Concerts in the Park

We love our concerts in the park! And unfortunately we didn't go to as many as we would of this summer had the weather cooperated. This year for the concerts we added baseball to our bbq and music fun! Gunnar loved playing baseball and running the bases. Preston would go around to but not stoping at the bases. It was a wonderful time to be together as a family and visit with friends! We have a wonderful neighbors the Hirtles in some pictures along with the Baldwins who would BBQ with us too!

The hitter of the night!The whole baseball team!Blanket time with music!

Joshua, Preston, and Nude Gunnar (just kiddding he just has his shirt off)

The guys hard at work eating as many hotdogs as they can!

Briggs, Eric, Rhett and a friend of Baldwins that I forgot

THE FAIR

Yes, the Howard County fair has come and gone! We love going to the fair, it brings back lots of fun memories for me as a child, the kids love the animals and playing, and the wonderful fair food This time I tried the FRIED OREOS, it was YUMMY YUMMY!! Here are some pictures of the evening we had at the fair!

Our family picture eating our yummy fair food!

The kids with the cows! They have so many cow barns it is amazing and we went in every single one for the kids! And they even got to pet a couple! They also had this area for kids and there was baby chickens, and ducks, and baby rabbits, and baby piglets! It was so cute!

At this kid area the favorite part was the corn pit! Gunnar swam in it and played and played in it!

Preston jumped in it and even tried to eat some of the corn! Which quickly was ended!

Fairs mean tractors! Here they have tractor races and it is so much fun to watch! We all bet which tractor is going to win. Here is Rhett with the boys on a tractor!

Beach Bums!

Summer can't pass us by with out going to the beach! Sooo Rhett and I took the kids for a day trip at the beach! We all had a blast, it was such a fun day! The boys could not get enough of the sand, we built castles, burried each other, and threw sand everywhere! Preston would even do a dive into the sand, his entire body was literally covered from head to toe. We even took the boys out into the ocean this time. Gunnar was thrilled to ride the waves! He had his floaties and tube on and would ride a wave and say "Wow, Mom that was a big one huh?" He even got so brave that he wanted me to let go of him! Here are some fun pictures of my beach bums!

Sand Dive ManGetting buried in Sand with PGunnar and the biggest shell we found that day!
Picnic at the beach!The Boogie Board Man

My two Boys!

I got some pictures taken of the boys, they are so good. Thanks Alisa! It brings to light how dang cute my boys are! Here they are!!

Gunnar (3 and half) Shows his I am so big attitude in these pictures with his I am sweet as can be face too. He is growing up soo much. He is still his Mommy's boy and loves thirty hugs a day but now has also taken on a Daddy's boy too as he loves to go crawdad catching and fishing with his Dad!

Preston (19 Months Old) He is my toddler trying to be as big as his brother. Insists on doing things all by himself already. He is very active and as he walks he does this hop skip and a jump walk that I just love! He sure is cute and we love him!

The two together! Hand in hand! The boys amaze me with the love for each other! It brings a tear to my eyes as I see them play with each other at home, at the parks, and how they talk to one another and are best buddies! Now of course we have two sides of the spectrum and there is also fighting, hitting, and get away from me moments but who likes to dwell on that side!

Me and my boys! I love this picture and had to include it!

Now for the whole gang! A quick snap shot - we have a family photo and were mainly focusing on the boys but Alisa manage a quick shot and so here is for the four of us!

Reptiles, Reptiles, and Reptiles

Gunnar caught his first frog! The excitement is noted in the pictures! Then with all of the rain we've had, there have been lots of turtles out and about on roads and parking lots so Rhett has brought them home for the kids to have a pet turtle for a few days and then we put them in a pond and watch them run :) It sure has been fun to watch the excitement that they have as they catch frogs, worms, and turtles.

Gunnar's First Frog he Caught!!!

Our Box Turtle Rhett found in the road

And my Favorite - the painted turtle found in the work parking lot - man he was friendly and fast! The kids would put their feet up and watch him crawl all around. Any friends that would come over squealed and ahhed over this speedy turtle. I did have a pet turtle as a child whose name was actually speedy.

Grandma and Grandpa's First Visit to Maryland!

Yeah!! Grandma and Grandpa made it to Maryland - this was their 3rd try and the third try was the charm! We had so much fun with them here and are already for them to come back. Pleeeeaaase!!

They stayed right in the middle of Inner Harbor for a work conference so we spent our first night together in the inner harbor and it was just beautiful. We went out to eat at the cheesecake factory and had yummy desserts!

Grandma and Grandpa got the grand tour of the house by Gunnar and then got stuck in His room reading books!

We went swimming at the hotel where Preston enjoyed splashing everyone!

We got to go to Harper's Ferry and Grandma's favorite place Mount Vernon.

We had such a great visit! We love you Grandma and Grandpa! Thank you for coming and seeing us in Maryland!

The Fishin' Boy

This was Gunnar's first year fishing! He was so excited. Bought his own pole and was ready to go out fishing! He would throw the line out and then reel it back in again and again and again - and he never tired! He hasn't caught a fish yet but when that happens fishing will take on a new excitement. Here are some pictures of our Fishing Boy!! And one with his Dad.

Preston's First Hair Cut

Yes it was time, but of course I loved that wild hair of his. He looked like a duckling with his peach fuzz. He was quite the character cutting his hair. Preston always has a funny expression on his face, we love that little boy.

The Before Picture!!

Preston's best Barbers! His Dad!

And his Mom! The two of us Tag teamed him!

And the After Shots of the Handsome BOY!!

Summer trip back West!

Yes, we are lucky to be able to head back to the west to see all our family this summer. We spent 10 days in Arizona and 10 days in Utah and had a blast!

In Arizona we enjoyed the hot weather, went swimming, saw Great Grandma, played with my 23 cousins on the Merrell side, went to the zoo, and got to be with our Grandma Connie!

Here are the boys with their Grandma Connie - every picture you find with her and the boys it will be outside. That is her favorite and the boys favorite place to be, wether it was to feed the chickens, put the goats up, or pull weeds.

Look at this funny looking peacook - here's Gunnar, Preston, and Allie. We were lucky to have Aunt Crystal and our Cousins Allie and Holden with us the whole time while we were in Az. Here is the crazy clan with their Great Grandma - I should know how many greats she has but I've lost count. Allthough I do know that every night she counts them to help her fall asleep. We love our Grandma Merrell.Gunnar and Brock replanted a tree using a branch. It was one exciting adventure for Gunnar.
Look at these monkeys. Allie, Gage, and Gunnar

In Utah we played with the Rhees's Cousins, Rhett got to go golfing (his favorite thing to do), visit the Morley Farm, and be with Grandma and Grandpa!

Gunnar and Grandma playing connect 4. Grandma Karin is always so sweet to play games with the grandkids and to read them stories.
Preston loves animals and this is the nice cat at Grandma and Grandpa's that he can pet. So here he is on the bed petting "Calley".

Here are the Morley Clan. Quinn and Merrell with Gunnar. They showed us the baby lambs, calves, chicks, and then rode horses too! They have quite the place now.

This is my favorite picture of the Rhees cousins. Here is Riley, Preston, Gunnar, and Karson chilling eating chips. Preston seemed to always have a bag of cheetoh's there which went right along with a cheetoh face! These four rode lots of bikes, played on the swing set, and had lots of soccer games and baseball hitting.