Wade Christopher

The youngest member of our family, Wade Christopher, was born in Garden City, Michigan one year ago today.  Wade is our fourth great grandchild and our third great grandson.

Wade is a very important part of this large family.

 A very important part of this smaller, large family.

 And an even more important part of this small family!

Here is Wade, pictorially, through the year.

 Isn't he something?!!  You'd think after 20 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren it would all get pretty routine but I'm happy to say it never does.  Wade is just as precious and special to us the first grandchild (his mom).  We miss him everyday because he's so sweet and amazing and because he was the first one to wave bye bye at such a very early age.

We're looking forward to the coming year as we watch him continue to keep up with and sometimes surpass his amazing older siblings.  And we're wishing him a very, very Happy 1st Birthday!

Wade's very first blog post can be seen here

Jack Victor

Jack Victor was born on January 14, 2009.  He was our very first great grandchild and he came on the heels of a dream that his great grandfather had in which a super baby was born.  And Jack has lived up to that dream from the get go.

Jack is an important part of this small family:

And an important part of this large family:

Following is Jack pictorially 'through the years'.  These pictures were taken roughly 6 months apart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I go through the files for these last two birthday posts, I'm reminded over and over what a lucky grandma/great grandma I am.  Jack is also a kind and loving person.  He's well liked by his peers and teachers alike.  He's good to his siblings and his cousins adore him.

So Happy 5th Birthday, Jack.  Enjoy your coming year full of new experiences, more school where your brother, Dane, will be joining you, and lots of learning which we know you love.   We couldn't be more proud of you and we're so happy that you're our GREAT grandson!

Previous posts about Jack were in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009

Happy Birthday, Aubrey

Two years ago today we added a first to our family.  Aubrey Lynn was our very first great granddaughter.  And she was (and still is) beautiful!!

She was welcomed by her adoring parents, Amber (our first granddaughter) and Chris,

 Her grandmother, Amy (our daughter),

and big brothers (in the background here) Jack and Dane.  Here you can see her welcoming (or getting used to) brand new little brother Wade.  Don't worry, Wade's eight months old now and she really does like him a lot.

Her birth initiated one of my all-time favorite amateur photo shoot shots entitled 'When Photo Shoots Fall Apart'.

You can see that she took it all in stride and that's pretty much the way she rolls.

There might be chaos all around, but Aubrey remains stoic - just taking everything in.  She was like that when she was tiny and she's like that now.

Aubrey has lots of talents and interests though.  You might think, with three brothers, she'd be a little intimidated but not so much.  She can hold her own with all of them and play their games as well as they do.

And even though necessity sometimes has her playing boys' games, she never forgets her female origins.

Her femininity is also demonstrated by her amazing accessorizing skills.

 

Although sometimes those boy fashions have a tendency to rear their masculine heads.

Aubrey is also quirky

friendly,

Fun-loving,

and generous.

 She can dance

knows her way around cell phones,

 of all kinds

and she's a very good eater

and doesn't care who knows it.

All in all, Aubrey's a wonderful little girl.  We're so happy that she's part of our family and we're hoping her birthday is as awesome as her.