Friday, October 25, 2013

Anessa


I am a grandmother for the second time!  Sweet little Anessa joined her cousin, Gabriel, as the lights of my life.  She is perfect and I am ecstatic to have a granddaughter.

Our family has not welcomed a girl for nearly nineteen years and we are "little boy" strong - five of them between the ages of 5 and 13 - so her arrival has been highly anticipated.




Mollie is delighted to have a niece.  Mitchell is thrilled to have acquired the the title of Uncle.  My mother thinks that she is perfect and my sister visited the hospital 3 different times.




Gabe seems to adore her.  As they left the hospital, he told his dad, "That baby just melted my heart." and that melted this grandmother's heart.


Her parents, Tim and Meg, are now adjusting to life as parents.  I am so pleased to see my sons as fathers.  They are loving and doting and have exceeded my expectations for them as parents.  Gabriel and Anessa are lucky to be so loved.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Enjoying the View



This is a scenic landmark a few miles from my home.  My kids loved hiking here and this past summer, I realized that my grandson had never been here.  It was too hot to hike up and through the desert this summer but Saturday was the perfect day so Gabe and I made the drive.  This photo was taken just as we began our climb.


Here is Gabe on the backside of Balanced Rock.  Not really a good perspective of what the area looks like and definitely not the normal view of the landmark.


Gabe looking out at the valley and checking out how far from the car he had climbed.


Gabe took my camera and took this picture.  I hadn't realized that he had taken the photo until I uploaded the pictures.  We continued climbing through the high desert above the rock.  Gabe was convinced and disappointed that we didn't see any rattlesnakes.  Actually, this is the perfect time of year to make this hike due to the lack of rattlesnakes.



We spent a couple of hours outdoors enjoying and gorgeous October day and soaking up the sun.  Too hard to stay indoors when we know that this temperatures won't last long.