Special Time with friends, Grammie Pearl and turning 1 month old!

We are so blessed with good friends and special people in the lives of the kids.
The matriarch of our church, Ruth, is 95 years young.  She is a strong and faithful woman who just plain loves.  She loves everyone and we love her.  She was so excited to meet Sophie the first Sunday we brought her to church. It was beautiful to see her hold Sophie and be so protective when others came near.  Each time we see her Sophie visits (and Dylan does too).  Here is a photo of the two of them on Easter Sunday before church.

Ruth is so inspiring to me, not just because of her faith, but because she keeps going.  She has a daily routine in her house (she lives with her daughter) but finds is very important to contribute to the household tasks.  She dusts and is always talking about cleaning out this closet or that and in the summer she is out weeding and raking.  A little at a time, patiently sharing of herself.  She weekly attends bible class and Tuesday Senior center at church and each month helps to fold and mail the newsletters.  Just a beautiful person to be inspired by.

I don't have a picture of Tom & Linda but they are pretty special too :)  Always in church, someone Dylan looks forward to seeing.  Also around the 'hood.  Dropping by every so often, sharing meals with us and always ready with a hug and a high five and a fist bump.  We'll have to get another photo of them for a new family and friends book for S and an updated one for D.  

Then there are many peers of Dylan's whose parents mean so much to us.  We went to Eliza's house (parents Ann and Kyle) for a special Easter Egg Hunt with many of these friends.  They really know how to throw kid friendly parties and are so relaxed as parents.  Our friends Helen and Haydn and their daughter Holly (and now their son too - Oscar George born this week) aren't actually members of the church, but after we had our first kids I invited Helen to our play group and now they are part of the crowd at many of our friends with kids activities! Dylan loves Haydn especially and if he is around, good luck getting an adult conversation in - the kids will have him occupied!  And of course Dylan's favorite gal, Evelyn, parents Angela and Andrew!  Her mommy, Angela, is Sophie's godmother (along with Pastor Kim).  Angela has been a supportive friend through parenting, life in Milwaukee when your family lives far away and our mutual interests in photography!    These are a few shots of the kiddos together at Starbucks for a little fun Easter Monday treat.  Any girl that laughs at Dylan's silly antics is a favorite of his!

Those are just a very small number of our friends from church - if I wrote about them all it would take forever!  Perhaps a few others will pop up in future blog posts and hopefully I can keep posting a bit more frequently!

This past week Sophie turn 1 month old! I got her and D together for a few shots with Grammie Pearl's help.

Speaking of Grammie Pearl, I had to post this one of a sleeping babe and Grammie on her screened in porch during our post Easter visit.  We hadn't been to Grammie's since last November, but Dylan was right at home and both he and Sophie slept well - and so did I!  Eric, sadly had to work all week, but he did take off the Friday before the baptism to make the cake... stay turned for another blog post with that photo!