Here are Tyler and I with Haystack Rock in the background. This is the first time we have been back here since before we were engaged. 
Speaking of the baby...here she is in August I think...she's lost her hair now, you'll see just keep scrolling down.
Natalie really loves bath time. She gets more expressive every day. I love her smile.
Makayla is growing too and developing. Her vocabulary increases every day it seems. She's been attending a pre-school twice a week for the past few months and it's really helped her verbal development. No health problems since the shunt replacement in June thankfully.
Aunt Taylor (or Auntie Tay-Tay if you're Makayla) came for a quick visit in September. Makayla was her best friend the whole time. Not to dissuade any visitors, but just be warned, if you visit us you'll have a guest each morning around 6 AM.
See? Less hair than before. This was at Natalie's 4 month mark.
We took some pictures in the park across the street. Makayla loves posing and saying "cheese" for the camera.
Love this shot of Jessica with Natalie.
Group shot - pretty typical. Makayla in mid "cheese" and Natalie looking the complete opposite way we wanted her to. I feel out of place since I don't have any pink. Also I'm feeling a little outnumbered. Also it's sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. And it's October. This is why we love Arizona and suffer through the Junes, Julys, and Augusts. Today it's going to be 85. In December.
Ah ok skip ahead a few weeks. Toward the end of October we flew to Philadelphia to visit Ryan and Stephanie. They returned from a Caribbean cruise the day we arrived, so my parents were also there, having watched their kids for the last week. We went to a park for lunch near Ryan's office and took a nice family picture. 
While there we went to a local farm where my niece Mia had a preschool outing. The apples had just been harvested. We were disappointed we weren't able to go pick some ourselves, but they looked delicious.
Being near Halloween we also saw a lot of pumpkins. I want the white one.
We also took a trip to Hershey, about 2 hours from Ryan and Steph's place. I think you know what it's famous for. Here's Makayla with cousin Mia.
Jess and Natalie outside the Chocolate World.
There are some real smokestacks that look like this, but these are replicas at the exhibit.
I have to admit I was worried about the weather, since we've all turned into wimps when it comes to "cold". But the first few days we were in Philly, it was warm, low 70s and very pleasant. We took advantage by going to the numerous parks where the kids could run around and get some energy out. 
Going down the slide.
Jessica keeping a watchful eye on the kiddos while I took pictures.
Who doesn't love a large plastic dinosaur?
We missed the peak colors for the leaves changing, but we still had some really nice areas changing colors. In AZ we don't have fall, so Jess and I took a walk through the woods soaking in the atmosphere. Actually, one of our trees in the last week has turned red and is now losing it's leaves. Again, it's December.
More leaves...
Hanging out at Uncle Ryan's. Less hair still. On Natalie, not me...
Niece Mia eating some of her Halloween candy. She shared some of her princess dress-up clothes with Makayla when they went trick or treating while we were there. We also carved small pumpkins and made sugar cookies, much to my wife's delight.
We took a trek downtown Philadelphia where we visited the Liberty Bell and took some Christmas card worthy pictures. Here's my brother's family. Stephanie, Calvin, Mia, and Ryan.
Of course we had to take one too...
Makayla enjoyed playing in the leaves around Independence Hall. While we were waiting outside a white limo with a police escort went through the square. I guess the President was in town.
Inside Independence Hall. This is the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. 
Cousins!
Random building on the square at Independence Hall. While downtown we also walked over to the Reading Terminal market and wolfed down some Philly Cheesesteaks, and also purchased and consumed some sinful chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookies.
Love Natalie's face here...
...and here
Calvin! He's one and a half.
The grand kids all together, minus Natalie.
There's Natalie. This was taken just a few days ago when we were decorating our Christmas tree. She hasn't lost all her hair, just most of it. 
Makayla had fun helping decorate.
Well, that's it. That sums up most of our last 5 or 6 months. We also took a trip to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving, but don't have any photographic record of this trip actually taking place. In other news, I took the GMAT in October. I am still debating what I'll do, but most likely I'll just go to ASU on their evening program so I can continue to be employed while getting my MBA. Jess still tutors a few students during the week and enjoys it very much. She also enjoyed helping me study for the test. She was sad when I actually took it becuase we wouldn't get to talk about math anymore.
I'll try to be more consistent with the blog.
