This is Nummy NUMMY, Damma...:)

...prolly my favorite sentence of the whole weekend:) That was Linden's take on our big-family- last-minute-turned-casual Sunday morning breakfast. Both he and Martina love the meat portion of breakfast, whether it is bacon or sausage, or, in this case, fried ham. His daddy served him up a good helping of ham and eggs, and he sat contentedly by himself at the table, amidst the flurry of adults packing up and getting ready for the trip home.
Every once in a while he would smack his lips, and mutter "oohh this is nummy"... and then he would call out to me " this is nummy, NUMMY, Damma!". So adorable:)

Our family had it's own little mini-reunion this November long weekend, with Carmen and Jeremiah making the long trip home to show off the twins for the first time, and especially to come and meet Elliott, the newest member of our growing family. Patrick & Tamara, Martina and Linden travelled down from Pouce Coupe, and Ray & Jesse and baby Elliott made the long trek down the Hart to join us:) and we had a lovely noisy fun-filled, food-filled weekend together.

For starters, Carmen & Jeremiah surprised us by arriving a day early which was so exciting! I was busy shopping all day and came home to find the twins playing on my living room rug. Word spreads quickly around here, and before we knew it, two of the next generation doting aunts were at the door....

Zeke & Quinn are amazing. I guess because they had such an early start into this world, a lot of prayer and thought from everyone has gone into these two little treasures. To see how they've grown and are such healthy boys is a real delight. Our whole family is so in love with them. You'd think we'd invented twins or something! I loved watching Patrick and Tamara with them too. They had story time with Aunty Tamara one night, just the cutest thing! She would pause on a page for a while and then Zeke would make a funny noise and wave his arm to make her turn the page. Both the boys faithfully paid attention while she read out loud to them.
Patrick took the time to show Zeke a few new drum moves too:) Absolutely hilarious.


Patrick again...getting in some quality time with Princess Elliott:)

Thursday night Ray cooked for the family at their house, (I love when he does that:)), and then Great Aunty Liana came for a sneak preview of the babies. Of course they loved her and gave big welcoming smiles and baby coos:) We had a nice visit together, and Jesse graciously opened the Spa so some of the fam could have coiffed eyebrows for the family photo shoot.

On Friday Aunty Rebekah and Aunty Megan stopped in for a little visit and then later on we had a fancy birthday supper for Linden. It was a lovely treat to have Grandma Gail & Grandpa Bruce join us for the celebration, complete with yummy ice cream cake and an armload of gifts for the little man.

Oh yes, the other memorably cute thing Linden said to me this trip was when I gave him one of his birthday presents. I had knit him this grey hoodie with a great little kangaroo pocket. He put it on and exclaimed, "my very own sweater!" (like he's never had one. It was too cute.) And yes, he was pleased to find the 'motie-bike' and the little red car I hid in the pouch.

Three. THREE! He's getting to be such a big boy:) Even though he mostly has eyes for Grandpa, I usually get a morning snuggle or some book time in the chair together. But the bulk of his time was spent playing with all his new cars and trucks, and the famous dinosaur from C&J:)
Martina spent a lot of her time taking care of the three babies, and helping out in the kitchen here and there. I'm so proud of her! It is quite amazing to see that my first grandbaby is growing up so quickly and is so much fun to be with. I know, I know,"turn around and she's two, turn around and she's four, turn around and she's a young girl going out of the door". This I truly know because I've already experienced it a few times..." turn around and she's tiny, turn around and she's grown...turn around and she's a young wife with babes of her own..." (or his own:))

So what other exciting stuff happened...

Quinn and Zeke got to have a bath in Grandpa and Grandma's sink:)

Yes, this is two different babies lol not that we can tell... (actually I have a pic of Quinn sitting in the sink too but his facecloth was not as strategically placed. But, as identical twins go, they do look alike eh...hmmm unless that's Quinn in the sink, and Zeke's is the exhibitionist picture..uh oh...no, it's Zeke in the sink..I think..mommy? can you tell?).

Saturday was the famous Family Photo Shoot...I kinda felt for Sarah, although we were paying her money to do this, there were babies and adults going all different directions, with helpful photo suggestions from everyone and loud visiting, tears and toddlers, I'm amazed at the great group shots she managed to take. For the sake of being fair, I won't post any here, as Carmen and Tamara haven't received their disc in the mail yet:) But I'll tell ya, we're all pretty cute!

Saturday evening was Meet Zeke & Quinn for the extended family and friends. It was a great night with lots of people and food, beautiful presents and lovely memories. One of the best things about having grandchildren.. is sharing them with others, and seeing the joy and delight on other people's faces as they interact. Some of the little cousins insisted on holding the babies (because they're big enough!! yes they are! and could they have another turn please, that wasn't long enough). I loved Halle coming out to the car to pack in one of the babies in the car seats that were definitely almost as big as she is. And here's Shaelena pleased as punch to hold a baby. Rebekah got some amazing shots that y'all can check out on facebook if you haven't already seen them:)

Well, a good time was had by all:) I just wish these times weren't so few and far between eh...

We have an amazing family!

Well it's a start isn't it...

I figure at least a change in background design will give me a little kick in the blogging pants. Our year has been quite full, and frankly, if I had kept up with this, it would seem so dang overwhelming now! For the most part, I feel anything I blog here is not really news to those I care to share with anyways, but it is a good record of events...so herein I shall attempt to journal just a little more frequently:)

I've had a nasty cold this past few days, complete with head-ballooning, aches and pains, and that great water-up-the-nose feeling, so I've been trying to be responsible and block out the fact that I have a granddaughter within kissing distance! Don't want to give this to my little Elliott, but then again, I realize she was super snuffly when she was at my house, and prolly gave this to me! Heck with it, I'm calling them up tonight:) Can't wait any longer!

What a dolly:) We had a family photo shoot last week, with bedlam of the best kind happening all around her and she still slept through most of it. Looking forward to seeing how those pictures turn out and maybe we'll post a few here too! (ok, for those skeptics wondering if I'll ever get back here, I don't blame ya).

Aiight, that'll have to hold us all for now, I've got baby snuggles to collect:)