Congratulations Grandpa!

This past weekend we headed up to Missouri so Emma could help her Grandpa celebrate his retirement after 45 years of teaching. Wow! Grandpa knew something was going on but didn't know the scope of the party or that all of his kids and grandchildren would be home for the weekend. He was surprised Friday afternoon to drive up and see Emma, Brad and I sitting on the porch. It was a great party and great way to celebrate a remarkable teacher.

Emma with Garret, Grandpa & Thomas

Emma did really good with the trip although the days of her sleeping through the six hour drive seem to be gone. On the way up Friday, Emma took a total of two 1/2 hour naps. Needless to say, a nap was in store once we hit Cole Camp that afternoon. The drive back was a bit better with a 2 hour nap and another nap of about 40 minutes. She was terrific in the car otherwise; just playing and watching the world go by, so we can't complain.

Emma had a great weekend with her aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandma, and Grandpa. She was much more interested in Bailey, Aunt Lesa's dog, than she was the last time we were in Missouri. Before long, she is going to be chasing/tormenting that poor dog. Emma found that she really likes peaches. We were having peaches Friday night so Brad let Emma gum around on a slice. She loved it and sucked the juice completely out of the peach slice. She was not too happy when Brad took it away from her. She is definitely starting to express her likes/dislikes a bit more. Emma also got to meet Elliot who is the son of Brad's friend Jeff and about 7 weeks older than Emma. They were really cute after church yesterday morning looking at each other. Elliot was really interested in Emma and trying to touch her. She is not quite as coordinated so just had some general sweeps of the arms in his direction. At one point, they were holding hands a little bit. Too bad we didn't have the camcorder with us. It will be fun to see them play together once they get a little bigger.