Sullivan already knows how to drive!

 Sullivan loves his little car...

well, I think it's actually an ambulance...or is it a police car?

Whatever it is, he loves it!

He drives it all over the house.

Here he is in action!  Way to go, Sullivan!

The Bucket Brigade of One...or, Joshua comes to help his Pop

 First of all, look how pretty these flowers look around the tree!

 My guy was out in the backyard looking at all the projects needing to be done.

 Someone was pointing out all that she could find that needed fixing!

 One project was trimming this tree so it wasn't hitting the house.

Squirrels, Baxter's enemies, could climb the tree and hop on the house.

 Joshua hit the roof and trimmed the tree.

 See this critter?  It's a Japanese Beetle and they have been horrible in Colorado this year.

 We have quite a few hibiscus plants...and those beetles love them.

Here's one without a beetle!

Along with those red flowers around the tree, some marigolds are mixed in.

 Joshua made his way around to the roof in front of the house.

 He was checking out all the leaves in the gutters.

 He and his pop had a plan...

Thus, the beginning of the Bucket Brigade...

first they raised the hose up to the roof.

 Joshua was attacking the leaves...

 It was making a terrible mess on the ground below...

 So the bucket was raised...

From there, Joshua put the majority of the leaves in the bucket...lowered it...

his Pop emptied the leaves...the bucket went back up...

and this went on until we had clean gutters!

 Remember that tree Joshua trimmed from the roof?
Here they are getting rid of the branches.

Joshua...he is such a tremendous help to us!  Thank you SO much!

Joshua tackles the garage

 Ron and Erica were both in California, so Joshua came here for Labor Day weekend.

We spent most of one day thinking about what to do with part of the garage and going to Home Depot and Lowe's to look at what we could get to organize the MESS.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of this before we (mostly Joshua) started.

 He got a track system from Craftsmen.

 This was the first track he put up...and tested it by hanging a ladder.

 Look at this!  Ron's garage has never been so organized!  Some of this will not be here when the other side is done...and there's still more ideas of what to do on this side.

Mom came over and sat in the garage and watched Joshua work.  Becky came to see it and she'd love the same thing in their garage.  Mom said she could tell them how to do it because she knew exactly how since she'd watched Joshua!  

You're amazing, Joshua...

Thank you SO much!

Ron hangs out at the beach with Linz and family!

 Fortunately for Ron, Lindsey and family came up to Ron's neck of the woods to visit her dear friend, Lindsey, and her family!  Lindsey and Lindsey have been great friends since high school.  They both love to be outdoors, so this trip, off to the beach they went.

The kids built a structure on the beach!

 Dai, Benjamin, Anya

William and Seren

(I hope I have Lindsey's kids' names spelled correctly!)

A better picture of "the structure".

I know Ron really loved having the time spent with this group!

Happy #41 to my baby boy...Gabe!

This little guy isn't so little anymore...today he's 41 years old!

 I went back a few years to look at pictures of my boy...

 There is definitely a common element as I look through them...

He's got a shadow...

Emerson King

Over the years, Gabe's hair has gotten a bit lighter...maybe gray is the better term.

Ummm...I don't see the 'silver' in his hair here.

 This is one of the common elements...

baseball!

 When Emerson was younger, he started working with him in baseball.

How many times did I see this?  Sitting on the bucket, throwing balls for Emerson to hit or to catch.

 His second shadow came along in September, 2015...

 September 25, 2015 was the day HE DELIVERED his son!

 My baby boy had two baby boys of his own!

 The new family

 Walt hasn't been quite as relaxed of a little guy as Emerson was,

so there were more sleepless nights...

Gabe is definitely attentive to his boys.

He's always been the one to give them haircuts.

 This was 4 years ago when we were celebrating his birthday and Emily's.

 Emerson had helped bake them a cake...

he had picked out gifts for his parents...

Gabe and his boys!

This was special to me...having all 3 of my kids together.

This was Thanksgiving of 2015.

I had to include this!

I wonder where Emerson and Walt get their tendencies to make faces at the camera?

Baseball...

I know it's so special to Gabe to have his son following in his footsteps with the sport.

 Now he helps coach the team...

 It's special for both of them,

but it's so special to me, too!

What memories this brings back.

 My baby boy...

he's been playing this sport since he was 4 years old...

and look at him now.

41 years old...I know it's cliche to say 'where has the time gone?'

but it's true.  I remember this day, October 2, 1978, as if it was yesterday.

Where has the time gone?

I love you so much, Gabe.

Happy birthday!