The Growing Gant Family...

We spent Curtis' birthday down in California while we were visiting my family. We went to the San Diego Zoo for the first time and then enjoyed dinner and some Blonde Brownies with the fam! Here are some of my favorite pics. I love you Sweetie! First it was Mom and Dad's turn... Then William became Mr. Construction! I got these shirts for my boys for Father's Day. What a handsome pair. William, so excited that Dad's gonna let him open his cards! The mess after William was done..."Sorry Daddy!"

Suspicious... The culprit!

We were the fortunate three (Curtis, William and I) that got to spend Mar's 20th bday weekend with him. Sorry Mar, it wasn't a big party (o: But I loved every minute of it. I'm just tickled at how much William adores his Uncle Maurice. It's fun to watch the two interact. Here are some fun pics of the weekend... Maurice, helping us out with a few projects for some extra $...William, learning from his uncle while trying to help him out. "Boys, let me check your work..." We improvised...no birthday cake to put the candle in so we decided the morning's cinnamon roll would work. We took a trip to Silver Falls. We hiked some trails and then William had fun learning out to skip rocks...Okay well, maybe the rocks just "kirplunked", but he was having a blast! First, you have to find a nice, small, smooth one William... Maurice's graceful skip...William's perfect "kirplunk"! Now, how does he do that? I can't get it to work!

I'm heavy into gardening...Many afternoons spent outside, digging in the dirt, planting. I absolutely love it. There's something about the joy that I get when I push a tiny seed into the ground and later get to see it push through the soil and become a luscious fruit or vegetable. I went out today to find the first of what will soon become my pumpkin patch. As a reached down to brush away some of the dirt from it's leaves, a tiny little seedling had poked through. God spoke to me at that moment. There are so many correlations to God's creation and what he speaks to our lives. I thought of my son. How he is just like that little seedling. The tiny green leaves don't reveal yet what the plant will become. Only the gardener knows what seed was planted. My little William has sprouted. He's pushed through the soil. And with the tender care a seedling needs, he will grow. And he'll grow and grow and grow until one day I will be able to see what God has pur...

My cousin Ryan is stationed up in Oak Harbor, Washington while he finishes his service in the Navy. He was headed south for a friend's birthday and decided to head a little further south and visit us! I'm so glad you called Ryan. I can't remember the last time I had seen him and it was his first time meeting William. Maurice was able to get together with us and we even caught Tauna on Skype in Japan so we could all visit at the same time. What a great family I have. Truly blessed. We hung out in the park after church before Ry had to head back home... William, just leaned back into Ry as they swung. If only I could insert a button you could push that would play his giggle (o:

We decided to escape the hottest part of the day, drop our work outside, and take a random trip up to Silver Falls. I can't remember the last time I'd been there. Curtis suggested it and I'm sure glad he did. It was nice to get away, enjoy the sun, walk the trails, put our feet in the water...some good family time. We've decided, living so close, that we've definitely got to go more often. William had fun walking the trails and absolutely loved the water (even though it was frigidly cold!). He tromped right in, clothes and all, right after his Daddy. Pretty stinkin' cute! On our way down the trail He would splash and kick the water while laughing! Having way too much fun! Hence, the stripping of the clothes and diaper before heading home...

Even if William doesn't grow up to share my love for gardening, he's already fallen in love with the dirt. As many of you have seen, I plant a pretty large section of vegetables each year and thoroughly enjoy doing it (must have been growing up on the farm and helping my mom garden all those years...). It's been pretty hillarious seeing William watch me use the garden tools and then trying to mimick my actions. We'll see if he gets sick of it...Mom's got a lot more digging to do! "Is this how you do it Mom?" "Uhhh...I can't read numbers yet." (all tangled up in the measuring tape and soaker hose) My little helper! (He enjoyed kicking the dirt in the little mounds I made for the pumpkins...I think it's gonna take a little longer to plant this year!) Time to water! Watch out William!!! "Oh yeah Mom...Just watch out!"