Railsbacks Visit!

Our good friends, Seth and Andrea, and their kids, Ethan and Peyton, came for a visit. We had one full day together so we headed to Niagara Falls. It was probably the hottest day of the summer, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. Here is the crew in motion.

A cute shot of Andrea and Peyton while we waited for the boys to use the facilities and get our Adventure Passes.

The Railsbacks getting their first view of the Falls.

Olson family shot.

The Maid of the Mist (a boat tour that takes you to the bottom of the falls) was a definite highlight. We all embraced getting soaked because it felt so refreshing on such a hot day. The head index was 109 degrees! (Thank goodness for air conditioned buildings.)

Zach and Lyds enjoying the mist...Ahhhhhh.....

After an exciting day of touring the falls we headed back to our place. The kids were pretty pooped out so they took a snooze on the bed while the adults chatted.

The next morning before church Peyton decided she wanted to hold Lydia...so sweet.

Ethan enjoyed chilling on the couch while we got dinner ready.

What a fun weekend! Thank you Seth, Andrea, Ethan and Peyton for coming out for a visit. It was short and sweet, but we sure packed in a lot of laughs and memories together.

First Baby Food!

We gave Lyds her first baby food the other day...carrots! She surprised us both by eating the entire jar...although, as you'll see she and Daddy wore quite a bit of it too. :-)

We followed up dinner with a bath.

A cute shot of Daddy and his girl.

Lydia tends to get her limbs stuck in the slots of her crib, so we got her some bumper pads (thanks Auntie Jayne)! She likes them so much she gives them hugs them while she naps. :-)

Dinner Time!

We started giving Lydia rice cereal in the evening a couple months ago. She really likes it...but sometimes gets so excited she wears more than she eats. "I love dinner time!"

"Get in my belly!"

"It's so good..."

"Do I have something on my face?"

Food Coma...

We often follow dinner time with bath time in our home. :-)

Lyds lately...

Wow...almost 5 months already. It's hard to believe! Lydia is smiling and talking much more lately, which is a lot of fun to see and hear. One of our favorite things to do it watch Lydia sleep- there is nothing sweeter than watching a sleeping child...love it. Here are a couple shots of her sleeping.

Her pharaoh pose...

In addition to watching her sleep, we love getting her from her naps. She generally wakes up full of smiles.

 
Here Lydia is trying some of our home-grown cilantro for the first time. She shares her Mamma's opinion of it.

Three Cheers!!

After almost three years of praying, we are happy to say that our condo sold!! We give great thanks to God for this blessing and a special thanks to my Aunt Cindy, our real estate agent, for all of her hard work. I drove to Port Huron last week to sign the papers and as of July 27, we are no longer condo owners! Three cheers for only having one mortgage- Hip Hip Hooray! This is where I lived prior to marrying Zach. It was a very nice home for me and I hope the new owners enjoy it as much as I did.

The good old Condo Binder.

Mulchified!

Zach and I really enjoy finding projects that we can work on together. Our garden/landscaping has been looking a little rough this summer and since we both enjoy working outside, we decided to take on our first mulch project together. We had a nice time spreading the black mulch around our house and, man, does it look better! Here are the before and after pics... Before...

After!

Before...

After!

Before...

After!

Before...

After! Voila...wow, too bad the soil isn't as dark as the mulch.

Delia and Lydia

A friend of mine had a baby girl, Delia, one week before we had Lydia. We get together a couple times a week for walks/talks and it is fun to watch our girls interact and grow together. Recently I was going through Lydia's clothes and I noticed I had two of the same outfit...so here's the result...photo shoot!

I love this one...Yum Yum...arm sandwich!

Two beautiful little ladies.

Lydia lately...

So, Lydia has learned how to stick her fist and thumb into her mouth. It's her favorite hobby these days. But recently she surprised us and decided she needed a challenge. So now in addition to her fist sucking, she has taken up foot sucking! Talk about flexibility!

Here are a few recent pictures. Zach and Lydia all ready for church.

Some friends invited us over to swim. Here we are ready for some splish-splashing. She loved the pool! She was kicking her feet and splashing water all over herself.

Sweet smile from a sweet little Lyddi.

She is also a huge fan of her Jumperoo. She has quickly caught on.

Baggo!

For my birthday Zach made me a Baggo game- which I love! So the next step was painting it. I looked on-line to get ideas and found one I really liked. I chose blue and orange because those are Zach and my favorite colors. Here is the game- primed and ready for paint.

And the finished product! It reminds me of a British flag, but I'll take it!

Now all we need are the bean bags...on to the next project!

Family Picture

When we were in town we got my whole side of the family together for a long anticipated family picture. With 10 adults and 9 grandkids it was no small feat! Here we are trying to get organized.

Still trying to figure things out...Check out Dave and Zach swinging Blake off to the right. :-)

We did it!

Another great shot.

We had to do a couple goofy shots...

Grandpa, Grandma and their precious jewels...

Uh oh, we've got three criers...can you spot them?

Olson family pic.