OH!! Happy DAYS!!

Remember this darling couple...In my last (and LONG over-do post) I shared that they had just celebrated their 6th Wedding Anniversary!! WELL...guess what? Yeppers...this beautiful couple will be celebrating another milestone in 2012...YES, they are going to be parents...my BABY is gonna be having his own baby to love! They are due in the very early days of June! We are all so very excited! Mom-to-be is doing great after a bit of a bout with "all-day sickness"...she has now hit the mark where her energy levels are on the upswing as well as she is feeling more like eating! All is on track and we will find out what BABY "SweetP" will be in 15 days. I'll keep you posted!!

In the meantime...I'll share with you a couple ( I really mean SEVERAL...is there such a thing as a couple of pictures w/one is speaking of their grand-child?...yea...I didn't think so!) of pictures of our first grand-baby...who will be celebrating his 2nd birthday in January! WOW! That went by way too fast. Rumor has it...he is quite excited about becoming a "cousin"!!

These pics are way out of sequence...but I am too lazy to re-arrange....so please excuse me while I babble about each one...
This first picture is of our lil man and one of his food obsessions...yes...this is his peanut butter extravaganza...that boy loves his peanut butter!!



This was taken at lil man's first Easter egg hunt...at his Lolly & Pops...we sure had fun with this. He is showing his dad how to hunt eggs with a pretty determined look in his eyes!



Another great picture of lil man and his gorgeous mommy on their very first Mother's day celebration together! Too cute!

Lil Man LOVES his Uncle M...this was taken when he was about 4 months old at the beach...note his handsome Uncles great tan!
W's first Thanksgiving with his beautiful aunt just hanging out together!! He is one lucky little boy to be loved by so many!!






And of course the picture that started it all...his first session as a newborn...taken by none other than his mommy! He is a well photographed little boy!!

Lil man in his new shoes...I hear they make him run really fast!!
Lil man with his gorgeous mommy...they are quite a twosome!!
AT the butterfly pavilion...chasing butterflies in his bare feet...gotta love that!
Trick or Treating in the town square...he was our Top Gun!!

Another picture of lil man and his mommy taking a stroll! One of their favorite things to do!!

That's all the pictures for today...maybe soon I can actually organize all my pictures and be better about blogging and sharing some of them! I still need to get all my photo's edited from our remodel (what an amazing tranformation that was!)...I'll try and get that together sometime in 2012...and bore you with those! Until then...praying you all have an outstanding 2012 and that you and your families are blessed with great health, good fortune, lots of family time and LOVE for all!!

SIX YEARS!!!

Six years ago today....this boy....



...met THIS girl....




at the alter of a sweet church...and the two became man and wife!!!



Happy, Happy Anniversary to my son and his beautiful bride....WE love you both! You guys light up a room when you enter alone...but when you are together...it's as though the whole world lights up! I have been enamored watching your love for one another grow deeper over the past 6 years.






Happy, Happy Anniversary...Marcus and Emily...or as we affectionately call you...our own...M & EM!!!

It's been FOREVER...

Oh my! I just know I have LOST any followers I've ever had due to my lack of updating my blog! I have been so busy...what with moving across country, becoming a first time grandma...(LOLLY for those of you who don't know that is what I want to be called)...and remodeling a house from the ground up...which of course required us to move out of our home of 6 months into a very tiny rental for almost a year!! WE are back in our newly remodeled home. I hope to have pictures sorted soon to show you some before and afters. It was a L-O-N-G progress...and I was more than ready to get back to a normal life. WELL...it's been about 4 months since we moved back in...I've been working hard "organizing" myself and our home. It has been my goal to be in ALMOST alphabetical order around here...I'm close, but of course I'm not that kind of person normally, so I'm sure it will be short-lived! The crazy thing is, now that it is ALL done (except for the re-landscaping which should take place sometime in the late winter or early spring)...I MISS it! YEP...folks I'm bored!!! I think I have found something I LOVE doing, but I don't have an outlet for it yet! I'm looking...I'm hoping it won't be long before we can do this again...from scratch! Building my forever home seems even more exciting than what we just finished. While I LOVE the end product, some of the things I did i.e. timeless style, colors I used and fixtures; where done for re-sell purposes...but don't get me wrong IT is ALL things I LOVE and would most likely do again...I just might add some more permanent "quirky" here and there. My quirky has been added with non permanent additions...such as paintings, pillows, furniture, etc! It was our thought when first undertaking this task that we would stay here for 3 to 5 years (not knowing how the market was going to be), then sell and move to wherever it is we are meant to be!! Well, we have been here for a little over 2 years...but only about 1 year of that time has been spent in the new house...talk about LIMBO!! I am actually very excited about "nesting" once again...but am also rather restless. I suppose I need to find a "nitch" somewhere in town where I can help others...that seems to be when I am at my BEST!

So that's my past year or so in a nutshell...the other news of course is...being a Lolly to the most adorable little boy a woman could ask for...he is almost 20 months old...CAN you believe it...20 months old! Makes my heart sink a little.

Here are some great pictures of our lil man...it is amazing to me how much he has changed since birth. Born with a head full of dark, dark brown hair...he is now a tall, slender BLOND...with those same amazing eyes! He is so funny, so energetic and so inquisitive about life. I ADORE watching the world through his eyes and how he approaches situations...please enjoy a little glimpse into the life of our precious gift...


Here's our lil man with his mommy on a hike near their home...he LOVES being outdoors.


Here he is opening up his first stocking on Christmas morning...his very first Christmas was spent up in the mountains with all of us at his Auntie Em's and Uncle M's snow covered home...I think this could have been my first WHITE CHRISTMAS!!

Lil Man loves his peanut butter, he's even been known to use it as a hair styling product!!



This is an older picture of lil man on his first trip to the beach...I think he was about 5 to 6 months old then...we had a blast with him and look forward to taking him again, now that he is older and LOVES sand!!



This is one of my ALL time favorite pictures of lil man and his mama...this was also taken at the beach...I loved that I was able to capture a few of these sweet moments of my baby with her baby...nothing makes my heart soar more that seeing this! I love it so much...I still have it framed in a collection of pictures of our lil man...even though he has grown into a toddler and still LOVE looking at this picture every day and can't bear to replace it...oh but don't you worry...I have added plenty others!




Here he is with his Auntie Em and Uncle M...don't they just look adorable? These two are the aunt and uncle we ALL loved growing up...they love to have fun with him...and he adores them both!! They will be the BEST parents when they choose to have their own lil punkin!!



Here he is with his beautiful mama...he is one lucky lil boy!!




NOW...doncha wish you were this limber...and look how LONG his legs are...I think he is gonna be tall...just like his daddy!!




Thanks for indulging me...sorry it's been so long since posting last...and that the pictures are in such random order...that's one area where I am not completely alphabetized as of yet...and who am I fooling...I most likely will never be that organized...I'm not "techie" enough!

Somebody is growing like a weed......

Oh my how time flies when a little one has entered your life!! I know I promised to stay more current with my blogging. My intentions were truly heart-felt...however, my mind has been going in a thousand different directions as of late and I can't seem to MAKE time to do anything creative these days. I'm doing good to get a few pictures posted of the GREATEST, CUTEST, SWEETEST grandson EVER...well, at least to me and his POP!! He truly is just a bundle of cuteness...content and happy most all of the time...sweet and cuddly and an incredible "flirt" according to his mommy! Yes, he's been blessed with "IT"...as you know we can't always put our finger on "IT"...but we know when someone has "IT"...and he most surely does!

His mom has been busy with him and sending us updates on a regular basis, so we feel we're not missing too much by not seeing him EVERY day!! She has been doing a great job sending video text to me often and we skype as much as possible ( I fear if I don't get to see him at least once a month, he's going to think his "Lollie" only as a head!!) Luckily we ALL get to see him and his parents in the next few weeks or so...we rented a house on the beach in Southern Cal. and the whole family will be having a little "get-a-way" of sorts...just to re-connect, relax, soak up some sun and "be" together as a family again ( we are thrilled that his auntie and uncle get to come spend some time with him as well). The last time we were ALL together at one time...there were only 6 of us...now there are 7...our little "icing on the cake"! I can't wait!!

Here's Mr. Blister on his 3 month birthday ( I cannot believe how much he has grown and changed since his birth!!)....he found his fingers and entire hand, even after his mommy has been very diligent in persuading him to use the pacifier...seems he figured out when the paci fell out...the hand/thumb was much easier to get to, I told you he's a genius!! She's still working on breaking the habit...we'll see how that goes. I know she so didn't want him to find his thumb b/c she knows that will be a soothing habit that will not be easy to break!! My daughter loved her paci and I must say, that wasn't an easy thing for her to give up either.



Here he is in a "big boy" outfit that his Great Auntie (my sister) gave him...he looks so grown up. I call this his "Good Fellas" shot...it's as if he's pointing his fingers back at himself and thinking..."you talking to me"! I'm pretty sure he's a genius, too...because I KNOW he has NEVER seen Good Fellas...so we may have a movie director or actor in our future...b/c he's a whiz at the one liners!!




And lastly...a shot from above on his 3 month birthday...as his mommy says..."why is it the boys ALWAYS have the best lashes"!!



Enjoy...and I promise I will be posting some other things in the future...right now our botanical gardens (as I call them) out front and back and are in FULL bloom...it's just amazingly gorgeous out there...I love it!! Our renovations should have already been underway...but I'm constantly fretting about changes or doing too much, so I've kind of slowed things down purposely for a short bit...it will most likely happen now in mid-May or early June. At first my thoughts were to get it done before Christmas...but I really felt "rushed" about moving forward and I was not sure all things were what I wanted....I was beginning to "panic" and have some trouble sleeping. So, I slowed the process down just a tad, been praying about exactly the right thing to do and spending many hours discussing with my lovin hubbin what should be done to make it like we want it...but not breaking the bank to get it there. It's actually been stressful in some ways...but fun trouble-shooting and getting creative alongside of one another. I think we're turning out to be a pretty good team...after all we've been working at it for 33 years! So as soon as the first sledge hammer is swung...I'll start posting pictures of the renovations!!

Lollie's LOVE....

Our little prince turned one month old this past Monday the 15Th...so you know what that means. Yea, Lollie had to go for a much needed visit so she could oooh, coo and cuddle with this precious boy. It is so amazing how much they grow in a month, how they change and how much more you love them! I'm going to share just a couple of my favorite pictures from last week. His mommy (our sweet Jackie) takes some really awesome photos! I don't think it will be long before she's back at work photographing others...but for now...I'm thrilled she's totally focused on taking some great shots of Walker!!

The many faces of Walker....




YUMMY toes...ooooh how I LOVE this one!!!




Sweetness...



Lollie LOVE....



This could be my favorite...well...they're all my favorites...but in this one he makes my heart smile...b/c he is lying on my shoulder and I think I detect tons of contentment and a sweet little "almost" smile...awwww!!!

My next post...I plan on taking a departure from Lollie"hood" and posting about our recent trip to Napa...breath-taking I must say...and I found a place that I not only love, but plan on using as inspiration for our upcoming remodel...Bliss people...I'm telling you my life fells very BLISSful at the moment!!

More Bliss....

I know...I know...you're thinking...IS this all she can post about? Well...for now...YES! I'm obsessed and it helps so much that our grandson's mom is a great photographer! For that I am VERY thankful...b/c living in different states...it's awesome to see these incredible pictures his mommy has taken! We also do our share of Skyping...but nothing is better than snuggling this little bundle in my arms.

So I will leave you with another round of pictures of the sweetest baby boy...that stole my heart the minute I laid eyes on him...and even more so when I first held him.

Walker Bruce Beal at 2 weeks and 1 day...

Sweet baby rolls....






God's perfection...








Snuggling in Daddy's arms...







Sweet new family...








Just hanging out....

Bliss....

My new obsession....I just can not get enough of this sweet child...our families new blessing...




I had to leave Colorado on Saturday, it was time and our grandson's other grandmother needed to have time to visit as well. I'm going to be honest...it was one of the hardest things I've had to do...in a very long time. I didn't leave without many, many tears...so much so...there may have been some of those "heaving snorts" to go along with all the tears. I'm such a baby...but I just can not put into words how much I love him! His mom makes it much easier on me, though...I've already received a couple of photo text from him and will also be skyping with them on a regular basis! I NEVER knew how great being a grand-parent could be ( I would have REALLY been relentless w/the begging had I known!)...but it does come with some heartache...but all in all it's the BEST!!

Doesn't he just have the sweetest little face?...and that smile...he's dreaming of the pony I promised him...WHENEVER he wants it!!