10.22.2011

First of all, if anyone is still checking this blog - yes, we are still alive.  Yes, I am a terrible blogger.  I probably won't be posting much new until after Christmas.  Updating my blog weekly will be my new "assignment" after I finally finish school in December!

However, this weekend, I had the pleasure of standing beside my brother as we welcomed Emily into our family.  It was a beautiful service and we all had a lot of fun!  Here are a few pics (courtesy of my sister) of the occasion.

The newlyweds

Hawkinson kids and grandkids (both of whom are getting teeth)

They love their Uncle John

Sisters

John and I

Posing for pics...

Running away from pictures

Kenny and I

Ainsley's new friend

I have a million pictures to post and blog about, including our trip to Massachusetts and Ainsley's birthday.  I need to do it in small pieces, so I just wanted to get this series of pictures posted - courtesy of Kenny's mom.  These are from our trip to Massachusetts.  Ainsley was very excited to see Gabe again - who is just a few months older than she is.  He pretty much ignored her all day.  But Miss Ainsley is persistent.  Especially when it comes to Gabe food.

Hey, do you have a pretzel????

Umm....do you think I could try that????

Yes!!!!!!!!!!

That's it?  One pretzel?

Father's Day weekend

This past weekend we did a lot of fun family events.  First, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry.  We were planning on going to the Aquarium, but the rest of the city decided to do that too.  We opted not to wait in the mile-long line.  Ainsley enjoyed running around MSI - particularly the weather and petroleum exhibit.  I'm very proud of her early interest in physics.  She was mesmerized by this pendulum proving the earth's rotation:

And by the wave exhibit.  At first she was a little apprehensive about walking on waves:

But she quickly got over it:

She also LOVED this "exhibit:"

The petroleum exhibit had a maze of mirrors that she went crazy for.  She kept saying "hi" to all the babies in the mirrors.  This is also her new favorite picture.  She tries to climb up in my lap and talk to it whenever she sees it on the computer.

The next day, we had more family fun at the Botanic Gardens.  I didn't take too many pictures of the day, but I love this one.  Happy Father's Day, Kenny!

Ainsley learns to type.

Miss Ainsley does not think it's fair that she doesn't get to post anything.  She typed this post for everyone:

68titi96iumk nuujm
c bb vftd56 b55d7 6sd

Catching up - First Valentines Day

I'm not going to catch up on all of the things that I've missed, but I wanted to put these in, because I really wanted to put these up somewhere.  As a side note - I can't believe how much hair she's grown since then...

When I was growing up we would always get a small Valentine's present at our table at breakfast.  In keeping with that tradition, Ainsley got to open her presents from Grammy and Grandpa, and Kenny and I at breakfast.  In the last picture she's wearing her outfit from Grandma (we opened that a little early so I could wash it).

Professional pictures

I bought a deal online for professional pictures, and we took them last week when Oliver was in town.  I'm pretty sure it is legal to post these.  The people gave me the disc of low resolution images (explaining the poor quality) and said I could use them for "social networking" so I think this counts.  Anyway, here's a few of the best ones.  

Loving Chris

Ainsley loves playing with our friend Chris.  Here's a funny video of them from last week: