May the Moments Pass Slow

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow
And each road leads you where you want to go
And if you're faced with the choice and you have to choose
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you
My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold
~ Rascal Flatts

This past year has flown by and I can not believe that Liam is now two years old. Here is a quick snapshot of the last year with a few of my favorites and a few new pictures.

  

 

My sweet Liam,

With you each day is full of joy and excitement, fear and anticipation. You are the light of our lives and we love you so very much. We are so blessed that God chose us to be your parents and are so thankful for each and every moment we spend with you. We know that God has great plans for you and we can not wait to watch you as you grow into the boy and the man that he means for you to be. We know that the days won't always be easy, the moments won't always pass slow, and each road won't always lead you where you want to go but we pray that in these moments you know that you are loved by a great God and have two parents that love you beyond belief.

All of love, 

Mommy & Daddy   

Happy Halloween

Halloween this year was so much fun for our family. Liam helped to pick out his costume and made by far the cutest cow I have ever seen. He had a great time telling everyone that he was a cow and making a very loud mooing sound to show just how good he was at being a cow. Liam was a little hesitant about the whole idea of trick or treating as we headed out the door. We practiced saying "trick or treat" many times in the days before Halloween but when we asked him what he should say as we knocked on the door he said "more candy, please". We decided that, that would probably get him plenty of candy. He quickly caught on to the idea of trick or treating and as we walked down the street he kept saying "more houses, more houses!" Liam, however thought that he should eat the candy from each house while sitting on their doorstep instead of putting it in his candy bag so this led to quite a scene as we walked away. Normally that scene showed Rolf and I walking down the driveway and Liam throwing a fit in the front yard, as our neighbors looked on. Luckily, we thought it was pretty funny and the more houses we visited the better he got about putting the candy in his bag and walking away although it was very, very hard from him to do each time.   

Heading out to trick or treat.

Walking up to our first house.

Our neighbor letting Liam pick a huge candy bar out of her big basket of candy that he proceeded to open and eat before leaving her porch. 

Check out the lights in our pumpkins

Cool pumpkins craved by Liam and Daddy!

Eating yummy, yummy M&Ms out of his candy bag before eating dinner.



Getting Ready for Halloween

So I know I am once again posting a little bit late but I guess with my past track record I am actually doing pretty well. We had a great time getting ready for Halloween; craving pumpkins, decorating the house, making "ghost hands", and getting ready for Daddy's birthday! Here are a few pictures of our family getting ready for Halloween.

Craving Pumpkins with Daddy

Liam was very hesitant to stick his hand in and pull out all of the seeds but once he warmed up to the idea we couldn't get him to stop.

 

Spooky Mantel Decorations

(okay not all that spooky but I had fun making them)

Liam's Ghost Sticker Pumpkin

Liam had a great time decorating his pumpkin all by himself.

Making "Ghost Hands" with Mommy

He thought painting his hand was so cool he immediately touched the top of his head.

  

Liam thought his "ghost hand" was the coolest! He showed it to everyone and we would talk about it several times a day. He also thinks all ghosts are called "ghost hands" not just ghosts!

Here We Go, Steelers!



Jess decided to surprise Rolf's brother Ben for his birthday with a weekend trip to Pittsburgh for a Steelers game. Since Rolf's birthday was just a few weeks later I asked her if we could tag along and she agreed!

So my parents happily volunteered to come to our house to keep Liam for the weekend and I surprised Rolf with our first weekend trip away since Liam was born. He had no idea where we were going or what we were doing until we hit the road on Saturday morning. We spent Saturday driving up to Pittsburgh and then went out on a great double date in downtown that evening. Sunday we got up early, grabbed some food, and headed toward the stadium for a little tailgating! We took the ferry across the river to the Heinz Field and had an awesome time watching the Steelers whoop-up on the Browns in Big Ben's first game back.

Cousins

When we were in Sylva Liam was able to spend lots of time with his cousins. It is so fun watching these three together. I can only imagine the trouble they are going to give us in years to come. Caden and Abram took Liam to one of their favorite parks and here are a few pictures of the day!

My beautiful "sister" Jess and her little Abby!

Liam loves to hold hands while in his car seat and his cousin Caden happily obliged. What a great big cousin!

Caden's 4th Birthday

In October we visited Sylva for five days to help host Evie's baby shower and to visit with friends and family. While we were in town we were lucky enough to help Caden celebrate his 4th Birthday!

The Birthday Boy

Yummy, yummy cupcake!

So excited about the helmet and he hasn't even seen the bike yet!

His new ride!

Evie's Baby Shower

In October Jess, Rachel, and I hosted a baby shower for Evie and her sweet little girl that will here in December. We are super excited to welcome the newest Graning to our family and over the moon that it is a baby girl! Here are a few details from the day.

The awesome spread.

The beautiful mommy-to-be.

What a fun group of friends and family.