July

July we made a lot of trips going to Jeremy's parents in Drums, PA (an hour in a half north). There was our family vacation we took, as previously mentioned, and then 3 reunions after that. One being a friends reunion of the Riggall twins from their church growing up, another was the Riggall reunion (Jeremy's immediate family) and then a Grove City College reunion. I think we're ready to stay home for a weekend or two. There are lots of pictures to be shared.

Jeremy and his older brother, Mike.

Jaron doesn't like loud noises so when Daddy was riding Big Yellow (Grandpa's riding mower) he put ear phones on J's ears.

Little Toby sitting big in his booster seat for lunch.

Jaron and Eliana, his oldest cousin.

Jaron LOVES his Grandpa. He's always asking "Where's Grandpa?" or "Go to Grandma Grandpa's house?". Grandpa loves to play with his grandkids.

There was a car washing party going on at the Riggall home during the family reunion. Those Riggall men love to have a clean car. Jaron and Ellie were busy helping out.

And our lastest family picture.

It's very neat to hear how well Jaron is speaking now and picking up on so many things just this summer. He is always curious about Jeremy's projects around the house. When it rains, he asks about the sump pump in the basement that Jer put in. He wants to help in any way possible if it's something Jeremy (or Grandpa) is doing. He now asks about Uncle Craig and Uncle Mike, Jer's two brothers. He still sings, all the time. Last night I heard him talking and singing to himself (which he does while he's laying in bed for naptime or bedtime these days, sometimes for two hours straight), and I heard him singing a song"Angels Watching Over Me", which is what I sing to him every night, then saying "Uncle Cwaig, Uncle Cwaig...go Daddy, go Daddy, go, go, go Daddy." all in that order about 5 times. He makes me laugh. He is still very sweet in that he loves to hug and kiss. He has started to say "I love you Mamma" or "I love Dadda". He can count up to about 15, I think, and he's learning the alphabet song. He's also becoming difficult in some ways. I have been having a hard time getting him to eat his food. He has become extremely picky at the table. Sometimes I want to pull my hair out. So I started pureeing vegetables and adding them to the food he likes. Sneaky, eh? It all can be very frustrating, but I know it comes with the age. This is the age their wills come out and he has a strong one. We have been seeking the Lord in direction on how to handle certain situations. It's not always easy.

Abigail is a sweet baby girl, but very LOUD! Her talking and jabbering can be deafening. She is eating cherrios now and eating more solids. She is not crawling yet nor is she attempting to. She's on the lower scale of development for her age group (6-9 months), but they say she's not behind, so that was encouraging. I guess it's to be expected with all that she's had going on in her short little life so far.

The summer is flying by before our eyes. We are enjoying just being together as a family. We try to take a walk every day (if we're home) and realize that these times won't last forever. Soon, the kids will be grown and we'll want them back to being babies, so we're trying to soak up as much time with them now as possible. We'll be making a trip to upstate NY to visit Mary's parents in a couple weeks, a trip to Ocean Grove, NJ over Labor Day weekend at the shore and then possibly, early this fall, a trip down to VA to visit Mary's Grandparents.

Thanks to those of you keeping up with our Blog page. Until next time...