so much to see and do there.  Matt and I knew what we wanted to "treat" Grayson with while at Disney, and we knew he'd be excited.  We went straight to the toy store...and headed for the Mr. Potato Head bins.  For a flat price, you can fill up a box or large potato head with as much as you can fit inside.

A sweet Disney cast member snagged Grayson and told him to pick out his pieces and she would make it fit.  She really lived up to her end of the bargain!  Our potato head was packed plus she threw in about 12 extra pieces that didn't make it.

We had a wonderful time on our Pirates and Pals cruise.  Gray got to meet two of his favorite pirates at the Cotemporary Resort, followed by a pirate cruise to see the fireworks over Magic Kingdom.  SO much fun!

Hitting up Midieval Times was another highlight for him.

This was a big bonding night for him and his Papa.

More fun at Universal Studios.

and we finally got smart and created our own double stroller.

The last few pictures speak for themselves.  The week was absolutely filled with joyous and happy moments, and I could not have asked for such a blessing and more flat-out fun.

And pretty much everyday Grayson asks when we can go back to the Disney World castle.

:)

Disney Part 4- Epcot

Slowly, but surely, I'm going to catch up on our summer together here in the West household!  We've had such a wonderful summer as a family of four and I can't wait to record it all.  But first, we'll just start where we left off, our Disney trip.

On the third park day (after Uncle Lance had gone home), we headed to Epcot for some fun...and so Matt could go to Figment.  He had in his head it was going to be spectacular.  :)

The kids were getting just a little worn out...this is early in the morning.

Our little pirate again, posing in front of the ball.  I had not been to Epcot since I was much younger and I had forgotten how beautiful the gardens are.  We wanted to go to Tinkerbell's garden, but it happened to be closed while we were there...so pretty!

Grayson is always transfixed inside an aquarium; I think he could stand there all day watching the fish...we might have a national geographic photographer right in front of our eyes. :)

That's a joke, but some of you might as well prepare.  He watches Man vs. Wild and we watched Speed of Light-East Africa last night on Discovery.  :)

After riding figment (which disappointed Matt greatly), we played on the squares that light up when you jump on them.  I think I'll put those in the playroom...good for getting the wiggles out.

Ava was, again, a trooper.  She just rode in the stroller, napped when she needed it, and was mostly a joy to deal with.  I'm telling you, people, babies are not so bad at Disney World!

Gray's favorite part (and Matt's)

 by far was the water playground with all the skipping water.

Such sweet little moments happen on vacations...I love that we tend to think only of each other and what makes everyone happy.  It is so very easy to lose sight of that at home, getting "busy."  I have decided busy-ness is one of the hugest tools satan uses to distract us...or at least me, anyway.

My little jokester...he put this visor on and wore it all night, giggling away. 

Good times.

:)

Disney April 2010, Part One!

Alright my lovely friends and fam, I find myself (still) behind in updating you on our family life.  With the other blog becoming a bit of a very part time job, I'm cautious at how much time I'm on the computer.  I'm sorry you guys are the ones that suffer....and I'm probably forgetting so very much to record for our own memories!

Our big event of the year was a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando.  We were scheduled to go in February, but after dad's heart attack, he asked (how dare he) that we push it back a bit.  I'm so glad we did!  The weather was a little warmer and he was able to enjoy it so much more than if we had gone earlier.

In the interest of not boring you to death and avoiding exploding blogger from uploading too many pictures, I'm going to do this Disney post in parts.

:)

The trip down was a long one, but we broke it up a bit and got an early start so we were able to stop and let the kids stretch when we needed to.  Luckily, Nana and Papa were Grayson's ride (his choosing) and we each had one kid in our cars.

They were happy to arrive, though...

Ava was 9 months old on the trip and it was a good baby age to take her.  Any older and we would have been walking which means she would have been crying to get out of her stroller the entire time.  She was mostly very content, taking in all the sights and action.  The great thing about babies is they'll nap at disney...they have no choice.  Even my schedule accustomed kids.  Well, not Gray anymore. 

Too big for that...

One of his favorite spots was the pool at our resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge at Kidani Village.  We loved it!  I will say, the same animals stay in front of your rooms and it might be a better resort for older kids who would get more excited to see them.

These are shots of our first day, playing at the pool and water park...

 

 

I love this one...so sweet and michevious!

And this, my friends, is the face of sugar shock...

Alright, I've got another post coming your way today.  Magic Kingdom!

Going to the Chapel

Some of you know that my cousin, Eden, was married last weekend to her new husband, Jeremy.  We've gotten to know him over the last couple of years, and I could not be more excited for her and for their future together.

Grayson was asked to be the ring bearer and I wanted to share a little video with you.  This is my first attempt at video editing, so I wanted to test it with you guys...I know you won't judge me if it flops. :)  I don't think I embedded Ava's first steps video correctly, so it wouldn't play....leave me a comment if this works/doesn't work for you. 

Okay....this by no means covers the entire wedding, but it was such a beautiful day and ceremony.  And I can't lie, I could not have been more proud of my little man.  Please notice when he gets to his spot, he finds his little piece of tape and promptly turns around to stand on it....quite a performer that day. 

(Note: To humble my serious pride, the day was not absolutely perfect as far as Gray's behavior was concerned.  About 9 pm at the reception, he began to take first his shirt off, next his pants.  We were out of there.  :)

Easter 2010

Our Easter was filled with so many blessings this year.

I remember last year being about 6 months pregnant, the realization we would soon be "four" hitting me square in the face.  It was at this point God truly laid on my heart to be more invested in purposeful time with Grayson.  And what a year it's been!

Here are some highlights from our time together this year:

We spent much time teaching about the ressurection of Christ this year and focusing on that.  But there was, of course, plenty of fun activities that we enjoyed.  Grayson loved dyeing the eggs, but he kind of got over very quickly.  I mean, all you do is put the egg in the colored water, right?  And then you wait?

Wait?

What's that?

Grayson went to a couple of egg hunts this year.  One at his school...this shot has a sweet story behind it.  Jacob didn't find any eggs and Grayson had about 20 in his basket.  I asked him to look around and see if anybody might need something.  He then proceeded to empty his basket for his buddy.  So sweet. :)

He also went to a hunt at Hamilton at mom and dad's church.  He loved this....there were eggs everywhere!  He loves getting to spend time with Nana and Papa, and this day was no exception...

Love catching shots of him with his Easter basket...

And I promise I notice Ava, as well.  :)  She just did a little bit more sitting.

And on Easter morning (at 4:45 am, I'm sure)....

And I know this because of how swollen Matt's eyes are:

Sunday mornings are always super difficult, right in the middle of naptime for Ava, and usually a day that Gray wakes up extra early.  Easter Sunday was no exception.  All of us were up a little before 5, and we were all melting down as worship was over.  This is the only picture I captured of any of us that morning.  :(

Our new friends, Rick and Lauren Cochran and their little boy, Benjamin, ate lunch with us and my parents.  It was a lovely lunch and afterwards, we let the boys hunt eggs in the yard.  Caught the sweetest picture of them....

And well, this is my favorite shot of the day....

Do I need to explain why?

:)

Shaunna