sweet baby luke

we started our back-to-back travel weekends with a trip to louisiana to see the most handsome edition to the pilgreen family.

little benjamin luke allen is the most laid-back baby with the sweetest face and deep blue eyes.  in times when he acknowledged him, brendan was very sweet with luke, cooing at him and wanting to control his swing.

we also got in some good play time with the other kiddos...picking up some treats at social bites, playing in the front yard, time with GJ, and jumping on the trampoline.  no visit is ever long enough, but we enjoyed all of the time we did get.

summer vacay, part 1

the first leg of our summer vacation excursion began in louisiana where i left lee and brendan with the guys (and eva), and i headed to the beach with emily, erin, and emma.  to say we were excited about this trip would be an understatement.  it had been 3.5 years since i had been to destin so this was a much anticipated, well overdue trip.

we met up with shauna at our condo, unpacked, and made our way to the beach.  we thought the waves looked a little choppy, but we had no idea just how rough they would get before the week was out.  we all walked in the water and then hopped in the pool before a yummy dinner from shauna.  that pattern became our typical schedule for most of the week.  we enjoyed the day by alternating between the beach and pool and followed that up by a yummy meal made by someone different for the first three days.  one evening we enjoyed the candymaker, a cute store right behind our condo, on our post-dinner walk.  our last evening was our night out.  we all dressed up and headed to the marlin grill at baytown wharf.  YUM.  i cannot forget to mention our delicious breakfast we had one morning at another broken egg.  everything from the fancy to chocolate milk to the blackberry grits to the overflowing plates of delicious food was a hit.

emma's initial reaction to the beach

while i was gone, lee and brendan managed to have a good time in louisiana as well ;).  they spent the days with GJ and often with uncle walter, jonah, and eva and uncle zach, joe, miles, and will as well.  brendan discovered his love for kitchens, both real and play.  he went on walks with GJ and "helped" uncle zach in his backyard.

 

it was my first time to be away from brendan that long and lee's first time to stay with brendan for that long, but we all had a good week.  i am still so thankful for the opportunity to spend a few relaxing days at the beach.  friday night, we were all reunited and saturday we made our way to alabama.

congrats, zach

earlier this month, many of us came together to celebrate zach's graduation from nursing school and what a huge moment that was for him, erin, and their boys.  through a few bumps along the way, zach managed to finish strong...and even land a job before graduation!


we could not be prouder of zach and were so honored to celebrate this HUGE accomplishment in person with the family :)

 as proud as brendan was of his uncle zach, he was just as excited to catch up on time with GJ and his cousins.

no worries, brendan was just getting in his payback from a few months ago :)

better together

this is the first of several Christmas posts to keep from having one insanely long one...

anytime the pilgreen clan can get together there is always laughter and good food on repeat for the duration of the visit.  these times are few and far between with everyone living in three different states and across the country from each other, but they are just as special each time.

this Christmas, we were all able to spend 4 nights together in louisiana.  each couple took a night to cook dinner as a gift to everyone else (and give emily a break from the kitchen).  the kids went bowling, saw a movie, and played at the park together.  we gave each cousin our traditional gift of a new book.  we celebrated asher's birthday the first night with cupcakes and a couple of presents.  the football was thrown, the babies were passed around, delicious food was eaten, and more memories were made.  i'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. 

before the Christmas celebrations began, brendan got to meet his mimi for the first time, which was very special for all of us.  also, be sure to make it to the last one...it's the first of all ten grandchildren together :).

louisiana road trip

last weekend, we made our first out-of-town road trip with brendan to visit GJ, the allens, and the morrows in louisiana.  we made great time and brendan was just about perfect on the drive there except for when we encountered standstill traffic in shreveport and he thought we had arrived.  brendan and GJ got in some quality hangout time before bedtime, but saturday was full of hanging out with family.

we started the day with joe's soccer game and followed that up with lunch and trampoline time at the morrow home.  we tasted some of emily's wonderful goodies at a local coffee shop that afternoon.  seriously, if you are reading this you should be said that you do not live in ruston, la and cannot enjoy emily's amazing cookies and muffins (not to mention everything else she bakes or cooks).  saturday night, emily cooked dinner and nutella pie for erin's birthday.  we topped off the night with a visit from fred and allison at GJ's house.  i know lee loved to introduce his son to one of his oldest and closest friends.  fred and allison also loaded brendan up with some very cute outfits that we cannot wait for him to wear. sunday, we said our goodbyes and completed every louisiana trip the way they all should be capped off:  with a little johnny's pizza!  (thanks to emily for sharing some of her great pictures since i forgot my camera!)