Grandma's Birthday Dinner

Family all gathered at Moody Springs for Aimee's mom's birthday dinner.  Andy, Aimee's brother, came down from Portland for the occasion.  We all had a great time visiting with each other (as usual).

Cousins at the Pool

More Gilroy Gardens...with the Hales and Graves

Father's Day

We went to Tom and Anne's place on Father's day and had a blast doing the scavenger hunt that Tom put together. Folks brought costumes or props for the team they were on (pictured below).

Glen can't decide what he likes the best about the pictures, Tyler's crazy face, Batman's (Gage's) belly hanging out, or Jeffrey's blue underwear.

Krazy Kamikazes


Super Heroes


Leaping Lizards

Eden Elizabeh Hale

The Hale kids stayed with us when Eden was born. They each made their own rubber ball and we even had enough leftover to make one for Eden.

Nathan and Gage in the bath the night before Liz, Andy & Eden came home from the hospital.

Karate Kids

We bought Coleman, Aedan, Alexis, Jeff, Tyler, Nathan, and Caleb ninja headbands while we were in Japan (Not that I've ever known a ninja that wore a headband, but it sure makes them sound cooler). We didn't think that Becca, Kate, Krystina, or Justin would be as interested, though it would be funny to see Krystina wear one of these to high school.

Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of Coleman and Aedan with their headbands since they moved (maybe Andy can take one and send it to us to post), but we are sure they look as formidable as their cousins.

Strike a ninja pose and enjoy!

Caleb is conjuring up a fireball - click to see it.

Tyler must have lost a leg in his last battle. Alexis must be driving the big ninja getaway van. Nathan is driving the mini ninja getaway car or using the power of the ninja Buddha. Jeff is about to baptize someone - ninja style. (This picture is from Alexis' birthday dinner at Anne and Tom's place. See Andy and Liz's blog for more on that.)

(We know we still need to post more about our trip to Japan - we're working on it.)

Can you "Gage" our excitement?

Gage has arrived! Both mother and baby are doing well. Gage is still (as if much time has passed) on the newborn routine - wanting to eat every two hours or so and not sleeping as much as we expected. He is pretty content as long as his belly has something in it and his diaper isn't messy.

Labor was quick - When we arrived at the hospital around 7:30 pm 3/3, Aimee was concerned that we would be sent back home. The midwife on duty admitted Aimee after finding that she was dilated to 3 cm. Some time around 10 pm Aimee received an epidural and was dilated to 5 cm. After that, the midwife and nurse commented numerous times on how quickly things were progressing. Gage was born at 12:59 am 3/4, about 5.5 hours after Aimee was admitted. At birth, Gage was 7 lbs. 12.7 oz. and 19 in. long.

Gage reminds Aimee of the babies in the Anne Geddes' photos, especially when he is in deep sleep. Glen suggested that we dress him up in a big flower outfit and "plant" him in one of our big planting pots in the backyard (the ones we use for tomato plants) and snap some photos. We'll probably wait until he is a bit older (or at least until we can find a good flower costume).

(No, Glen did not post this from the hospital - we back dated this post to Gage's birthday and time.)