all smiles.


last weekend, some of chris' family came to visit & spend time with the littles. abel has a way of making people feel like a million bucks, and this visit was no exception. he showed them his favorite toys & books & things to do outside. he grabbed their hands and pulled them along with him everywhere he went, & i could tell how loved he and they both felt. i love when that happens. 

my boys.


firstly, two words... my husband. heart eyes all day.
in all seriousness, i just think he is a beautiful human being. i look at my kids and i see his face & am so thankful. more than that though, his heart makes mine melt a million times a day. he gives us his everything. he works hard all day so that i am able to stay home with our littles & raise them up, and then he comes home and gives more. i love him so much & am thankful thankful thankful for who he is & how he loves us.
second... abel. he is suddenly a teenager & he has to stop because my heart can hardly take it. he's the very best. he loves to play & have fun 24/7, him in his new clothes for fall... i can't even, the way he loves his sister and snuggles up with us daily is the sweetest ever, and he & chris... that's the sweetest bond in the world. i love that little boy to my end. thank you Jesus for these two boys... lucy and i are the luckiest.

our favorite fall reads.

september happened & for me that meant it was finally appropriate to pull out the fall decor & bring on the pumpkin. abel was on board... i mean, he's my son so of course he was. with the fall decorations, we brought out all of his fun halloween books as well, and since this magical day he has been OBSESSED with pumpkins. what? music to my ears? naturally, my mom showed up with a bunch of stuffed pumpkins for him immediately (because she's great like that... & because he chewed every fake pumpkin i put out within minutes) and he hasn't let them out of his sight. we're talking, pumpkins on the high chair for breakfast, at the coffee table, in the car... you name it. it's 100% adorable, like most things abel does & it makes me incredibly happy to see his interests peak & change. next week i'm sure pumpkins will be old news & it will be all about something else, but for now pumpkins it is & officially happy fall to us! below i've shared some of our favorite books to read this season, enjoy!

estes park & entirely "too many" photos for one post...


i've never been one for narrowing down my favorite pictures for posts, because they are always all my favorite. so here it is, estes park trip 2014 & a million photos included. 
we had a great trip this year & all agreed that it ended too quickly. it was our first family trip without my dad, and i felt it. it wasn't the same & i missed his hugs & his presence, but it truly was a good time together regardless. we stayed at a new place & it was sooo nice to all fit under one roof! the house we stayed in was right on the river & i loooved long conversations in the hot tub and on the upper deck looking over the water. we had a chex mix "cook off" in hopes that someone could match my dads recipe & i think chris nailed it. ash brought muddy buddies & i made my first batch of pumpkin bread... like most years, i came home feeling like an actual carbohydrate, and like most years i still say "worth it". i'm so thankful for this family of mine, they are life's cake & i will have helping after helping.