day day

daylen is 6 years old today! she's growing up so fast. what a ham...look at this face!
happy birthday my precious baby niece! we love you!

[playtime with dad]

we are SO blessed by this baby. i just had no idea that we would enjoy life with a child so much. ryan said the other day that he wishes we wouldn't have waited so long. that's crazy! who would have thunk it. eli is quite smiley these days...as the pictures show. he smiles with his whole face...it's gorgeous. i can't stop smiling as i write this, just looking at these pictures. he brings us both a LOT of joy.

harton

[eli harton maat with his grandpa]

eli is named after my dad...larry j harton. he's my "step-dad" actually. you would never know it though. he loves me like i've been his daughter all my life, and he's been my saving grace. he's an amazing man. i'm SO thankful for him. i just can't express in words how powerful he has been in my life. he's been my dad now for almost 10 years; he and my mom married in september 1998. i actually picked him out. it's true! he was the neighbor of my boyfriend at the time and we set them up! pretty crazy. it is because of my dad and mom that i have learned how to love and be loved...allowing me to be a wife and mom. my hope is that eli will carry the legacy of my dad, not just in his name, but in the way he loves and cares for God and for people.

the girls' birthdays

we spent the weekend in paw paw with my parents this past weekend. we celebrated my nieces' birthdays...penny was 8 on 2/25, daylen will be 6 on 3/19. they're getting so old! eli enjoyed seeing his cousins and his grandma lee and grandpa larry...and let's not forget sophie (my parents' dog)! we intended to come home on saturday but were having such a good time that we stayed another night. what a fun weekend!

[penny & daylen]

baby!

[eli & his papa singing the ymca...friday night after his first day in daycare!]