California! 8 is Great!

A couple weekends ago we decided to drive out to California for a long weekend visit at my sister Kari's house. My nephew Zach was being baptized that Saturday (plus my parents were flying in for a few days) so we thought it was the perfect reason to head out there. That, AND to meet my niece Lillian for the first time ever! She is just 3 months older than Ivy and it was our very first time ever seeing her in person. Pretty sure Ivy and Lilly are going to be best friends. Even after we came home, I noticed some things Ivy had started doing that Lilly would do while we were there hehee.. 

Since being there, I've learned that the loudest and craziest toys are the most fun to babies. Pretty sure Ivy thinks all her toys at home are boring now, lol.. She absolutely loved this table. We will have to get one soon:

 They both crawled over here on their own.. I think Lilly wanted to see what Ivy was up too:

Baptism day! Zach is so grown up! We are so glad he decided to get baptized and it was so fun to be there for him. Way to go Zach! Here he is with his mama:

Just had to get a couple pics of my baby girl in her stinkin' cute purple dress and tights:

The whole gang, we love ya Zach!

The next day we took the kids to Chick fil A... Ivy finally decided she was old enough for a high chair that day (we had tried during outings before without success. She would always arch her back or fold over and try to escape lol). Glad to see she is starting to act more her age these days, hehe. Thanks for being such a good (and cute!) example, cousin Lilly! ;) I just love these girls:

And finally, a double date for the adults.. We went to Lucille's. Amazing bbq! mmm:

Thanks for having us, Kari and Mark! We had a blast and are already missing y'all! And thanks baby Lilly for somehow teaching Ivy how to fake laugh, refuse baby food, and power crawl. She thinks she is a big girl now and I just know that it's partially attributed to you in some way. ;)

BTW- Thanks to all of you who commented about Max. Many of them were exactly what I needed to hear and all were very comforting. So thank you. It was nice to hear such kind words from loving friends. Just an update, I can tell in the past week or so that his health is declining rather quickly. We are getting the feeling that his time is approaching. I don't feel so scared or sad anymore though. I know this is the way it has to be and that he will be happier and feel much better after everything is said and done. I will update again soon. Thanks again for your love and support.