Mischievous

I can't snap a picture of AG's latest antic because I hate to encourage the behavior. She LOVES to feed Bailey. When she has decided she has had enough to eat, she puts her hand over the side of the chair, drops the food and peeks over to watch Bailey pick it up. Even worse than that though was the day she wasn't in her high chair while snacking. She walked straight over to him and offered him a bite out of her hand. Thank goodness Bailey is gentle!

Trains...

What is it with Pearson's and their trains? Anyone who knows AG's grandpa Tom knows what I am talking about. Anna Grace is playing with one in this shot.

I haven't been as good about posting pictures with new outfits. This one is from Kristalyn and Ryan. Thanks y'all for the perfect summer bubble outfit :)

Lions!

We met Miss Ryan and Brendan at the zoo. It was our first official trip and Anna Grace got to see her first lions. I only snapped one picture on my phone to send to Matt...oops!

However Miss Ryan snapped this one of Brendan and Anna Grace riding the train.

Spoiled rotten

We have been so overwhelmed with everyone's generosity. Because we were out of town, most of the gifts were waiting for AG on Monday for opening.

There were adorable outfits from Courtney (all the way in Australia!), books and $$ for college textbooks from Andrew and Alexis, and books from Uncle Troy and his family. She also got her presents from Gigi and grandpa last night. Thank you everyone for making our little girl's birthday last and last!

Walking

Anna Grace gave me a pretty special present yesterday...

1 year checkup

Anna Grace got this chair from Jim and Susan, as I already mentioned they were so generous. She loves to sit in it and read to herself.

We also went to the doctor today and she is now 17lbs. 13 oz. (15th percentile), 28.75" in length(75th percentile), and her head is 70th percentile.

2768 miles

14 days and almost 2800 miles later we are home. Anna Grace was a trooper throughout the whole process and we are all glad to be back!

Visiting friends

We were also able to stop in and see some of our old friends along the way. We saw Reed and Angie, and later saw Jim and his family. Here is a picture of one of Jim's boys, Harry with Anna Grace. Both of his boys were enamored with our girl. I only wish I could have snapped more pictures. We can't thank Jim and Susan enough for all their hospitality.

Razorback Stadium

Anna Grace got to visit her first football stadium, and our friends were honored that it was the home of the Razorbacks. (It's too bad she can't do Gig 'Em yet to show her true allegiance)

Fishing

Matt spent a few hours casting for trout in the White River. Although he didn't catch much, we will likely be back. It is too close to pass up another visit.

Jefferson City

We stopped for lunch at the capital building in Missouri. It was a gorgeous day. We spread a blanket and Anna Grace walked a little between us and then up with hill (with help of course!) to the fountain. It was some good exercise for her and us.

Then we were off to a night stay at Branson on our way to Arkansas to fish. We don't have pictures of Branson, but I don't think Matt and I will be back any time soon. It wasn't our cup of tea to say the least...

Iowa round 2

Anna Grace decided to take a few tentative steps at Brad and Kim's Tues. night. We were all gathered in the basement to snap the pictures and a few movies. It was great to be with them as they were as excited as we were!! Anyway, excuse the outfit we were in the process of getting ready for bed.

They were gracious enough to host us for the 2nd night in 3 days. And it was good to see them for longer, however it made if seem like it may only be a few days until we are all together again, and that isn't likely. We miss them all so much!

More visits!

We thought since we were close, in a relative sense, that we would stop in to Grandma Larson's for a short visit. Great Aunt Wendy was here to read some stories to AG and we had some fun with Great Grandma too.

Presents!

She will definitely have the hang of this by Christmas. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!




We also owe thanks to uncle Brad and his family for the 3 new books. We LOVE to read.

Happy Birthday Peanut!

It is so hard to believe that a year ago today we were making our way to the hospital for little Anna Grace's arrival. She is such a blessing in our lives, and we are so grateful to have such a precious gift from above. We were able to celebrate with a little cake and a few presents today, and so lucky to have so much family in attendance.





AG and Grandma Jackie with the improvised cake! It's hard to make homemade when you are on vacation, but we managed.





Here is AG smiling before all the hoopla started!

This is while we were singing Happy Birthday, she really didn't seem to think we sang very well. :) We have all this on video for upload after we get home!

Here she is with her first slice.


A little cake for AG and a taste for daddy!



Here she is taking a bite like a big kid. WOW!


And lastly a picture of the 4 generations. I think I have mentioned before how many of these shots I have from growing up. I love looking back at all of them and seeing my grandmother all decked out and properly dressed. She looked beautiful again today!

Books, books and more books!

Here is AG with her uncle and my cousin Nikki. I know that I post a lot of pictures with people reading to her, but I couldn't resist these yet again. She crawled over to Brad yesterday morning with a book in hand. She sat on his lap to read "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" twice!

This other picture is basically the same story with Nikki. Anyone see a resemblence in the skin colors??? See it is my side of the family, I just didn't get that gene :)

Fireworks from the 4th

Before heading out for the fireworks, we first stopped quickly for a ride at the carnival. I took AG on her first merry go round...It wasn't really a hit.



Five years ago I introduced Jordan to my favorite carney ride, and guess what? It's her favorite now too! We had to make another run on the zipper.

We had such a blast watching the fireworks on the 4th at my cousins. What a gracious host she was, and she had a perfect view of the show. For a small town, I will say that Gregory has one of the best fireworks shows we've ever seen. :) This picture was just playing around with some sparklers and the fireworks setting on our camera.

4th of July

For those of you that have experienced a small town 4th of July, these pictures should be right up your alley. Almost every 4th of July that I can remember since I was little has been celebrated here. I think that Matt and I have spent more here since we have been married than anywhere else.

Here is AG being a good sport waiting for the parade. (She is such a trooper with anything that I do to her.) We watched the whole parade, including a float with Grandma Jackie and her high school reunion.

Here she is being a little cutie, all the people threw candy to us and you can see the huge pile next to us.

After the parade we walked down and saw Great Grandma Weedie again.

There was a pool party at lunch and tonight we will see fireworks at my cousins. And I am sure that my pyro brother will light some more fireworks of our own tonight.

Happy 4th everyone, may your day be filled with flags and fireworks!

July 3rd!

A duck fart to a fun 4th of July, the first of many actually.

Family, family and more family

How lucky we are that so many of us could be together this July. (I can't speak for Matt on this instance, he doesn't probably share the same sentiments) After a lesson in genealogy, I think I have all these pictures labeled correctly.

Here is Anna Grace with her uncle Brad. A little patriotic right?

Anna Grace and aunt Kim.

Anna Grace and her cousin once removed, Nikki...

AG with her second cousins Jack III and Taylor with their mom Lisa.

AG being pushed by Taylor for a little ride.

Great Grandma Weedie!

We are celebrating Great Grandma's 95th tomorrow. How blessed we are that she has been so healthy for 95 years.

These pictures are the whole reason for the big trip to South Dakota. To me, a few of these priceless shots are worth every minute of the 14+ hour drive. I am grateful that we will be here all week and can spend some time with her.