Grandma Brandon's Here! Yippeee!

So we now have a visitor/moving helper: Grandma Brandon. Hooray!!

It's been wonderful to have her here. She came in yesterday afternoon and already had Graham enough that I've just about finished the deck and filling in our little pond with river rock.

This is how seeing her makes Graham feel:

And Kate and I feel very similarly.

Love,

Jon

Soccer Star

In spite of all the craziness around here, we're still trying to find time for some fun, relaxation, and enjoyment of all the beauty around us. There's nothing quite like early fall in the Pacific Northwest; we hope those of you who haven't gotten a chance to visit us out here will get to if we ever move back long-term. Graham just can't get enough of the outdoors, so we try our best to indulge his senses in as much grass, trees, water, and nature as possible. We'll look forward to seeing those of you on the eastern side of the country soon, but we'll miss the clear Northwest air as we stroll the quiet streets of our neighborhood... I'll also add a video of his soccer skills- a little work yet before he's ready for the Premier League...

Leaving soon?

Well, big news today-- it looks like we might have some renters for our house! It really feels like God's hand in things; a wonderful young family from our church is in need of a new place to rent and it looks like things will work out perfectly. They need to move out of their old place (a bad situation through no fault of theirs) by the end of the month, so that means we're going to have to get going, too! Crazy! Just thinking about leaving this little house is so sad for us, but we're also excited for what God has in store next.

Graham has gone from crawling a shaky few feet to whizzing around anywhere he pleases. It's making life much more exciting to say the least! He now requires a full pair of eyes at all times, and quite often a quick hand to keep him out of trouble. But we just can't get enough of our sweet boy- he's simply amazing. He is so happy and bright, and most nights now he even sleeps well! We are spending lots of time at our favorite local parks swinging, and at the beach of the river discovering sand and other fun galore. We are so blessed.

Blessings to each of you,

Kate

Picture commentary:

-Go Huskies!

-Graham with our friend Julie Weisner

-Graham's Rockstar 'do (key ingredient: pureed carrots)

-Zerbets from Daddy

-Mischievous looks in the bathtub

Crawling!

We finally managed to get Graham to perform his crawling feats for the camera! Isn't he impressive?? I think this is actually the longest he's ever stayed just on his hands and knees without "cheating" and doing a few commando crawls in between. However as I type this he is continuing to crawl circles around me all in the new style--what a big boy. He is the best, sweetest, cutest baby in the world! I guess as his mom I'm allowed to say that, right?? But, his Granddadthought so, too. Here are a few pictures from before we left for the airport, and playing in the yard last night. Sorry there are several from the same "photo shoot" but I couldn't choose! We're having a beautiful end to the summer so far. I hope the same is true for each of you!