Twins?

(Calm down Great Grandma Anderson, I am not pregnant with twins!)

Since Natalie and Holley are so close in age, height, and weight we were constantly asked if they were twins. I wonder what would have given anyone that impression?!

What's cuter than baby bikinis?

Dresses my mom made them for their first birthdays.

Dresses I got them (I'm not talented enough to sew, unlike my mom and sister) for their birthdays.

Dresses my sister got them for their birthdays.

Dresses our cousin Sandra (our dad's first cousin) made them (again with the sewing talent!) for the reunion.


Natalie misses her twin now that everyone is back home!

Family Reunion

After Destin we headed to Selma, AL for my dad's side of the family's annual reunion. This event was a staple of my childhood summers and I was very glad to be able to share it with Natalie and introduce her to lots of her extended family (and black eyed peas!). She and I also won the "furthest traveled to attend" award. :)

90 people attended the reunion!

Fitting because it was also my grandmother's 90th birthday!

My grandmother (holding Natalie) and her 3 living sisters (they're 4 of 12 children) and one of their sisters-in-law.

My sister and I with our cousins from Atlanta and our grandmother.

Mama and Natalie share a love of jewelry.

Our dear friends, the Routhiers, traveled from Montgomery (about an hour away) to see us during the reunion. We were so glad they did for many reasons - their youngest son Ben is Chris's and my godson, Dave just returned from a 6 month deployment, and they are moving to Alaska (!) in August so we likely won't see them again soon. Thanks again for coming, Dave, Michelle, Liam, and Ben!

Holley Days in Destin, Part 2

My dad has a picture of himself on his father's shoulders on this same beach so we recreated the picture with each granddaughter.


The girls got pretty goofy (too much sun?) and enjoyed showing people their tongues.


Meanwhile Papa Don enjoyed mai tai's and cigars.

More goofiness in the condo at night.

Holley Days in Destin, Part 1

After a couple of days in Brenham everyone headed to Destin for a week together at the beach. It was SUCH a wonderful time!

At first Natalie wasn't sure what to think of the sand.


But she warmed up to it quickly and loved the beach. And loved playing with Holley!









They also had fun in the pool.


We made friends with some other vacationers with 2 young daughters and all 4 girls played together almost every day.

Time in Brenham

Natalie and I went to visit my family for 2 weeks in early June. We flew in and out of TX but didn't really spend a whole lot of time there. The time we did have was full of fun, family, and friends.

We began our trip with my cousin Amy's high school graduation. We're very proud of her and her plans to attend Sam Houston State University in the fall. Natalie loved playing with her cousins Amy and Emily!

We also had a playdate with the granddaughter, Marley, of a family friend. She's only a couple of months older than Natalie and the girls had fun with someone else their own size.

Cousin Holley, Aunt Alexis, and Uncle Matt arrived a few days after we did. Here's Natalie and Holley playing before Amy's graduation.

Apparently plastic wine glasses are awesome baby toys.


And yes, the foxes still come up to my parents' patio every night for their dinner. They've been coming for 6 years now! Notice how tame they've gotten that they come so close to Sludge (the cat) and to me (sitting outside taking this picture).

Backyard Fun

Natalie loves the water and thanks to some birthday money from my aunt in TX she got a backyard baby pool and loves it! Thanks also to Chris's Aunt Sandy both for introducing her to baby pools (see Natalie's Busy Weekend) and for the bucket and shovel. We're enjoying beating the summer heat (yeah, everyone in TX, I know - I fully acknowledge that this isn't really heat) splashing in the backyard! Thanks again, Mimi, Amy, and Emily!

Family Resemblance

Natalie and I got to spend 2 great weeks with my side of the family in TX, FL, and AL in early June. We had a lot of fun watching (aka chasing) Natalie and her cousin Holley together. Two 1-year-olds is a handful, literally, for anyone but my dad makes it look easy. (More pictures to come of the rest of our trip soon.)

Does anyone else think that Natalie looks an awful lot like Papa Don?