Fall Fun

Exciting news: Garrett has taken his first steps! Every day since his first steps, he's taken more and more. I'm sure he'll be running within the month :). Garrett is becoming quite the toddler-- walking, climbing, saying new words. He can now say balloon and duck. In addition, he recognizes lots of objects and words.

Garrett is so darn adorable. Brendan and I are blown away by his cuteness; just when you think he can't get any cuter, it happens. He's quite rambunctious, also. This kid can romp like nobody's business, and climb and throw things. Welcome to toddlerhood!

This weekend we went to a pumpkin patch at Hidden Horse Farm. Garrett loves pumpkins! Before we went to the patch, I bought a pie pumpkin, which Garrett played with every day for long stretches of time-- 10 to 15 minutes or a very long time in toddler minutes.

At the farm, Garrett saw horses and ponies. He was very interested in the horses and even put out his hand to pat the noses of a few. Garrett loved watching the other kiddos at the pumpkin patch, and loved bowling with pumpkins. Many of the pumpkins were on a slight hillside, and Garrett would roll pumpkins, one at a time, down the hill. He watched each intently to see what would happen, then would go for another. Our own baby Issac Newton.

After the farm, we went to Stone Mountain State Park, near the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was gorgeous; there were bursts of beautiful foliage and lots of deer. We had a great time!

Family Reunion

We met little Evelyn Lily de Jong for the first time! Brendan's sister, Katie, and our brother-in-law, Peter recently came to visit North Carolina; they live in Toronto. We met them on the North Carolina coast, and enjoyed a mini- beach trip.

Little Eve is beautiful blend of her parents. Garrett enjoyed hanging out with his baby cousin. He was surprisingly gentle, with a few expected rough moments.

Garrett looked like such an adorable little surfer boy in his swim suit.

We had a great time at the beach!











We got a second treat-- Brendan's brother, Tim came home safely from Iraq! There was a fun and chaotic family dinner with all the Stephens siblings, except Isabelle, who was at the Emmy's!









The delightful chaos was largely created by all the little cousins-- Garrett, Mia, Vincent, and Evelyn. It's so much fun to watch the sweet little rugrats romp around together.










Everyone was excited to have Tim back home. It was great to
see him interact with all the kiddos.









It was a loud and fun evening!

































On their way out of town, the de Jongs spent the night with us. We had great cookout! Our mutual friend Garrick chilled with us. He's a natural with the little ones :).

Good Times in Atlanta!

The last week in August we went to Atlanta to visit my sister, Nicole and brother-in-law, Frank. Frank had just graduated from National Guard basic training with honors. Frank was super fit and super thin. Nicole was looking hot and trim.

We had a great time on our mini-trip-- one overnight. We stayed at the Intercontintental Hotel, which is beautiful and luxurious. How did we afford it you ask? Nicole bid on our rooms at priceline.com, and we got a real steal of a rate. Garrett loved romping around our room, and had a great time Sunday morning taking a bath and eating breakfast with Aunt Nicole and Uncle Frank.

We went to Stone Mountain (the Confederate Mount Rushmore) and saw the lazer and fireworks show. The lazer show is like a fun, flashy travel guide to the South. We also went to the Atlanta Aquarium. It was Labor Day weekend, so the aquarium was packed to the max. The aquarium is huge and magnificent. I don't know what Garrett liked more the fish or the people.

Check out the Atlanta Trip videos.

Belated Birthday Post-- Happy 1st, Garrett!

Garrett Douglas Stephens turned one year old on August 4th, 2007!

We celebrated at the NC Asheboro Zoo with Grandma Judy, Aunt Hannah, Cousins Mia and Vincent. Its an awesome zoo, but it was sweltering hot day. The zoo has two sides, the African and North American.

We went to the African side, which has vast natural exhibits. Garrett ate his first cupcake, and made a grand mess. Despite the heat, we all had a lovely time.

Check the out the Birthday videos :) .