Eruption!

Who says that bringing work home can't be a good time?

Just a normal day

Here's what goes on during a normal average day :).

Boppa and Cha Cha's 40th Wedding Anniversary

For Boppa and Cha Cha's 40th Wedding Anniversary we took the whole family to teppanyaki at Yoshino's where everyone was dazzled, amazed, and (for some) a bit frightened by the experience.

Carter loved every minute of it... except for when the volcano "erupted" and he covered his ears and looked away. Isla really did love every minute of it. She only complained when her supply of puffs or yogurt bites ran out.

Boppa and Finley come over to play

Cha Cha went all out for Valentines Day!

Peak a Boo

Life at the Gladdings has been on cruise control for the past few weeks. The big news is that Isla is now mobile and funny as can be. She picked up peak a boo somewhere and it is one of her after dinner favorites. She will play with the toys and eat her puffs happily and then, just as you look away and look back, her pasty white belly is staring at you and she's got her shirt pulled up over her head. Too cute!

Carter has been loving his scooter. It is a necessary piece of equiptment for any trip to the park.

Grandma and Grandp Butterworth Come To Visit

Just after Christmas Ed and Aleene (or Allene depending on who you believe) came to visit us in not so sunny CA. Over 2 weeks of vacation they had a sum total of 2 days of sunshine and 5 days of rain. A very unhospitible way for Calfornia to treat our guests from Pennsylvania.

Carter was delighted to have his 4th christmas present opening and he got right to zooming around on his new scooter both indoors and out.

Grandma and Grandpa were a huge help with feeding, playing, making puzzles, changing diapers, watching the kids so Susan could be on yet another conference call, cooking dinner, reading books, putting the kids down to bed, and many many other ways.

Taking advantage of the heavily ladened lemon tree in the backyard the family risked eventual scratches from the thorns and picked a plethora of lemons. Ages of grueling effort finally yeilded a few cups of pure lemon juice which Susan mixed with copious amounts of sugar to produce a very tasty tart lemonade. Carter couldn't wait for the final product and sunk his teeth into several juicy lemon slices.

2 weeks came and went all too quickly. Isla tried to pass the milestone of crawling while grandma and grandpa were here and, although improving by leaps and bounds, could only pull herself forward using the shaggy carpet. Carter was thrilled to wave to the grandparents on the airplane at the airport but was very saddened to return to his house the way it had been before all of the fun and excitement swept in from PA.