Franklin Chronicle: Update, Update, Update

What can we say, besides, well... it's been one of those months. Most posts like this begin with an "I'm sorry" to various family members and friends for the woeful and willful lack of posts; however, I've always had an aversion to such apologies because of the implication that people must be out there dying to read about our family. So, while I know that there are at least a few people who have missed us these past few weeks (mainly, I think, our parents), I make no pretense that our return to blogging will be met with anything more than gentle nods of the head, maybe a few raised eyebrows, and, perhaps, a 1 yuan increase in the price of tea in china. That said....we're back. We missed you. We love you.

And in no particular order, here are a few photos from the past month and a half...

The Monkey, in our front yard, playing in the sprinkler. He didn't want to get wet at first, but soon he was running laps around the yard, dive bombing the sprinkler.

Mr. baseball really is as skinny as he looks here.

And despite how big he seems compared to the little bruiser, the Monkey is still a hanging on to a little toddler meat.

During our trip to Oregon we gave the little bruiser his formal "name and blessing" at the QB's childhood congregation in West Linn (think Zachariah from the NT naming John on the eighth day after his birth--in the LDS Church, all new borns are formally named and blessed during a Sunday congregational meeting. Nana Fitz made the outfit. More pictures a little later on...

Lubbock Airport Chess set. Lubbock is a Chess town and Tech is a chess campus. You can check out chess sets from the library and outside tables come complete with built in boards. The boys and I played a few moves after getting off the plane, on our way home from Oregon.

We went to Oregon for my niece's wedding. There were lots of fun gatherings--dinners, luncheons, etc. and it was great to see so much family. The Monkey ended up falling asleep in all kinds of funny places.

Grandma Franklin and my brother Tom, relaxing while we waited for our turn with the wedding photographer.

On Sunday, we visited the QB's side of the family, including great grandma and great grandpa.

GG loves babies.

It seems like every time we turned around, someone was asleep. This time it was aunt Aubrey and the the little bruiser.

For those who don't know grandma Franklin, this is her, "I am pleased with the world" smile--an approving look reserved for people she really likes.

We went to the Oregon coast with Uncle Jason and Aunt Sarah and visited this old military battery. I don't know what this little nook was for, but Jason fit in nicely.

Nolan fit better.

Another shot of the little bruiser, about to fall asleep.

We visited OMSI while in Oregon, where they had this great heat sensitive camera.

Jason, Sarah, Taylor, and Olivia at the coast. That's an old shipwreck in the background.

One of our last stops on the coast had these great dunes. Taylor is a daredevil. Couldn't keep him down.

This looks much more impressive than it actually was...it looks impressive, right? right?

Mr. Baseball followed suit.

This is another shot from the wedding luncheon. The Monkey slept in that chair for over an hour.

Ooh, there's us at the beach again. It looks cold, but for April in Oregon, we couldn't have asked for better weather.

We ate clam chowder and fish and chips at Moe's at Cannon beach.

The Monkey didn't fall asleep on the beach trip.

We didn't bring swim suits, or sandals, or much of anything for the beach. But we did at least bring a change of clothes for the boys...it was a good thing.