Saturday, September 11, 2010

Chaco Update, and A Pack of Pictures

I got an email from Amy at Chaco addressed to "Fabulous Chaco-Loving Ariel." She was pretty impressed that I had worn straight through those tough soles. Basically, she said she couldn't get me a free pair, but she said she could get me a pair for $40. Good enough for me! My new pair took me all around the zoo today.
I should have taken a picture with them by the orangutans, but I forgot. So here are my happy feet in the kitchen.

While uploading the chaco pics, I realized it's been a long time since we've updated the blog with pictures and happenings. So, here's a sample of our whirlwind life.
Andrew gave Benjamin James a beautiful blessing while Amanda and Thomas were here. We were also happy to have Joe and Melissa as well as some of the Evans family with us. We were sure sad to say goodbye to Amanda and Thomas! But we've been lucky to have lots of other great friends and family visit over the last couple weeks.
Jarilyn from the MPA program was the first of the visits. We went to lunch and then walked to the beautiful National Botanical Gardens. They have a fun children's garden where you can get dirty and wet and then go in a little house.We took a little weekend trip to Lancaster County, PA to visit our friends Dave and Sarah and their beautiful daughter, Madeline who is just between Abe and Ben in age.
They took us to Lititz. If you ever find yourself in Lititz, go to Wilbur's Chocolate Co.
"Smile!""Look at each other!"
"Now hug!"
What good kids . . .

At Lititz Park

Over Labor Day weekend, we had the great fortune of having our wonderful friends, Joe, Whitney and adorable little Ellie stay with us. And Andrew's sister Kate also came up for a couple of days.

We went all over DC and had a great time. Here's a splash of pictures from our adventures.Bens.
Abes.

We have been working so hard to try to catch smiles from our little baby who smiles all the time. So far we've been only successful in catching 1/2 smiles. But they're still sweet :)Abe was playing by himself downtown and we blinked and somehow he had become a little chimney sweep playing with the dusty rocks on the sidewalk.Andrew definitely can't wait to have a little girl . . . some day . . . later . . . down the road. We had such a great time with all of them!

Now, some Ben pictures for your enjoyment. This is for you, Grandmama and Nonna!The blurry beginning of a smile. You've got to hand it to him, it's got to be hard to move those cheeks!The Evans scowl. We weren't sure he had it in him for a while, but here's proof.Abe asks every day if it's FHE yet. With cookies and painting pictures, it's a little boy's dream.
This wasn't part of FHE.

9 comments:

Whitney Hardie said...

What a perfect post! I especially especially love the pictures of the Bens and Abes - awesome.

And the picture of Abe and Ellie is so cute! Thanks for having us - we had so much fun.

Julia Marshall said...

Ohh! I love your family! FHE sounds like fun at the Marshall home. Can I come? Tell Abe Bobywaila says hi and I miss him!! Tell Ben hi for me too! Thanks for the pictures, they were greatly needed :) Love you guys!

Lara said...

What fun! Carolyn, my sister, is on a mission in PA and was serving in the city of Lititz just a few weeks ago!! She is now in State College. Your boys are so sweet.

Katie May said...

Looks like you're enjoying life out East. We're about 20 min. from Lititz! You guys should check out chocolate world in Hershey next time you're in the area...;)

The Hess Family

Meredith said...

Thanks Ariel! Keep posting! I'm always eager to see pictures, maybe especially in the next few months! :)

Megan said...

My favorite part is the "Abes" and "Bens". What noble names they have!

Nonie said...

How does Ben manage to resemble that picture of Benjamin Franklin so well?

We ate these pictures up!!! :)

Janelle said...

So much fun! I love the pictures and how fun to be able to get together with the Hardies.

Lark said...

Dad and I are wondering from the brothers picture whether Abe and Ben are the same size. OK. Maybe Ben's bigger! We love our boys!