family blessings

I have been thinking a lot lately about what makes a family. As we try to shape two little boys & attempt to grow our little tribe I can't help but think about all those who have come before us... of the blood that runs in us & where it all came from. Part of why I love looking at old family photographs, especially of people I have never met, is to try to "see" what part of their soul was captured in that particular moment. I am in the middle of creating a wall of family photos... choosing several recent ones to print large & frame... as well as sifting through more extended family photos for a different wall. All of this has stirred up such gratitude for me... gratitude for having come from a loving family, for knowing how to create my own, and for being so lucky as to marry into one. No one is perfect, bad things happen, and sometimes it isn't your blood that makes a family... but feeling you are loved really is the most important foundation for us humans, isn't it?

On that note, we were so very lucky to recently visit with more cousins! This summer will now be referred to as "cousinpoluza". Thank you Pauline for such a fun dinner... it was great to have a place to visit and for all of the little monkeys to run around together.





Thank you Paul & Robin for coming across the pond to share your beautiful boys with us. (FYI we have now officially started the "Brits move back to the states" campaign. We sooo wish you lived closer!)





Looking forward to our trip in a couple of weeks... yes, cousinpoluza is making it's way to the East coast!

Just add water...

With my two little guys it seems that most of the time their afternoon crankies can be cured with a little water. We have our water table on our front porch, but when we are very lucky we get to go play in a "real" yard with hoses & sprinklers & baby pools. They are both in heaven whenever there is water around.
















We took the boys to the town pool last week... Remy is a total water-baby. He loved swimming in the big pool with Daddy & even put his face in. Quinn was a bit more cautious, but warmed up to it with Daddy's help. Hoping to get their swimming lessons started soon. Happy summer!

Reach for the sky!

One of the biggest challenges in trying to get a photograph of all three cousins together was to actually get three little boys to sit in one place for more than two seconds. Luckily William has discovered his super-power of making this happen... he will be sending out his applications to children's photo studios any day now but we are happy to use his skills in the meantime...



I think this one was "where is your nose?"...

It was so much fun having aunts & uncles & cousins all around...


We miss you already! So happy we will see you again soon...
Daddy gave wagon tours of the yard...



And of course we had to go have our adventure walk in the redwoods. Is there anything cuter than cousins holding hands?!?

Attempts at a group shot failed, but we got a few mini group shots...



This is one of my favorites...
Oh if only I could bottle some of Remy's energy...

The whole weekend this was pretty much the order of things... Remy the ringleader, followed by Dylan & Quinn.




Still learning how to use my new camera... the shadows & light from the trees were an added challenge.


Love this shot... Remy's enthusiasm for whatever he is doing makes me smile every time...





Happy weekend everyone. A special thanks to friends & family for their extra love this past week. xo kwqr