fun painting, making picture frames and eating tasty snacks and cookies. We even drank witch's brew!!! What a perfect way to start the fall season with all of our friends!
Here is a very cute (and pink) page created from a celebration luncheon given by some of the ladies from our small group in Bible Study. I cannot take credit for this page, it was created by my dear friend Kim (and the pictures are hers as well). She sent me the page and I was testing out my computer skills to see if I could save, transfer, post etc. to my blog. So hopefully it worked! Thank you to Kim again, for making such a cute and girly page and Thank you also to the wonderful ladies at The Grove, you each helped in making the arrival of Miss Lauryn even more special!!!
She is finally here, Miss Lauryn Rachelle Jaffie!!! And we are thrilled to be sharing the news of her arrival! She was born early tuesday morning, November 30, at 1:03am, weighing 6 lbs, 15oz and 21 inches long. We are so thankful for this newest addition to our family, she is just the sweetest baby and we fall in love more and more everyday with her, especially the color "pink"! I never imagined pink could look so cute. The boys are just head over heels for her, wanting to see her and hold her. Ethan even asked if we could keep her when meeting her at the hospital for the first time. 
Logan joined Cub Scouts this year and they just recently went on their first campout. It was a family adventure, but only Eddie went on the trip this time (being 30 weeks pregnant doesn't quite cut it for camping "shape", especially the bathroom department). It was a large group including many other dens from his pack. His friends Bryce and Trent also were able to attend even though they are in a different den. The boys all had a great time and I know Logan can't wait for the next campout!
Logan wanted to "do my hair" one night so I let him brush and twist and tangle my hair to his heart's content. And this is the result...not too bad for a 7 year old, let alone a 7 year old BOY! He did say that he was practicing for his baby sister's hair and could he do her hair someday, we will have to see what she thinks about that! All in all, very sweet of him!
One of Logan's favorite things in life in Legos. Not only can he completely put together an entire Lego set by himself, but he likes to create all different sorts of robots and monsters with the Legos. I find pictures of many of his creations on my camera so now I have MANY examples downloaded onto the computer! Logan wanted to learn how to digitally scrappbook this week, so I showed him how and this is his page. Not only do you get to see his masterpieces, but how well he did with making a page. Very talented for a novice, of course I am partial... just a little!!!
Back in May we joined our friends Susie and Max for an adventure day at the Az Museum of Natural History. It was fun to take just our little boys and have some fun with them. Max and Ethan are close in age and they had alot of "roaring" fun together, the perfect activity for 3 year olds! The museum has alot of neat things to see, but they especially enjoyed seeing the dinosaurs. We look forward to our next rendevous with our pals!
It has been 5 years since Gavin was born, and as I look back over this time it seems like only yesterday. I have so many memories from that day, good and bad, and no matter how many years go by, the deep pain and sorrow that I feel at his loss never seems to go away. He truly was a special little boy in our lives. I could write a book about the impact his short time with us made upon us, our families, our friends and how he continues to shine a light for us. I just wanted to quickly share a few snapshots from today, his birthday. We went to the cemetery to take some flowers, balloons and a few small tokens with the boys. It had been raining most of the afternoon (which of course NEVER happens in AZ) and we weren't sure we would be able to go without the it raining on us. But as soon as Eddie got home from work, we had clear skies. We had chosen to do our annual balloon release (one balloon for every year old Gavin would have been), so just as we were about to release the balloons, we noticed this giant rainbow in the sky. You could see the entire span of the rainbow, which most of the time you only get to see a portion. What a beautiful and amazing site right at that moment in time. The rainbow shone brightly the entire time we visited, and just as we were packing the boys back into the van, I turned around and it was gone. In all the years and at different times of the day and seasons, I have never seen a rainbow when I have visited Gavin's gravesite. But today, on his 5th birthday when we were there to celebrate and remember him, he gave us a gift instead. Truly amazing how God works in our lives and knows just what we need, when we need it. The pictures do not display how beautiful the sky and colors really were, but hopefully some of you may have seen it tonight, the beautiful light of the rainbow. Happy Birthday to our sweet baby boy Gavin! We miss you more than you will ever know!
. We then surprised them with pedicures, waxing and wine and finished our evening with Pizookie! If you don't know what this is, it is a MUST treat to have at Oregano's. The best part of the whole evening was getting time to catch up with my favorite girls, thanks so much for the fun! Happy Birthday!
Our big 7 year old started his first day of 2nd grade back in July. He was so excited to start school again, but now has been having a change of heart now 2 months into it. He likes school, but his least favorite subject is HOMEWORK! What a switch I have noticed this year with the academics, amount of homework and difficulty of spelling words. It's a bit of a struggle, but Logan overall is doing welll in school and especially is taking on a new love for reading. I am so proud of him and how far he has come in his reading this year already. What a superstar, his goal is to make The Millionare's Club for reading at school by the end of the school year. Will keep you posted on how he is doing!
s all the way from Australia...The Wiggles!!! They put on a concert on the field after the game. The kids were so funny, they kept watching for the Wiggles through the whole game, "Is it Wiggle time yet" and "I think I see them"! We sat with The Cable Family for the game and them joined our other Wiggle groupies for the concert. The kids just loved being able to see them in person and Ethan danced the entire show. We also got to celebrate a very special birthday that day too, Happy Birthday Kim! Thanks for all the "Wigglin"!
Papa Craig, or as my boys lovingly refer to him as "Papa Crank", had a 4 hour layover while traveling for business. We picked him up from the airport and hit one of our favorite restaurants here, Oregano's. The kids love this place because not only is the pizza AWESOME but they get to play with pizza dough. I am not sure who had more fun, Craig or the kids but as you can clearly see from the pictures, he is not a cranky guy...he really is the most jovial person we know! Logan just had a hard time saying his name when he was younger and the name has stuck. We look forward to our next visit soon!
It is always a challenge during the summers living in Arizona to stay cool. We don't have a pool so we find other ways to "get wet". The boys had hours of fun in the backyard with a slip-n-slide and using their bodies to bowl. Here are a few shots of the fun our little backyardigans had this summer.
I found the boys outside riding their bikes one day coming home from errands. They were so cute, especially with their helmets on (my favorite piece of equipment). It was Ethan's first time on a bike, and he has inherited Logan's old Hot Wheels bike, which he thought was "a cool one"! I immediately had to run inside and grab my camera to capture a few pics. I am trying hard to remember to take as many pictures of Ethan when he does something for the first time as I did with Logan...not sure if I am keeping up that goal but at least trying. I am sure once it cools off around here that you might just see a Jaffie boy cruisin by! Watch Out!
Ethan took a few weeks of swim lessons this summer and really improved his swimming abilities. While he is not proficient yet swimming, he made great strides in his own confidence and fun in the water. I am sure if we had our own pool at home, he would be a "fish" by now, just like Logan! But I am sure by next summer he will be an expert with his kick, kick, kicks and swimming to the wall etc. I am so proud of him, and the smile on his face shows how much fun he had!
