Grant's the big 30! And Rhett - 7 months!

I planned a surprise party for Grant's birthday (Thank you to everyone who came - it was a blast!). He had been begging for a 'surprise' party for his 30th birthday since the day her turned 29... How are you supposed to plan one when you are asked every day if I am going to throw one! I have to admit that there were days that I came very close to just yelling at him that his surprise party would be on his birthday at the church during our normal small group time. But, thankfully I didn't give in!

Grant is a car guy - he always knows everyones cars and recognizes them while we are out and about - so as we were driving up to the building Grant goes "What is my sister doing in town?!" Ha - so he knew what was going on before he walked in the doors, but at least he didn't know before we got to the parking lot!

Had a lot of fun with friends and family - and Grant finally got the surprise party he had been begging for! Here are some pictures of him growing up for the fun of it :)

He's a charmer - I know :)

So, Rhett is also 7 months!

Rhett turned 7 months on Grant's birthday - October 8

Lets see - He is eating just about everything now,  just no meats! We tend to give him very small pieces of things that we are eating and so far he loves everything - maybe he won't be as picky as his father!

New things he's doing: He can pick up those little puffs and get them into his mouth on his own - such a lifesaver sometimes! Still rolling around like crazy, always wants to be sitting up or standing. He now is pretty steady if we stand him up so that he can hold onto something - he can stand and play on this little table that we got for him and he LOVES it! Still not even attempting to crawl - he never wants to be laying down anymore so I'm pretty convinced that he might end up going right to standing!

He has made a game out of tilting his head to one side or the other...he will just stare at you with his head cocked to the side and smiling until you do the same thing as well! 

I feel like he gets more and more fun everyday - Love his smiles, squeaks and babbles.

Here are some pictures that I took of him yesterday - we were battling a runny nose and bedtime :)

Love his expressions!

We love you, grandpa

As most of you know, my grandpa butch (dad's dad) passed away a few weeks ago. The funeral was a huge swing of emotions for me - and I have been heavily relying on Christ and His perfect plan these past few weeks. It's amazing the peace you can find in trusting in your Savior.

Wanted to blog about some of the memories I had with Grandpa to make sure they don't go forgotten.

When grandma and grandpa lived in Ankeny I loved going to their place - Grandpa would often bring out this huge bowl of pennies and let the grand kids go through them and keep any that were made on the year we were born. This kept us busy for hours -Grandpa was one smart cookie :)

You also couldn't visit grandma and grandpa without a friendly game of pass the ace - we always looked forward to that when we visited.

When grandma and grandpa lived in South Dakota it was always the best feeling after a long car ride to run into their house and give them hugs.

When our family moved back to Ankeny from Pennsylvania I remember getting to ride back with grandpa and grandma. Josh also rode with us. Grandpa gave us a huge cup full of m&ms to munch on during the 20 hour car ride that never went empty :) what was he thinking?!

When I was about 12 years old I remember staying with grandma and grandpa over the 4th of July. Terri was there, too! Terri had some fireworks to shoot off and one batch of them got a little crazy. One shot right towards grandpa who dove off the steps and another flew towards grandma who was walking the dog along the side of the house :) there was quite a bit of screaming, jumping and laughing going on.

Grandpa always seemed to be there for the important things while his health permitted. He never wanted to miss out on a thing! He always knew exactly what was going on in each of our lives an every year at Christmas would write a Christmas story that incorporates each of our names several times along with the major things that happened that year - always something to look forward to!

There are a million little things that were so great about him, too. When we were little grandpa was always singing to us, he loved a mean card game, you could always find him taking an afternoon nap in his recliner with a good sports game on - but of course, don't change the channel! :)