Knox's 2nd

Monday was Knox's second birthday!

Knox was our 6th great grandchild and 4th great grandson!

He's a very important part of this very large family,

this smaller but still large family,

and this even smaller but still large and very beautiful family!

I wrote about Knox on his first birthday last year in this post.  If you click on the link, you'll find more pictures and some stories about how he'd changed since he was born so I'll just post a few pictures here

and talk about what he's been up to this past year.

 His first big event after his birthday last year was Thanksgiving and a visit to Michigan City.  And visits to Michigan City entail traditional family pictures before leave taking.  Knox had to really stretch to be seen over his brothers and sisters in this photo.

Right after Thanksgiving came Christmas

followed by the traditional visit to Gulf Shores with all the extended family!

and the visit to Gator Alley Farm where he held an alligator for the first time.

and where he loved being entertained by his cousins - especially Eli!

In April the family visited Splash Universe and Knox enjoyed his favorite parts of the whole experience - Mom

 and Dad!

and in May he and his siblings visited the Hands On Museum.  You might think someone under 2 would not enjoy it much but Knox is way too interested in everything to not appreciate such a wondrous place.

but evidently nothing was more fun than the selfies.

Now the trip to Dad's workplace might not have been as fun for him

but I think he was just disgruntled that he didn't get a vest.

And in June they went Up North with Chris' mom and stepdad.

and he was as excited as everybody else when the family bought a new camper

and took their first camping trip where there was actually trick or treating.

So that about sum's up Knox's year but there's lots more to say about him.  He's a smart, fun, adventurous, friendly, and sweet boy!

He likes playing with cars and trucks and toy animals.

He loves real animals,

babies smaller than him,

and hugs from his sister

or even better - from everybody!

And he does a very fine job of balancing things on his head.

and giving high fives.

He's a great talker, a wonderful singer, and he's not a bit fussy about food!  All in all Knox is a just-about-perfect little boy!  We love him so much and we're hoping he had a wonderful birthday and that the year ahead is even more fun and exciting than his last!  Happy Birthday, Knox!  We love you!

Aubrey's 7th

Yesterday was Aubrey's 7th birthday!

Aubrey was our first great granddaughter and our third great grandchild.

and an important player in one of my favorite photos entitled 'When the Photo Shoot Falls Apart'.  LOL

She is a very important part of this very large family,

this very large but smaller family,

and this beautiful family.

I wrote about Aubrey on her birthday last year in this post and visiting there will show lots of pictures and tell a lot about how she's changed through the years so I'll just show a few pictures here

and talk about what's been going on in her life during the past year.  First of all, in early December she, her Aunt Jenna, her maternal grandma, and her mom attended a sign creating class.  Since Aubrey is very creative and artistic this was right up her alley.

And about a week later she was student of the month for her kindergarten class.

Over the holidays, she and her family visited Gulf Shores along with her large extended family

and where she held an alligator for the first time

at the Gator Alley Farm nearby.

In February her school celebrated their 100th day of school by dressing as if it were their hundredth year I guess.  I have to include this because it's one thing to dress the part

but it's something else entirely when someone is able to truly look the part.

In April, she and her family visited Splash Universe where they all always have a good time.

In May their group grew a little when Odin joined the family

and about a week later the kids had an educational and fun time when they visited the Hands On Museum.

where they ate lunch,

rock climbed,

 and handled all the wonderful things there were to handle.

Later in May the kids had another educational experience when they visited their dad's work place on Aristeo Kid's Day

and got an idea of what it felt like to work at a real construction site.

In June her school had crazy hair day and I'm going to venture that nobody's hair was crazier than Aubrey's!

Later in June the family joined their paternal grandparents on one of their ever popular 'Up North' trips where they always have such a good time!

During the summer they spent time in their backyard pool (Amber titled this picture Brotherly Love)  LOL

and they visited Indiana where Aubrey was able to spend some time with her closest second cousin, Clara.

School started in August and suddenly Aubrey was in first grade!

And then in September - and this might be THE highlight of their very busy year - Chris and Amber bought a camper!

and as you can tell by everything I've shown and written, this family loves the outdoors and learning and all kinds of adventures.  The kids were beyond excited!

And that, in a nutshell, is what Aubrey's been doing during the past year.  But there's lots more to say about this wonderful girl.  (Here she is on Favorite Decade Day)

She's loving and helpful with her siblings,

 (you can see that Wade almost beat her in this arm wrestle!

 and notice that she's not holding on for herself here.  She's holding on to Emma and Knox!

she's helpful and smart and loves to bake with her paternal grandmother, Angie,

and she's attentive and polite and helpful in school.

Aubrey is truly one of the sweetest and most loving girls ever!  She's always courteous and thoughtful and always watching for ways to be helpful.   And when you're doing a project like transferring fish food from a bucket to a gallon container (which is very tedious), she appears out of nowhere and immediately starts helping.  And she's that way with everything.  She's a wonderful great granddaughter and we are very proud of her in every way so we're wishing her a very happy birthday and a year ahead even more fun and exciting than the one she just had!  We love you Aubrey!  Happy Birthday!