Sunday, September 16, 2012

Summer Highlights... (Man, I've been a slacker)

Okay, so I have totally been slacking the last 2 months. I remember at the end of May wondering what the heck we were going to do to pass the time during the nasty Arizona summer, and here we are 2 weeks into Quincy's preschool year, and I am questioning where the time went? Here are some of the Bell Family's summer highlights.

IOWA TRIP
We spent the end of June/beginning of July visiting Solon's family in Iowa.














FOURTH OF JULY PARADE
Every year, my parent's neighborhood (where I grew up) hosts an Independence Day Parade & Pot Luck




FOURTH OF JULY PARTY
We spent the afternoon of the 4th celebrating with Charissa & Christina's families. It's always a blast to get our kids together since they have been best of friends since birth! Thank you Eric & Charissa for the great food & fireworks. It was such a great day.









MAMA MIMI'S BIRTHDAY
We always love celebrating our matriarch! My Mama Mimi will be 90 next year so that means a BIG party is in the works! Love this woman so much.


LAREL'S BABY SHOWER
Mom, Mama Mimi & I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Larel who was due with my nephew around my birthday. When Larel told us that big brother Kellan would always sing "You Are My Sunshine" to her belly, I knew that would be the theme for the shower. It was wonderful to have such an intimate party with family and close friends. We all got overwhelmed with emotion for this little guy's arrival. I created a dessert table for Larel & all the guests.





PLAYTIME WITH NOAH
We were so grateful to have Becky and her family over on a Sunday morning before they headed home to Tucson. It was truly quality time, and was just what both our families needed! With Noah being just a few months older than Paloma, they played so well together. And Noah just loved Forrest so much - the feeling was mutual!



KILLIN' TIME AT THE BILTMORE
We had to run errands, and it was just fun to snap a few (dozen) pics of the kiddos.




OUR NEW NEPHEW DONOVAN
It seems like just yesterday it was Christmas Eve and my brother Natan was announcing to the family that Kellan was going to be a big brother. I remember bursting into tears of joy for my brother and sister-in-law. That was truly a special moment for all our family. Well, on Tuesday, August 21st at 10:01am, my new nephew, Donovan Ray Jacobs, was born. He was about a half pound smaller than Quincy - 9lbs 1oz - which sounds big for a baby, but when I held him in my arms, he was just a little peanut. I had been talking to Larel's belly throughout her pregnancy, and when I walked in the room and started talking, Donovan opened his eyes as if he recognized my voice. It was such an awesome feeling. We are so excited to watch this gorgeous little boy grow!






Cute candids!




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Quincy started his 2nd year of preschool at Shadow Rock, and thankfully, this year was a much smoother transition. No tears. No fear. Just pure excitement to see his friends again. I was a little worried the first day when I showed Quincy his new room, and he refused to go in, because he wanted to go to his old classroom. So I took him back to say hi to last year's teacher, Miss Carol, and she was so happy to see him, and grabbed him by the hand with excitement and walked him to his new room. (Thank you Miss Carol for doing that!) That was all the transition he needed to enter his new room with his new teachers (who are FABULOUS). Paloma was able to come with us the first day for Orientation, and made herself right at home with the 3-4 year olds. She will have NO problem next year when it's her turn to start. She does get sad every day that we drop him off though, because she wants to stay and play (just like I did when my brother started school before me).



Paloma has certainly blossomed this summer. She is talking like crazy! She has so many words, and is putting together 2-3 words phrases all over the place. She remembers EVERYTHING, and surprises me every day with her new words and expressions. This summer really gave my kids an opportunity to bond, and they are starting to play so well together. They hold hands, share snacks, hug & kiss each other good night, the works. They are so happy to see each other when they wake up, and it just makes my heart melt. They are such good kids - it just makes me so grateful, every day.

Phew! That was a long post. I don't know why it took me so long to put this one together. I guess you can say I have been preoccupied with other stuff like Alpha Gamma Delta Alumnae stuff, preschool board stuff, event planning stuff, family stuff, turning 33 (big deal) and a whole lotta life in between. But I got it done!

The weather is cooling down, and we are so excited for Fall!! It's our busiest time of the year...