At daycare, the teachers refer to Marlie and you as “Thing 1 and Thing 2” from Dr. Seuss because you are always together… BEST friends! Laughing, chasing, squabbling, dumping sand in each another’s hair. And some think you look so much alike.

A couple days ago we invited Marlie and her Mom over for a playdate. Your face LIT UP when you saw her on the sidewalk outside our house. You two sang songs, played in the sand, went down the slide, swang on the swings, and explored together! What a fabulous day!!

Hi Beautiful!

We had a bit of a busy weekend. I stopped work early on Friday and picked you up from daycare at 2pm. We talked Daddy into going swimming with us, and headed out Brighton pool and playground.

We also visited our friend and neighbor Roz who had surgery on Thursday. It was great to hang out with her and her family a little more than normal.

Saturday we ran errands, hung out with Roz a bit more, and went to church. Here you are with Roz’s dog Bailey.


Today we did a few more errands, and played on a new playground in Pennfield. We had a fabulous time! After your nap, we went for a little walk and then headed to the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

After the museum, we had dinner, and then our dear friends Tracy, Caroline and Drew came over for pizza and hanging out. Drew leaves for college on Wednesday – we will miss him dearly.

We had the wonderful opportunity to hang out with our dear friends Mort & Diane Monday night…

And our dear friends, the Ball family, Tuesday night!


How blessed are we!!!

Thanks to our neighbor Michelle, her Mom, and friend Becky, you and I had a FANTASTIC Park Ave Fest last Saturday!! We hung out in Michelle’s yard with just the girls. You had your first strawberry daiquiri (non-alcoholic, of course – just strawberries, lemonade and some ice – all of your favorites! And in a big, bright glass that you could fit your nose in!). Then Michelle brought out a HUGE fruit plate for you to nibble on.

What a wonderful time!!

It was great getting to know Becky and Michelle’s Mom as well! What wonderful people! And do you know that Becky has a little girl who is close to your age? We can’t WAIT for her to come back and bring little Ella!

Thanks Becky for sending us these fun pictures! Come back again soon!!

We have had the wonderful priviledge of hanging out with Auntie Judi and Uncle Jim and their family quite a bit over the past few days. What a treat!! Auntie Judi is looking GREAT!

Here are a few of the highlights:

CJ and Maya playing

A family picture Auntie Judi took

Goofy Uncle Jim! He can sure make you giggle!

Today we got a sneak preview of their BEAUTIFUL new home! We all can’t wait to see it finished.

The group shot.
Doesn’t Aunt Judi look great? It’s only been a week since her surgery! She is such an inspiration!

The girls

We are SO BLESSED to have friends that we love so much they have become family!!

Yesterday, our friends Scott and Christine invited us down to visit them at their family’s summer cottage at Chautauqua Institution. We had a fantastic time catching up a bit with their whole family! After lunch, you took a good nap, and then we were off to the lake. We decided spending time in the water was the best way to spend a very hot day. (I think the temperatures neared 100 degrees with very high humidity.)

BOATING FUN

We came back and showered and headed over to Scott’s parents’ place for dinner. You did such a good job of eating at the big people’s table… eating pastas and veggies and lots of good fruit. We had cherry pie and ice cream for dessert.


The air conditioning felt nice, but the company felt even nicer. We could have stayed and chatted for hours more!! Days even! And what a beautiful place – the cottage, the lake, the community, the apartment. What a treat!

Thanks Scott & Christine! All the ingredients of a perfect summer day! We love you!!

Hey there Peanut –

I’ve been meaning to write. We have had quite a week!

Last Sunday, we played outside in our backyard all morning. Our neighbor down the street is moving, and she gave us her swing set. Your Daddy (I helped just a little) took it down and moved it down the block to our house on Saturday. The next morning, you and I played in the sandbox,

while Daddy reassembled it, building new pieces for different parts to make the structure stronger. We had SUCH a great morning. We also played with the hose,


and helped Daddy when he needed it.

After lunch we headed down to Auntie Judi and Uncle Jim’s cabin on Canandagua Lake. What a fantastic day we had! Here are some picture highlights!

Hanging with Aunti Judi

Karen and Miss Maya share a piece of pie. Sharing is ALWAYS better!

“Save me from myself!” Ashook and Judi protect Maya from a hot chili pepper. She keeps them on their toes!

Family time in the paddle boat (Our second such ride. We first took a family paddle boat ride at the mountain cabin for Laura and Alan’s wedding.)

Water balloons with Ethan

Water balloons are fun!

Hanging out with Ashook

What a fun day we had!

Last night we arrived home from Trip #9.

This adventure took us to Uncle Gus and Aunt Rena’s house in Highland Park, NJ to see the opening for Rena Rae’s artwork. We drove down Friday night (you slept almost the whole way). When we arrived around 12:30am, your Mommy and Daddy realized that they were lost. We were in the neighborhood of the hotel, but we could not actually find it. By the time we found the hotel, it was about 1am, and you woke up. Rough night for all of us.

The next day more than made up for it though. We had breakfast and went over to the house where Uncle Gus, Cousins Bruce & Alka, Grandma Luehmann, & Aunt Mary were waiting for us with OPEN ARMS! After playing a little while, you took a nap on Grandma’s lap. What a treat!

Here is a picture of Mommy’s Cousins Alka & Bruce hanging out on the front porch.

Grandma Luehmann & her Sister Mary

Later we went to Rena Rae’s art opening. Sadly, she passed away a few weeks back. It was such an honor and an inspiration for all of us to be at this opening. Her work is so beautiful, so powerful. You can see her passion, compassion, and spirit mixed in with her talent in each and every piece. This is a small shot of my favorite of her work:
“Be all that you can be” Baby Girl Tatemann. Like Rena Rae, I pray you will grow up to be just as beautiful inside and out, just as passionate about what you believe in, and just as compassionate for those who need your love.

Here are some more pictures from the opening:

Rena Rae’s brother Bruce, Gus, Mary, Grandma, some friends of Gus & Rena’s, and Kay

Grandma Luehmann and her big brother Gus and little sister Mary.

Uncle Gus and his sister-in-law, Kay. What wonderfu people!

3 Generations

What a beautiful event!

Group shot

Bruce and Miss Maya exploring Lincoln Logs together… What a special day!

After the opening, you and your Daddy and I went out to eat. We giggled quite a bit. This is a wonderful picture from that trip:

Daddy makes me giggle!

This is Rena Rae’s brother Bruce and Mommy’s cousin Bruce.

The next morning, on Father’s Day, we all went to church, and then headed back to Gus and Rena’s house for lunch.

Hanging out with Grandma

Uncle Gus shows me how the top spins.

Soon after, we headed home.

Getting Gas

It was 92 degrees outside during our drive home. We stopped to have lunch in the Pocono’s and you and I gave Daddy some presents to tell him how grateful we are for him! Boy were we all POOPED when we got here.

Sacked out!

Thank you to Gus and Bruce and Alka and Grandma and Mary and Bruce & Kay for such a FABULOUS adventure! We love you very much. Thank you for letting us share in this very special time!