Hurricane season - part one

Fortunately - hurricane season isn't much of an issue in AZ. But 2008 will go down in record as far as I'm concerned because it feels like we've experienced it this year. And in a sense...we have. The hurricane I'd like to call 'September' swept into our lives when we received word that Matt's grandfather passed away and we promptly flew up to northern Michigan. Grandpa had a good long life and was surrounded by family who loved him. But still...it's hard. The up-side is that we had an unexpected opportunity to get together with all of Matt's family - including 2 other new babies we hadn't met yet!

For starters, I have to say that our little boy was a world-class, cross-country traveler. Especially considering our extremely early morning flight (note: boy in pj's) and the start of a yucky cold (note: boogies dripping out of nose...lucky for you I won't share what else was frequently leaking).

Matt's sister Kelly and her baby, Makayla (this first meeting of the new cousins): Baby Caitlin (who just turned one - happy birthday Caitlin!!) with Mom, Cris.

More playtime with cousins (or at least around the cousins...this toy was very exciting for Silas and allowed him to practice standing and playing at the same time. A big hit, as you can see!!).

Did I mention that Matt's grandma lives on this gorgeous lake? It was such a nice reprieve from the still-sweltering heat in Phoenix.

But the reprieve wasn't over! We only went home for 3 short days (one of which I used to give notice at my job because I got a new, part-time job, woo hoo!!!) before we whisked off to North Carolina for a pre-planned vacation. More on that trip in part two...