Beach Babies

Last weekend we went to Wilmington along with my sister and her family to celebrate Fathers Day and my mom's birthday.  It was a sweet time all being together, especially because of the girls being at this fun age.   Lauren and I were able to spend Sunday afternoon hanging out with our friend Morgan without the babies which was a sweet break .  We all went to Wrightsville Beach on Monday for the girls first official day at the beach.  God provided a beautiful tide pool for us to enjoy and Adah was mesmerized by the handfuls of sand she would pull up from the bottom.  Eva had to be watched constantly as she liked to find small shell fragments and bring them immediately to her mouth!

Adah turned eight months old on Fathers Day and she started clapping her hands that same day! She is also waving now, at stranger's passing by and at us anytime we walk into a room.  The other day I went in to get her up from her nap and she was sitting up in her crib, facing the door, smiling and waving with both hands twisting her wrists! It was too much! Her first tooth is coming in on the bottom and I thought nothing could be sweeter than her gummy smile but I was wrong.  What a joyful and blessed June we have had!

Meeting Henri

Following our stay in Palm Springs, Kyle, Adah and I flew North to visit our friends the Lensers in Fair Oaks, CA outside of Sacramento.  Julia and David had their first son on February 28th and we were so excited to meet dear Henri and see them!  Julia and I were roommates in college and Kyle and I went to her and David's wedding April a year ago.  Who knew we would be in California twice in two years?!  We had a lovely (but too short) visit with them for a couple days.  We enjoyed lunch in the park and mostly just hung out and watched the babies and marveled at them! It was so good to get to be with them in person and to just get to hang out.  We wish NC and CA were neighboring states.  Henri has an amazing smile and Adah just loved him!  We enjoyed dinner from Inn-n-out burger which is a California must.  I am so thankful for the many talks with Julia as we are in similar stages of life right now with a new baby.  One thing we realized is how much difference a few months makes in a baby's development.  Right now our children seem so different in what they can do but in reality they will be the same age and in the same grade in school which is crazy!  We are so thankful for these sweet friends and our time together!

As you can see, Henri loves to take baths!

The California Desert

My cousin, Maiya, who lives near Palm Springs, California got married on May 19th and my parents, my sister's family and us all went and decided to make a trip out of it.  Along with some aunts, uncles and cousins we rented a house for the week leading up to the wedding.  The house where Maiya got married was directly across the street from where we stayed.  It was such a lovely week of celebrating Maiya and Rusty, lounging by the pool, visiting with family, and doing some site seeing in the area.

We went to a local zoo and saw wolves, a bobcat, this cute badger among others.  We saw two roadrunners by the pool in our backyard! They are just like the cartoon!

We went on a crazy tram ride that takes you up the side of this mountain in a glass walled, rotating tram.  My mom (who has a difficult time on merry-go-rounds) was not a huge fan! It was a cool 70 degrees at the top where we saw the eclipse through a welder's mask and the beautiful views down below.

Adah and Eva loved the pool!  It was so great having Kyle and Brad around all week and just getting to be with everyone each day.  Adah loved seeing her Nana and Pap all week and I know they felt the same about her and Eva.  

The desert is a crazy place! I guess it is just what you would think the desert would be like but being there and experiencing it is so different than just reading about it.  It doesn't rain there.  Seriously, it rains once a year.  I saw two clouds the whole time! Think blue sky and blazing sun constantly.  The towns are situated in a valley and there are mountains all around.  They have misters everywhere that you would think would get you all wet but really have a nice cooling effect.  When you are driving instead of the medians in the road being grassy they are sandy with cacti and some beautiful desert plants and flowers.  I don't know why this was so alarming to me.  The desert has a beauty of its own and unlike anything I have ever experienced.  

This is the only picture we got at the wedding! Proof that it is a bit crazy having a baby at a wedding :)  It was a lovely ceremony and reception and we are so glad we were able to be a part of it! Congratulations Maiya and Rusty, we are so happy for yall!

Thank you self-timer for this photo of us, the Gerstmyers, McCahans and Aunt Carol and Uncle George!