Fourth of July

We started celebrating the Fourth of July on the third with our traditional trip to the Rawhide game for snow cones and fireworks.

Photo credit: Heather

Ezra was prepared for the loud fireworks.

The firework show was a little shorter than expected, but the fireworks were great.

Photo credit: Heather

On the fourth, we had a barbecue dinner and swimming at Mom and Dad's house. Mary was festive in the outfit the Nickells gave her at the shower.

Photo credit: Heather

 I made my traditional contribution: red, white, and blue fruit tarts.

Photo credit: Heather

After dinner, we headed to the Nickells' house for dessert and fireworks.

Photo credit: Michelle

Michelle handed out glow sticks; some people ended up with more than others

We enjoyed another good firework show once it got dark.

Visiting Visalia

Photo credit: Heather

We arrived in Visalia Saturday evening and started things off by celebrating Natalie's 10th birthday on Sunday. 

Monday Joshua and I enjoyed a delicious sushi lunch date before his trip. We left Mary in good hands with her aunt and cousins.

We returned to the Nickells' house after lunch and enjoyed a game of Pandemic before meeting Dad and Mom for dinner.

Photo credit: Michelle

Photo credit: Tom

On Tuesday we had a dinner with the family and Tom and Janelle. They drove out from Chicago for a couple days and it was fun to catch up with them.

Modesto Week

We spent the next few days trying to recover from the busy week, a long drive, and a full weekend. Amari enjoyed getting some time holding Baby Mary; he was so sweet with her and concerned about what she was doing all the time. When she cried, he would tell us that her tummy hurt.

Lamar enjoyed holding Mary a lot too.

Thursday we met up with Ricardo, a friend of Joshua's from Stan State who is now a graduate student in the UO philosophy program with him. He was in town too, so we got together for coffee and tea.

Mary started sticking her tongue out more.

Joy was busy with a dance camp during the week and on Friday we got to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Solace was great as one of the starfish in an under-the-sea adventure.

We enjoyed another family dinner on Friday and lunch with family friends Barry and Karen on Saturday before heading farther south.

Mary's Baptism and Shower

Dave baptized Mary at church on Sunday, June 24. We appreciated that she got baptized by her grandpa and that both of our families were able to join us for the special day.

Following the church service, Joy threw us a meet and greet shower to welcome Mary and celebrate her baptism. Heather and Michelle helped out by bringing delicious desserts and helping with set up and tear down.

The main activity of the shower was decorating onesies, so now Mary has lots of fun, colorful outfits to wear.

It was fun to gather together and enjoy treats and visiting.

We are thankful for the support of all our friends and family as our little family grows.

Meeting Aunties

We drove down to Modesto on Friday and Mary got to meet the rest of her aunties.

Snug as a Bug in a Rug

I put Mary in her new onesie and Joshua couldn't resist taking this picture of her.