Birthdays and Weddings and Reunions and...Home

We have been traveling a lot lately. As I type this, Jon is heading home from a two day work trip. Tomorrow we will pack for a weekend getaway, and I feel like we finally just got unpacked from our trip to Colorado. The travels have all been filled with life and friends and family. We have loved being in beautiful places, celebrating beautiful people. But we are tired. Tired of getting back in the car. Tired of asking Laurel to adjust to a new routine. Tired of not having space to breathe.

We were planning on traveling for Thanksgiving weekend (which is just over a week away here in Canada), but decided the other night to just stay put. We need to be home for a while....which is funny because, in many ways, our travels have taken us home. They've taken us to the farm, Jon's childhood home. And they've taken us to Colorado, a place that is very much a home for me. But even with our house being in a constant state of renovation chaos, it is still good to be in this home, in our bed, in our own space.

Here are a few highlights of our recent adventures....

Our trip to the farm was to celebrate Jon's Grandma's 90th Birthday!

Jon and Laurel holding hands...

Decorations for the big party...

The girl cousins...

Our trip to Colorado was for Emily Clader's wedding! What a great wedding...complete with bright yellow aspens, a rolling river, old friends, dogs, and even kazoos! Dan Clader married Jon and I six years ago! Emily wore her grandmother's dress...

My friends Annie and (the) Becca sang in the wedding...

Hannah Clader was the beautiful maid of honor...

The wedding was at the family's cabin. The weekend allowed us time to hike, visit, and relax...

Catching up with my friend Annie...

Back at home, Laurel enjoys a fall day in our front yard...

Caught With Her Pants Down!

Jon wasn't home for supper tonight, so Laurel and I dined on Chicken Vera Cruz. She gobbled it up, and when we finished eating, it was only 5:30. So I gave her a bath, got her in her jammies, and we read lots of stories. She seemed like she was heading to dreamland, so I put her in her crib and went downstairs to clean the kitchen. I had the kitchen cleaned by 6:15 and was feeling pretty proud of myself that I did all of that by myself.

But then Laurel started making lots of noise. I thought I would go check on her to make sure she had her soother.

There she is, standing in her crib with neither pajama bottoms nor diaper on! I couldn't help but laugh.