Lots of Adventures

All is well with us. Everyone is healthy and doing well. We're still the proud owners of two homes.

Our future "sanitation engineer"
Some of you may know that Hudson saves most of his birthday money because he says he wants to save up for when he's 18 and can get a commercial driver's license so he can buy his own garbage truck. We have at least six varieties of toy garbage trucks in our house. Well, Aunt Kerry had a patient who happened to be a garbage truck driver who tipped her off to a way to get Hudson a ride in a trash truck.

Kathryn made arrangements and signed the waivers. On the prescribed day, there was a knock at our door and Hudson and Landon were invited to ride in a garbage truck. Each got to go for a ride, operate the remote arm to empty a garbage can, and operate the other buttons. They had a blast. Here's the scene:







Barrett Jackson Auto Show

Scottsdale plays host each year to the biggest classic car show/auction in the world. The Barrett Jackson Auto Show. Before the auction begins, they have a "family day" during which adults get a discounted entry ticket and children enter free. Rick took Hudson for a second time and they had a blast. Here are some photos:







Papa pitching in

Grandma and Papa and D.D. and Ducky have been pitching in a lot with watching the kids. It's produced some cute scenes lately with Papa:




Hudson the Hero, Kathryn the prescient

Lately when Hudson and Landon take a bath, Keaton likes to crawl in there and pull himself up on the side. He tries to splash around with his hands. Here's how it looks:



A few days ago, recognizing that Keaton is growing quickly, Kathryn told Hudson that if Keaton were to ever fall into the bath, to pick him up above the water and yell for Mommy. Today, they boys were in the bath and Kathryn and Keaton went out to the kitchen. Keaton crawled back to the bathroom and started splashing with the other two. All of a sudden, in he went, face down, fully clothed. Hudson pulled him up out of the water and pushed him out of the tub, easing him onto the floor. By that point all three of them were crying and Kathryn ran in to take over. Hudson was the hero of the day for sure, but as usual asked us not to make a big fuss about it.

This week's child photo quiz

You can record your vote by clincking the "comments"

Who is it?

1.
A. Hudson
B. Landon
C. Keaton




2.
A. Hudson
B. Landon
C. Keaton



3.
A. Hudson
B. Landon
C. Keaton


4.
A. Hudson
B. Landon
C. Keaton



5.
A. Hudson
B. Landon
C. Keaton

Happy New Year

We had a great Christmas here. We had lots of family around: Papa and Grandma Gray, D.D. and Ducky Grimes, Kathryn's two sisters with Karen's husband and children. Hudson and Landon loved having Elizabeth (8) and Jonathan (6) around and they did lots of fun things including going to the park and going with Aunt Kerry to the Amazing Jake's ameusment park.

Chritsmas day was a lot of fun. Hudson got his first bicycle and seemed to really take to it. Both Hudson and Landon received lots of other gifts that they loved. We had a nice Christmas Eve service at church, though we didn't arive early enough and had to sit on the floor.

It seemed everyone got a cold during the holiday period at some point so we all commiserated. We all were able to still get out and enjoy each other and the celebration of God breaking through into this world in flesh.



Elizabeth Partridge feeding Keaton:


(l-r)Hudson, Jonathan, Landon, and Elizabeth at Amazing Jakes


Hudson took Keaton for his first ride in the Mustang...but Keaton wasn't so sure:


Hudson on his first bike


We dedicated Keaton at Scottsdale Bible Church on December 28th


Hudson and Landon with their cabin constructed with their Christmas gift of Lincoln Logs


Keaton


Landon opening his set of Farm vehicles and Equipment


Hudson and Landon visiting Papa and Grandma's Motorhome Park


Hudson and Landon at the Christmas children's event at Church - they hauled in snow


Papa and Grandma with the boys in front of the Christmas Tree


Hudson figuring out his new bike

Finally a new post...

We can't believe it's been almost a month since out last post. Updates below and some photos and quotes as well.




Last weekend, Kathryn and the boys went to the zoo with Aunt Kerry. They had a great time:

The petting zoo



Dual driving of the green tractor


Dual driving of the red tractor


Funny Landon Quote #1:

To appreciate this quote, we recommend you say it out loud as you read it...

Kathryn got Landon down from his booster seat after dinner and said to him, "There you go, Landon, you're free."

Landon: "No I'm not, Mommy, I'm two!"

Rick was changing Keaton into his pajamas and told Hudson and Landon to brush their teeth for bedtime and that is they were efficient about it they would have time to have a pillow fight before bed (one of their favorite recent activities). Apparently Landon wasn't fast enough for Hudson, as Rick found that Hudson had finished brushing his own teeth and was doing this when Rick entered the bathroom:


Funny Landon quote #2

Keaton was crying and Landon walked over to him as said:

"Any blood, Keaton? Any broken bones, Keaton? OK, then move on!" (We don't know where he could have gotten that)

Two weeks ago, on a Sunday, Keaton threw up a few times. He spent the rest of the week spitting up more than usual and with a poor appetite. By this past Sunday, he was back to normal and since then he has made up for lost time by eating like a horse. No teeth yet, but he still wants our table food at dinner.

Last Sunday, on the day Keaton was back to normal, Hudson was up all night throwing up. He had a poor appetite on Monday, but said he felt back to normal (though Kathryn didn't think so). Kathryn was proved right when he said he wanted to go into the play room to play for a while and Kathryn went in a bit later to find this:

We close escrow on our new house on November 21st (the day before Thanksgiving). We still haven't sold our current home. We have a couple coming back this weekend for a sixth (yes, sixth) visit to see our house. The wife is bringing more of her family to see it (she brought her mother on the the fifth visit). Our realtor spoke with her and the potential buyer had a Freudian slip, saying she was bringing her family to see "our new house." Our realtor took it as a good sign, but they have seen slow to act because they aren't yet sure they want to sell their own home in this market. We'll see...We know God has the correct plan for us, and we're trusting Him as we look for His guidance.

And the answer is...

Sorry we didn't post the answers to the quiz by Wednesday as promised - we ran out of hours in the days. But here are the correct answers:

A. Hudson

B. Keaton

C. Landon

Congratulations to those that got all three correct:

Callie
Bonnie
Grandma
Caleb
Cassandra
The entire Harmon Gang (as a group)

Thanks to all who voted for the fun!

A house update...

We're scheduled to close on our new house on November 21st. You can see the recent progress in the photos below. We are praying for buyers for our current home this month, but are preparing for either circumstance. We have a couple coming back for a third showing this weekend and they've told our realtor that they've spoken to a mortgage lender, so we're praying that they may be the "ones." We're trusting God's plan regardless.

View from the street (Click photos to see larger version)


The entry


The kitchen


The family room

New Quiz

Who is it?

These are three different Gray boys...but which picture is who? Post your guesses by clicking the "Comments" below. We'll post the answers and the winners by Wednesday.

A.


B.


C.

October is here

We're doing well here. Still spending time working on items for our new house. Lots of fun stories and pictures.



Funny Hudson Quote
Hudson was showing Landon the auto section of the Sunday newspaper and teaching him the names of all the cars. There was also a section of motorhomes and Hudson started teaching Landon the difference between class "A" and class "C" motorhomes. Landon didn't find it as interesting as Hudson thought it should be and his attention wandered. That prompted the following statement from Hudson:
"Landon, now focus like a laser-beam!"



Funny Landon Quote
Two days later, Kathryn was feeding Keaton while they were watching Rick play basketball. Keaton was apparently distracted because Landon told him:
"Keaton, focus like laser-beam!"



Hudson seems to be part of a "love triangle" at his pre-K class at Scottsdale Christian Academy. He goes to school three afternoons per week and our neighbor's little girl, Bailee, is in his class. Kathryn and Bailee's mom share the driving duties: Christina takes them both to school and Kathryn brings them both home. Bailee and Hudson have, naturally become fast friends. Bailee went to DisneyLand with her family for a week and during that time a little girl named Hannah started spending a lot of time with Hudson. When Bailee came back, she wasn't the only girl around. Hudson's teacher, Mrs. Roper, even told Bailee's mom that "she's got some competition now." :)