Hale Edition - Our Precious Baby Caitlyn

The last 5 weeks with this darling baby have been so much fun! 

This post is full of random pictures of our little girl.

We are loving being her parents!

Seems like every day there are new milestones.

This was the first day she started holding onto things.

Look at that hair! :) 

Visiting with friends

Aunt Hannah

 Cousins!

Caitlyn's first eclipse - notice the crescent shapes around her

 The lighting was so strange!

The shadow of a hole in a piece of paper

 

Our happy family

My handsome man <3

Caitlyn loves to be swaddled

Livy came for a visit!

Uncle David and Aunt Rachel came to visit too!

She has such a big smile!

Dressed up for church the past few weeks

Wide eyes!

Sleeping in her crib

 Garland Bible Church - where my family attended when I was a child

It looks so much smaller than it was when I was little! :)

 Visiting a dear friend

My birthplace...

...the home we lived in until I was 8 years old 

Tummy time on her quilt Mama Flo made for her

Sweet cousins helping us move the cows

Meeting Chief

Heading to Daddy's fire station

These two melt mommy's heart!!

Daddy loves his baby!

Fun time with Daddy before bed

 She loves baths!

 Daddy gives fun rides!

 I'm such a big girl!

 Some of Caitlyn's 2 day portraits

The Lewis Edition: Our Summer

We left Texas the last day of June for a wonderful,

month-long trip to visit our family!

The Mississippi Bridge is always a welcome sight! :)

We arrived in time to celebrate July 4th in Tennessee!

Some of our dear little friends playing at a bluegrass festival ...

... while their family watches.

At Pickwick Lake with friends and family,

ready to watch the fireworks!

Sarah and I made salsa with Tennessee tomatoes from plants started in Texas. ;) 

Next we traveled to Ohio to visit Russell's family.

I enjoyed many walks on the beautiful trails

close to his brother and sister-in-law's home!

So pleasant!

Some friends took us to this marina and treated us to ice cream! 

I was too shy to ask to take a picture of our friends. :)

Our next destination was Michigan, where we spent an enjoyable day

 with some of Russell's cousins, went sight-seeing and camped out

for several nights.

At the cousin's cottage ... such a comfy place! ...

on Bankson's Lake

Cozy!

On our way back to Tennessee we took a day to visit the Creation Museum.

I had been a couple of times, but Russell hadn't been before.

We both thoroughly enjoyed it!  

A selfie with Methuselah! 😂

The highlight of the museum for me this time

was the exhibit on the history of the Scriptures.

"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot and will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.  I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me. Amen."

A neat quote by Luther on creationism!

Russell's favorite exhibit was the one on Mount St. Helen's,

how it is like a "mini Noah's flood."

One of the highlights of the summer was getting a "new" car!

A friend of ours in Tennessee put a lot of hours into making this

Honda Civic look amazing inside and out!

It's SO nice to have a car to get around while Russell is at work!!! 

Back home, the beginning of August;

our first Farmer's Market purchase!

Delicious!!!

At Taco Cabana in Longview, after waiting

expectantly for it to open! :)

The highlight of our summer: Caitlyn Ann's arrival!!!

So neat to watch Mama Flo enjoy another great-grandchild!

Precious!!!

She already has a special place in my heart!

More Caitlyn Pictures (because you can never have too many!)

A couple weeks ago, Jonathan and I made a quick trip to Texas.  We were just there overnight, so got only a few pictures, but they were too cute to keep to ourselves.  Caitlyn has grown and changed so much already since then...Deb, we need some posts from you!!!

Bekah's Buddy!

In early August, my dearest little buddy (okay, maybe not so little anymore) Samuel, from South Carolina, was able to come spend a couple weeks with me again! 😊

His time here was exactly what I had been missing... the perfect ending to my summer!

His coming was a last-minute decision (less than 22 hours from the time I first got the word, to the time he was here - MINE for two weeks!!!) so I hadn't had time to prepare anything special.

Usually when he comes, he and I spend lots of time learning and doing things together,

but this time he just joined right into our busy, FULL, schedule!

Here he is that first day, finally on his way to his Bekah's house!

(I took the picture to text to his Mama, who I knew was missing her precious boy!)

Isn't this the most adorable face ever??!!

Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures, but I'll share what I do have...

We were running the whole time he was here, so even though the pictures are few, they'll give a little look into some of what we did...  

Deborah and Daniel's dear little Caitlyn arrived the first night Samuel was here,
so a trip to Texas to see her was included in his visit.  

What fun it was for me, to have him along on the long road trip!

Here he and Jonathan love on our precious baby girl

Another Texas baby for him to enjoy!

Two mornings, Samuel and I walked a mile and a half up the road 

to spend a little time with Daniel's sister and her sweet baby, Trinity. 

What an exciting treat!

Samuel got to pick pears at Daniel's parents' house!

Back in Tennessee, just after returning from our Tx trip, Melissa and Ross

and their kids came down for a few days.

Wish I had more pictures!  I snapped these on my phone

one morning, just after Hugh woke up.  He and Samuel were so dear together!

This was one of the highlights of Samuel's visit, and I'm really sorry

I don't have a better picture! 

Samuel went with me to  spend time with some of my other dear buddies, and he talked
about "Riley" and "Riley's robots" for days afterwards.

Sweet Riley and his sisters blessed Samuel (and me) tremendously with their love!

Samuel is always eager to go spend time with his

dear, long-time friend - our neighbor, Scott 

 

A trip to visit our pastor and his family on their farm was

something else that Samuel is not going to forget!!

(So sorry only two girls in the picture) 

My tender-hearted boy noticed that my new student was

feeling a little nervous on her first day, so he put his arm around
her shoulders and helped put a little smile on her face :)

Bedtime stories! One of the highlights of having my boy here!!!

I snapped this picture to send to his parents one night, and I'm disappointed that I 

didn't get a better one... but I have to include it since it's one of the things I look forward to the most when he comes 

And I'll add one last silly selfie of Bekah and her Buddy,

Bekah misses you, Samuel, more than you can know!

❤❤❤❤❤❤I love you so much❤❤❤❤❤❤