Annah Is Sweet 16!

Say it isn't so.....Annah just turned 16!  

I don't know how it happened but in what seemed like overnight Annah has grown up into a lovely young woman. Oh how I wish people who told me how quickly kids grow up didn't turn out to be right.

Annah hasn't officially had a celebration for her birthday yet but that is coming this weekend. She wants to go ice skating with some friends so that is the plan for Saturday. In the meantime I had fun reminiscing about Annah growing up over the past 16 years.  

Here she is.....  

Annah 6 months old, Abigail 2 1/2 years

She ate blueberry yogurt...sort of.

This is the way we empty the dishwasher...

As Jordan says, "We didn't chose the thug life. The thug life chose us"! Hahaha

Sisters

This picture speaks volumes of the closeness of these girls that still exists today.

Pony ride....

Real Easter bunnies!

Annah and her dad

Drama Queen :)

Lovely Annah

Love this picture...hahaha

Hahaha...Annah's going to kill me!

Annah with her brother, Tim, on our recent trip to Arizona.

Holding sweet baby August

(This has got to be my most favorite picture of August and his Auntie Annah!)

 

On Friday Annah went to get her permit. 

Here she is waiting for the place to open....

Testing....

And pass!

It has been a lot of years from here....

...to here

 

But look out world, here she comes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 16th BIRTHDAY, ANNAH!

And many more. :)

August in October

August....I love his name and I love him. 

We were so very blessed to be able to make a trip to Arizona while on fall break from school. The plan was that we would drive straight through to be able to make it in time for baby August to be blessed in church at 9 am on Sunday morning. We left Kentucky at 5:30 Friday evening and we made it with little time to spare! It was a fabulous day. In the circle surrounding this precious baby for his blessing was his father, Tim, his grandfather, Tim, his great uncle, Jeff, and the bishop of Tim and Lisa's ward, Bishop Woods.

After August was blessed I got to hold him and he slept through the entire sacrament meeting. The necklace that a wear *everyday* was draped on his arm. While we don't typically take pictures in church, I asked Annah to take a picture of August sleeping. My heart was so full to hold this sweet baby so close for so long. I think it was a tender mercy given to me since our time with him was so short.

Tim and Lisa with August

August wore the same outfit that his father was blessed in. :)

Jeff, Tim, August, Tim and Annah

Lisa's parents, Ted and Kathy (Nana & Gramps) Brook

We first met August when he was just 3 weeks old. 

It was amazing to us to see him respond to being outside like nothing I had ever seen before. He could be fussy and squirmy and if you walk outside with him he settled down immediately! I would find it hard to believe if I hadn't seen it happen time and time again while we were there!

He got his mom's love of the outdoors and Valenta genes with his long arms, long legs and long fingers! 

Grandma and Grandpa Valenta

Auntie Annah holding August. I love that he is sucking his thumb..Sweetness!

I love the look on Annah's face!

Great Uncle Jeff holding August

Nana Brook

                                              

 August hanging out with his dad

   

August's first hike

Love this picture with his hands under his chin!

On August's first visit to his great Uncle Jeff's house this happened :)

    Baby feet.....

 

    One of my favorite pictures...

It was incredibly hard to leave Tim and Lisa and August. I so wished that we lived closer and knew when we were going to see them again. A whole new world is opening to them as parents and we are so far away to see it or be apart of it.We are going to have to figure out how to do that whole "long distance grandparenting" thing quickly!

I miss this little guy every day...

August in September

August arrived in September this year. 

Our first grandchild born to our oldest son, Tim and his wife, Lisa.

Lisa on September 1st waiting for August! 

August Samuel arrived on Saturday, September 19th (11 days early!) weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 3/4" long. 

This is one of my favorite pictures. 

Look at him look at his mom! 

Just chillin' in his crib!

Such sweetness!

Another favorite picture -- sucking his thumb!

All that hair!

Mom and Baby... :)

His sweet footprints

In 5 days we will be heading to Arizona to see sweet August and his mom and dad. We can hardly wait to hold that sweet baby and snuggle him close.  In the meantime we have had to just stare at the pictures from his photo shoot when we was one week old...

Oh, that sweet smile!