Goodbye Grandpa

Goodbye Grandpa, originally uploaded by The Portrait Place.

My grandfather passed away this past week. He has had health problems for quite sometime, so this has been somewhat anticipated. We attended his funeral down in Vancouver, WA. It was very well done - my father did both the chapel and graveside services. Andrew became very emotional during the chapel service - this being his first real experience with death. Here is is watching his great grandfather finally being laid to rest.

NOT napping

NOT napping, originally uploaded by The Portrait Place.

And here is Alivia a few minutes ago - jumping...instead of napping. This is gonna make for a lovely evening....:)

Oh No You Didn't!

Oh No You Didn't!, originally uploaded by The Portrait Place.

Look what I did.....I saw a little boy with one of these and thought Andrew would look soooo cute with a Mohawk - so I busted out the clippers this morning and gave him the haircut of a lifetime! He loves it!!

I-DER-HO

Well, I did it. I loaded up my two little rugrats onto a plane, and in one hour, we landed in Boise. It was time for a cousin get together. Andrew and Alivia did great on the plane and even better once in the small town of Eden. Take a look at my sweet nephew and nieces - how big they are getting.

Here's Gabe - (and the old abandoned truck I was so excited to find!!). He's 6 now - and incredibly smart. I was so excited to see him, and to make him giggle. He can be a bit serious at times, so it was good to see him be sorta silly with his Auntie. He had Andrew played a lot (and fought a little) but most importantly, had a ton of fun together.

Here's Miss Gracie - my pretty pretty princess. She's a cuddle bug - and I ATE it up while we were there. I just adore her to pieces and pieces. I felt kinda bad for her because at times she was a little left out with between Gabe playing with Andrew and Abby and Alivia teaming up. And, OH HOW MY HEART GOES OUT TO THAT POOR POOR MIDDLE CHILD. Any time she needs sympathy for being the odd one out, she can call her Auntie. I really miss her, and I can't wait to see her again so she can do her "dance of joy" for me.

And here's Miss Abby. I can honestly say that I didn't really know her before this trip, and that always bummed me out. After this trip, she and I are pals (although she'll tell you with a devilish grin that she doesn't love me). She made me laugh outloud constantly with the things she had to say. We had all sorts of conversations - and her logic cracks me up. She's quite the talker. I have never met anyone like miss Abba-Doo - she's very unique. I had the most fun getting to know her.

This is the day we took the kids to the park - and below is Clinton and Jen looking beautiful as ever. I especially like how they tried to make the prettiest faces when they saw the camera pointed thier way.

This is how Livie spent most of her time - not sweeping the grass, but naked in the backyard. I'm not really sure why she was sweeping the grass, but she hauled that thing around the yard for a while. Whatever she was doing - it was accomplishing a lot in her mind.
Jesus, take the wheel....

Look at these cute little Mo's. I can't believe how big they are.

Did I mention they are strong, too?

{Just a couple more}

Abby Livin' it Up...

Livie Making Wishes...

The Big Kids in tall, tall grass...