Sunday, July 29, 2012

Puppy

Kristin and her fiance, Leon, were in town for a family reunion, too.  Leon's puppy is a dachsund-chihuahua mix, and she's really cute.  She ran around, jumped on Levi, and licked him.  He LOVED it!  The delay on my camera prevented me from taking any goood pictures, but you can see how happy he is.

Family!

Claire and Paige are here!  (So are Andrew and Mary Robert.)  Levi finds these girls absolutely fascinating, and he is tired out after playing with them.
Claire plays very nicely with Levi.

Cousin capers: all three car seats in a row.

Duets sound so wonderful!

On Friday we had a family get-together with several members of the Garrett clan.  Uncle Pat and Aunt Linda, Uncle Sean and Sal, Grandma and Grandpa, as well as my parents and Andrew and Mary Robert were all there for lunch.

On Saturday we had a big Garrett family reunion.  It was my Grandpa and his two living sisters and their whole families.  I didn't take many pictures, but here is one of the Garrett men.
From left: Cousin Marcus, Uncle Dan, Uncle Pat, Brian, Uncle Sean,
Cousin Brian, Andrew, Levi.  Aunt Jeanine is in the foreground

Uncle Pat really made Levi laugh.  We heard from several
family members that Levi really looks like Uncle Pat.

Nathan missed out on a good time.  He is spending this week on a mission trip with a group from our church.  They are working for Sacred Road Ministries which serves the Yakama Indian Reservation.  I'm so glad that we'll have family in town all week so that Levi and I will be able to keep ourselves busy.

Fun with Vivienne

We've had lots of fun lately!  On Wednesday we met Carmen and Vivienne for coffee, and then we all went to the Tot Lot in Fircrest.  Levi loved playing in the big sand box (which was more like a dirt box!), the swings, and the yellow car.  Since it was hot, and Levi was filthy, we went over to Carmen's house for a swim in Vivi's pool.  Levi didn't really want to swim, but he had a great time playing with the water table.  Vivienne was so friendly and sweet!  She shared with Levi and showed him how to do things and asked him to play with her.  What a good friend!






Thursday, July 12, 2012

Sprayground

We were expecting really hot weather today, so Stephanie, Bob, and I decided to take the boys to the sprayground in North Tacoma.  It was early enough in the day, however, that the sun was just barely breaking through the clouds, and it was pretty cold for playing in the water.  Nevertheless, Ethan and Garret had a great time!  Levi was more tentative with the water, but he really enjoyed watching all the other kids (and dogs).



Saturday, July 7, 2012

Seventeen months

Our sweet boy is now 17 months old.  He has been trying to use words lately--finally!  He says (a toddler version of) ball, bubble, daddy, and truck.  He knows how to say several words in sign language, too: please, thank you, more, milk, and sorry.  It's so fun.  I can hardly wait until he begins talking more!

Yesterday we went to a barbeque at our friends' Amy Grinsteiner and Corey Harmon's house.  They have this great big moose, and Levi just loved it.  We had a really good time.  We're going to miss Amy and Corey when they move to Minnesota!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Fourth of July

We went to Nathan's Aunt Donna's house in Port Orchard for the holiday.  The weather was absolutely beautiful (finally!!!).  There were about 25 family members there, including four boys between the ages of seven and nine.  Levi found those boys fascinating.  Part-way through the afternoon, several of us took three dogs out for a little walk, and Levi loved being with the dogs.  One of the traditions at Donna and Orv's house is to have a water balloon game.  We all stand on the deck and try to hit a target on the driveway with our balloons.  Inevitably, though, some guys hiding below the deck suddenly appear and start pelting everyone on the deck.  It turns into an all-out war.  Levi and I actually kept out of the way this year . . . maybe he can play next year.  (On a side-note, the first year I went to the Gorham-Ransom 4th of July party, I was shocked to find Nathan's 91-year-old grandmother throwing water balloons and having them thrown at her!  Everyone gets wet in this game!)  The three of us stayed until just after 7:00.  Then we went to hang out with my dad and watch the fireworks over the valley.  Levi went to bed at 10:45.  Yikes!

Levi saw the bigger boys playing soccer, so once they took a break, he took the field.

The next David Beckham?

Whew!  Playing soccer is really tiring!

West Highland terriers, Molly and Angus.

Bubble war!

Playing video games with the big boys.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Green thumb

Levi was really excited to help his dad with the yard work.  Nathan edged the lawn, and Levi put the pieces of grass into the wheelbarrow.  He actually saved Nathan several minutes of work.  Way to go, Levi!


This morning Levi threw a classic little tantrum.  He wanted a snack, and I wouldn't give him one.  He cried, yelled, stomped his feet, and flailed his arms.  He was really mad!  I, on the other hand, had to try not to smile.