A Summer to Remember

Jake's first bottle. 

Jake's first time in a pool! It was 102 degrees!

So Sweet!

For my sister

Enjoying our backyard

What a cutie!

Jake loves camping!

Lucy loves her little brother

Our friend Nicolas, so cute

Jakey-Boy

Cousin Mason and Jake

Cabo is a good dog!

Matt and Marc, brothers

Auntie Stephanie and Jake

We love you Jake!

This summer has been such a special summer, one in which we welcomed the newest member of our family. Jake is such a happy, sweet baby boy. Everyday he is growing and showing us more of his personality.  He just loves to snuggle, and he lets you know what he needs. He can be very serious at times, checking things out. He is a great sleeper, and generally wakes up once per night now. He is starting to coo and to "play" with his toys. He is 16 1/2 lbs at 10 weeks old, in the 95th percentile! A little butterball of love!

Lucy has had a great summer learning the ropes of being a big sister. She loves her Baby Jake, and really is helpful at times. She plays with him, and has figured out that sometimes she can get him to stop crying by singing to him. She loves helping with diapers, especially poopy diapers :). She squeezes his little cheeks and tells him how cute he is and how much she loves him.  She is still adjusting some, and today said that sometimes having a brother was hard, because he needs a lot of my attention. Oh, Lucy. Besides playing with her brother, these last few weeks she has really enjoyed watercolor painting, building with Legos (she has even started trying to follow directions for building), and going on walks to the park. She loves to play with friends, and she will start preschool next week. 

We have been lucky to do so many fun things this summer, even with all of the work that comes with caring for a newborn baby. (Two children is tricky at times!)  Last week we went camping with several friends and it was great, with all of the kids running around, and the adults enjoying each other's company. Lucy loves camping, and Jake really seems to like it too! On a really hot day we were able to go to Jim and Polly's pool, which was such a nice way to beat the heat. Last weekend Marc's Brother Matt and his family came down from Spokane for a quick trip. We had a fun, relaxing day together, and it was so nice to introduce them to Jake. We are so glad to have so  many wonderful people in our lives.

Northwest String Summit 2012

Glad to be camping at eight weeks old!

Lucy is a festival girl!

Mermaid body art

Butterfly Lucy

Jake and Daddy

Max and Zoe, art at camp

Lucy loves her Brother!

Snow White at the kids parade!

Marc, Polly and Zoe at the kids parade

Sleepy boy!

Checking out the music up close

The Leisenring Family

Lucy won a hula hoop at the kids area!

Special Guys!

My handsome boy

Yonder Mountain String Band takes the stage at night

Auntie Tiffany with Jake

"Doggy" Lucy with her puppy

Jake had his first camping and festival experience rolled into one! What a guy...he really seemed to love it. Camping was a breeze with him, and he just took all of the festival sights and sounds in stride. He even seems to sleep better while camping!  Lucy is a camping and festival girl as well, so we are stoked! Lucy knew just what to expect, and had a great time dancing and playing with her friends.  Most of the usual suspects were there and it is always such a fun time to reconnect, dance and enjoy each other's company.  Lucy took full advantage of the Kid's area this year, getting her face painted twice, doing many, many art projects, and even winning a hula hoop in a raffle.  It was such a nice activity for her!  This year, since the Northwest String Summit fell on the 17th anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death, the whole weekend was dedicated to his memory. It was fun, as lots of Grateful Dead and JGB songs were played throughout the weekend. This was our 11th year...boy time passes quickly. We had a great time as a family and look forward to this festival for many years to come!

East Lake 2012

"Fishing" from the shore

Happy Boy!

There were lots of butterflies

East Lake

Lucy and Marc

Jake wasn't too fond of the lifejacket

Golden Girl

Jake and Marc

Evan, Sean, Jake and Lucy

At the hidden pond

Robin and Marc with some of their fishing bounty. Robin is known as the harvester!

View of Paulina Lake from Paulina Peak

The Miranda Family

Daddy and Jake, on top of the world!

Little Lucy on Paulina Peak

Group shot in front of our cabin

Annual shot by the bear!

Paulina Creek Falls

For the past several years we have spent our anniversary weekend at East Lake, which is in the Newberry Caldera, one of Oregon's most beautiful natural areas. This year, however, our anniversary was just after Jake's birth, so we moved our trip to the end of July, and invited our good friends Rose and Robin to join us. It was our first trip as a family of four, and while it was exhausting at times, we had a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful, and the company was great, as Lucy had her good friend Evan to play with, Rose and I had the babies Jake and Sean, and Marc and Robin fished in the morning. We are lucky to have such good friends!