Grant grows up

I've taken a picture from each year of my life and put them here. I am eleven now.

2006

2007

 2008

 2009

 2010

2011

2012

 2013

 2014

 2015

2016

2017

by Grant

Time Machine

The kids were all snuggled in Grant's bed at bedtime while waiting for a story.

I was reminded of a similar photo taken nearly 4 years ago.

Bathing Beauty

Bryn loves her bath. It's her favorite time of day. Sort of reminds me of a couple of other 10½ month olds...

To Be Toothful...

Our little Brynie is growing up fast. She got her first and second teeth yesterday. She hasn't yet realized the full power of teeth but she did demolish a waffle at breakfast this morning. I'd post pictures but they make me queasy. Bryn just turned 7 months old, which is the same age that Cole was when he sprouted his first tooth. Grant started a little earlier at exactly 6 months:

Mmmm, Gruel...

Baby's first bite. And the verdict is...
...about the same as the boys' first time. Hmmm, we still see those faces some days at mealtime.

A Visit to St Nick

We attended the local elementary school bazaar recently and got photos with Santa! Well, some of us did. Bryn was great. The boys on the other hand... The photographer, our friend Alex, just managed to get Grant's horrified profile in the frame. Cole at least gave Santa a high five before refusing to sit on his lap. It was a different story two years ago. Grant tolerated Santa and Cole loved him.

Habitat for Humanity (Witch Division)

Christmas time and candy-based contruction has been a tradition in my family for a long time. Here's our efforts in 1982. Naturally, my sister placed herself front and center for the photo. In my family we always used graham crackers as the basic building blocks and added frosting and candy. As the years progressed our skills increased and our ability to include as much candy as possible improved. This one is from 1989, when only my three youngest siblings were living at home: Note my younger brother's M&M paved yard, showing the height of candy excess. He had also probably filled up the inside of his building with candy. Through the years our productions became less about candy encrusted houses, and more about grand visions requiring the hands of a surgeon and the soul of an artist. Here's 1996: Note my older brother's rather spartan marshmallow man tableau. Also from 1996, my grand igloo: Now it's time for me to pass on the tradition. A friend offered to make real gingerbread panels and even glued them together beforehand so all we had to do is start adding candy. Grant started off strong but soon became more interested in placing the candy in his mouth. Cole really got into the spirit of the thing and did almost all of his own candy placement. Here are the final products, with Grant's on the left and Cole's on the right. Of course, now they're both very interested in un-placing the candy. Ma even provided the ideal tools for candy removal. Cole is quickly becoming adept and levering out even the most stubborn pieces. He's a regular little Hansel.

Summer Trip Episode 8

Time: 6 July 2008, 12:26 PM
Location: 38°16'30"N 109°24'19"W Looking Glass Arch (near Moab), UT
Event: A Trip Through Memory Arch

This was the scene on 29 September 2002, at sunset. Ma had just agreed to marry me.
And now, nearly six years later we have multiplied. Without thinking about it, we sat on the same rock, mostly because it's the best place to take a picture, with another rock conveniently located to prop a camera on. This next picture is facing the opposite direction. The one from 2002 was looking into the fading light of the sunset and the rock isn't visible.
We stopped here to let the boys "run around", a phrase they caught on to quickly and would start chanting when they wanted to get out of the car on the long drive home.
I suppose we all needed some time out of the car.
We had a great BEATA moment when Ma caught a lizard.
Cole got into the BEATA spirit and caught a large ant. Fortunately it was a member of EATDB (Ethical Ants That Don't Bite) and didn't employ its large pinchers.
And, just like six years ago, we stopped in Moab (at the same restaurant) for pizza afterward.

Cuddly Cousin

The Crunchers have a new cousin. My sister Laura finally got her act together and was delivered of a cute little girl. At birth she weighed (10 lbs 2 oz), almost as much as both boys combined (5 lbs 2 oz + 5 lbs 8 oz). I might not have devoted a whole post to this (not that she doesn't deserve it) but it gives me an opportunity to include a picture of the boys at birth for comparison.