Welcome Home, Elder Mitchell!

My baby brother, Ricky is a Returned Missionary. I can't believe it! On Thursday, he returned home from McAllen, Texas (along the Mexican border) after serving a 2 year mission for our Church. The last time I saw him was in July, 2007. I wasn't even pregnant with Tanner yet. So, although we weren't able to all go home, I was able to fly to Chicago for the weekend to see the triumphant return! And I brought T with me so that he could meet his Uncle Ricky for the first time. And what better way to celebrate, than by going to Wrigley Field!

Thic picture cracks me up. The Cubs won (yeah!) and so we got to sing the "Go Cubs Go" song after the game. My sisters Lindsay and Maret and Rick are dancing along.

When we got home from the Cubs Game, everybody decided that my long-haired boy needed a hair-cut. My sister-in-law, Carrie, had some clippers handy, so here he is losing all of his long, blonde locks.

Whoops! Out of order. This is right before the haircut. I love this picture because Tanner kept pushing Maret away from him all weekend. So here's proof, Maret, that he actually does like you. See, he's smiling!

Welcome home, Ricky!

It was a quick weekend, but my best friend from high school, Kelly, stopped by with her little boy. It was so fun to see her!

The weekend was full of Chicago sports! Ricky is good friends with one of the Chicago Fire's players, so he hooked us up with tickets to the Fire game on Saturday night. It was my first professional soccer game and I loved it! We had a great time!

Yes, we're wearing coats. It was cold!

Love the face!

We had fun at the Cubs game and had fun at the Fire game and other things. But the best part of the weekend was being with family. I was sad that Dave and Lacey weren't there. They are the only 2 people missing in this Mitchell Family picture. It was so good to all be together again and we are all so proud of our Ricky! He did a great job on his Homecoming talk yesterday and I was so glad that I was able to be there to see him. Welcome Home, Ricky!

Jacque's 8!

Yesterday, Dave had the honor and privilege of baptizing our niece, Jacque. Jacque was happy and excited and Dave was thrilled that she asked him to baptize her.

Jacque and her "Tio."

After the baptism, Jacque's parents (Dave's sister, Heidi and her husband Jack) hosted a family crab fest. It's the thing to do in Maryland! Lacey decided to give it a try.

And so did Tanner. Here he is posing with Grandpa and the crab he is about to eat. As for the verdict.... Lacey was not a crab-lover (gets that from her parents!) and Tanner.... couldn't get enough. Not surprising!

Rehoboth Beach

Friday was HOT and SUNNY. In other words, it was a perfect day to go to the beach! We have several beaches within a 2 hour drive of us and decided to check out one we hadn't been to before, Rehoboth Beach. It was fabulous! The kids had a great time in the sand and chasing the waves.

After a few hours of fun in the sun, we decided to walk on the boardwalk and came across all these little kiddie rides. Tanner had fun driving his boat.

And Lacey had fun with her Dad on the Carousal.

And last, but certainly not least, no trip to the beach is complete without a little "beach food." So, after consuming soft-serve custard and fresh-squeezed lemonade on the boardwalk, we picked up a big thing of Thrashers fries for the ride home. If you haven't had Thrashers, you haven't had fries. And, even as a Registered Dietitian, I endorse them as a must-have (once every year or so) and worth every calorie!

He's Walking!

Well, almost. My T-man turns 14 months tomorrow. I can't believe it! He's getting so big! The other day, he decided to take his first steps. He had taken a couple little steps here and there, but on Wednesday night, when my sister-in-law and 2 nieces stopped by, he initiated taking several steps, so I'm counting August 12th as his first steps. He still prefers crawling as his mode of transportation since he's so darn good at it! But it's fun to see him start to transition to the next phase.

So, for the Tanner update for journaling purposes:

Likes: Food, anything with wheels, laughing with his sister, swinging, sliding, playing in dirt, swimming, crawling and climbing all over creation, sliding down the stairs, his mama.

Dislikes: The minute in between when his food runs out and when I give him more, when he guzzles the last drop from his sippy cup and realizes there isn't any more (do you see a theme here?), when Lacey doesn't want to share with him.

Teeth: 8

Words: Mama, Daddy, ball, uh-oh, bah-bah (bottle/sippy), bubbles (said that for the first time today)

He is into EVERYTHING! But he still cuddles with me and I love, love, love my T!

Murphy's Law

Last week, while we were in Charlotte, there was a storm here in Maryland that resulted in hundreds and hundreds of little twigs and branches strewn throughout our yard. So, on Friday, during my treasured and rare "nap overlap" time, I spent an hour and a half doing yard work and picking up twigs. I wanted to read. I wanted to relax. I wanted to do something other than pick up sticks, but I didn't. So, an hour and a half later, as Tanner is starting to wake up, I go inside feeling productive and glad that I had gotten that done. No sooner had I shut the door to come inside than it started to rain. A few minutes later, it started to RAIN accompanied by high, gusty, strong winds. The storm didn't last long, but once it was over, I came outside to this.....

and this......

and this. As my good friend Lisa would say...."Murphy's law. Murphy's stinkin' law!"