The Growing Gant Family...

As the dogs bark when a truck pulls up the driveway by our house, both boys go running to the back window, look out and exclaim, "Farmer Charlie!"  Charlie farms the land around our home and so we've gotten to know him over the past few years.  Today, William surprised Curtis and I and willing took him up on a ride in his combine (o; Who knows...I can just picture him driving one of these as a Summer job in the future... Thanks Farmer Charlie for taking the time to show William how a farmer harvests his grain!

It's that time of the year again!  Our Annual Gant Family Reunion! (seriously... didn't we just finish unpacking from last year?!) The Truth:  There is an Annual Gant Family Reunion held every year on the last Saturday of July at Powers County Park. 2nd Truth:  Us, Cory, Lori, Zane, Luke, Cade, Terry & Loretta (+ Rags and Pepper) are the only Gants that actually camp  for the weekend surrounding the actual reunion. 3rd Truth:  I LOVE it and am so thankful my family decides to devote an entire four day weekend to spending time together. Many memories are always made... Like, William learning to use a hatchet (this was taken after  he attempted, unsuccessfully, to use the hatchet himself at the expense of his thumb and thumbnail-thank goodness it wasn't more serious). Dad's showing him how it's supposed  to be done. And meeting a man with a pet racoon and letting it climb all over Grandpa Terry's head... Roasting marshmallows over the cam

Some William classics...Things I know I don't want to forget once he grows out of them: He hasn't yet grasped the concept of time...Everything is "last week" or "Saturday"  It makes conversations pretty hilarious when he applies his own timeline to things he remembers.  "Hey Mom, do you remember last year when we went to the store?"  Or, "I was a little boy last week, but now I'm a big boy!" ***** On multiple occasions (and particularly in the morning after he gets up), William will say: "Hey Mom!  Look how tall I am (as he stands tall and stretches high)!  I grew in my sleep!!!"  Seriously, sometimes I do feel like he wakes up a few inches taller. ***** He impresses me, at the young age of four, at how hard he will work.  He LOVES dressing himself in the mornings now and will automatically put on his "work clothes".  He insists that this consist of a pair of work jeans (aka any pair of jeans that have a hol

Did you know that watermelon taste that much better if you scoop it out in your underwear...? One of his favorite jobs this summer...(and of course, most of his work doesn't end up in the bowl) Calvin just enjoys that he's the recipient of his big brother's labor. Gotta love his famous "scrunchy nose" smile (o;

Taken on our Lost Lake Camping Trip in August of 2011  For awhile now, William will occasionally comment about the picturesque Mt. Hood we view as we drive home.  He's commented before that "It's the mountain that Grandpa climbed."  Our conversations in the past have never really led anywhere.  Today was different.  The conversation took a twist I wasn't expecting, and well, here it is: W:  "There's the Mountain that Grandpa climbed Mom!" (as he points excitedly out the window) Me: "The Grandpa?  Which Grandpa climbed Mt. Hood?"          Having never spoke of any Grandpa climbing any mountain, I was curious... W: "You know, the one when we were with Sean and Cheri at camping?"        We take an annual trip to Lost Lake every August with some friends from church and I thought maybe he was thinking about Cheri's Dad who came up last year and spent some time with us. Me: "You mean Cheri's Dad that came up

This Summer consisted of a memory that we're not soon to forget.  My cousin Brenden came to stay two weeks with us.  We flew him up and away from the city life to grab a taste of the country.  It always amazes me at how quickly time passes when someone comes to visit. We (the boys especially) enjoyed the moments we got with him. Here's just a few we captured in picture... The day he got here... William was attached :-) Pickin' strawberries... Preservin' cherries... Haulin' out weeds from the field...wait a minute, "Don't throw my Calvin in too Brenden!" The weeds Brenden, not William!! Helpin' Curtis (and William) re-build a bench. Drivin' tractor! Riding the fourwheeler! Lovin' on our boys (o; Brenden, thanks for comin' to stay with us (o; We hope you enjoyed the time as well as we enjoyed having you!