Johnson Lake

This past week we went to Nebraska to spend Labor Day with the Olmstead side of the family at the lake. Talan is always so excited to go to the lake. He loves riding in Papa's big boat. We had a great weekend. Talan was able to meet two of his cousins that he had never met before, took a boat ride, played football with the guys, and Talan even got his first fishing pole.
Here is Talan on the car ride to the lake. It is a 6 hour drive and he did a great job! On the way there, he was pretty packed in because we picked Nana up on the way.
Talan playing football with Uncle B and Daddy bright and early Saturday afternoon.

Daddy getting tackled by Talan.

Papa decided to get in on the action. He was ready to play catch with Talan whenever Talan asked. I think we can say that Talan has Papa wrapped around his finger.

Saturday evening we took family pictures. All guys wore red and the ladies in white. I said that I would prefer to be in gold and black but I was able to suck it up.
This is a great shot that we were able to get of the three of us.

The whole family. I forgot to turn it before I posted it. Sorry!

Daddy and Talan

As you can see, Talan was done with pictures by the time we got to this one.

Justin and I. I think my eyes are closed but there is a better one on someone else's camera.

Talan and his baby cousin Haley. He was determined to hold her. He kept saying, "I need to hold that baby." After about two minutes he said, "I don't want her no more." It was really cute!

Time for a campfire and smores!
Talan and Auntie Heather

Talan enjoying his smore. I think he has two that evening.

Talan roasting his marshmallow.

Talan giving some love to Sammie.

Resting a bit. A long day at the lake and playing can really get to a little boy.

Daddy teaching Talan how to reel in the fishing pole.

Talan and Daddy fishing off the dock. They didn't have any luck with catching anything.

The fishing pole broke so Talan took it to Papa to fix it. Papa dropped everything he was doing and fixed Talan's fishing pole.

Talan with his other baby cousin Alexa.

Time for a boat ride.

Daddy decided to let Talan help drive the boat but Talan didn't want any help. I guess we have a lot of faith in the little guy. As you can see, Talan is driving all by himself.

We had a wonderful time at the lake. Thanks so much Nana and Papa. It was great to see everyone and we look forward to the next time we get there.

Park

Last Sunday we went to the park with the family just to spend the evening. It was beautiful night and Talan has a wonderful time. He was the only kid at the park so he had the whole thing to himself. He loved the slide as always but tried every piece of equipment there. There was a play firetruck there and he really liked it when he was driving and taking everyone for a ride. He kept saying, "I won't go fast" and then he would laugh and act like he was driving really fast. It was really cute!
Anyway, here are a few pictures from the evening.

Aubrie's Birthday Party

Friday evening we went down to Aubrie's birthday party. Talan was so excited! When we asked if he wanted to go to her party he said, "yes, I Aubrie's boyfriend." Justin and I about fell over laughing. Then at my mom's house on Friday Aubrie went and told my mom that she was going to go call her boyfriend and she started to talk on the phone to Talan. I guess the feeling is mutual betweeen them. They are pretty young to be starting that but Talan couldn't have picked a better girl at this age. Hehe!
Thursday evening Justin and I took him to get her a gift and he said he wanted to get her a doll. Well it was pretty funny watching Talan and Justin walk up and down the baby doll aisle trying to figure out which one to buy. They were both pretty into it. I just stood back and watched.
Here is Talan watching Aubrie open up her gift.

Talan going for a walk with Lillie.

The trampoline outside was a big hit with all the kids.

Yes, that is Justin's head popping out from under all the kids.

Talan enjoyed the horse.

Aubrie and Talan looking at the horses.

Here is a shot of all the kids together. Up close it is a really good picture. How often do you get a group of kids this age with them all looking and smiling?

Mason and Talan climbing the fence.

Family Fun!

This past weekend we went down to my parents house for the evening. Talan was wanting to give people rides in the tractor so I agreed to let him and Grandpa pull me. This is just a picture of the good times.This is just a picture of us sitting around the fire. I thought it was a really good picture.

The Berry Patch

Saturday was such a beautiful day that we decided to take Talan somewhere outside for the morning. We went to "The Berry Patch" in Cleveland, MO. We weren't really sure what we were getting ourselves into since we had never been there but we had a great time!
There were just a couple of families there so it wasn't really crowded and Talan was able to explore. We started by riding the train. It was about a 10 minute ride by himself where they took him where we were unable to see him. I think I was more nervous than he was at first.
Talan was really excited and ready to go until he realized we weren't going with him. He did fine the whole ride though the girl driving said. He did start crying when he got back and saw Daddy. He is still talking about his train ride!

After the train ride, we walked out to the berry patch and picked some blackberries. Talan really enjoyed it and was really good at finding the black ones and not picking the red ones. He seemed to have a really good time and we brought home a little over 2 or 3 pounds of blackberries.
I love this picture of him picking the berries!

Talan was trying a blackberry for the first time.

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was my brother and Brittany's wedding. We had a wonderful time! I was a bridesmaid, Justin was a groomsmen, and Talan was the Ring Bearer. We weren't sure if Talan would go down the aisle but he did. He looked so handsome and was really good. (The pictures are a little mixed up...sorry!)

Talan was a dancing machine at the reception. When he was able to get on the dance floor he stayed there until we told him it was time to go. We made him get off the floor about 10:00 and head home. He was not very happy but fell asleep in the car pretty quick after we left.This is how Talan fell asleep in the car.

Justin's parents, Nana and Papa, came in for the wedding too. They were a wonderful help. They came to help us out with Talan in case he wasn't able to sit through the entire ceremony. He made it about 1o minutes and then went for a ride in the car with Nana and Papa. He even got a sucker from them since he did so good walking down the aisle.

Taking pictures. Here Talan is with Emma and Grant. They are Brittany's little brother and sister. Talan really liked being around Emma.

Chris, Brittany, Myself, and Justin

Talan dancing with Grant.

Here Talan is dancing with Morgan. She is one of the girls that my mom keeps and Talan loves her. He just hugged her and danced. He wouldn't let her leave the dance floor. She said that he fingers were sore the next day from him pulling on them while she danced with him.

Enjoying some wedding cake.

While we were taking the picture with the whole wedding party, we couldn't keep Talan off of Aubrey, the flower girl. He says that she is his girlfriend. They were kissing each other most of the time that we were taking pictures. He was so funny. The photographer said that they got some shots of them smiling at the camera too. I was happy to hear that.

Justin and I

Brittany and all of us bridesmaids in the bridal suite. She looked beautiful! I am so happy to say that she is my new sister!

Talan and Daddy hanging out in the guys room watching a movie.

Chris and I

Grant and Talan

Rehearsal dinner
Talan and Aubrey

Here are a couple of pictures of Talan and Aubrey practing at rehearsal dinner.

This was the first time that Talan got to try on his tux. He referred to it as his work suit. He was not wanting to take the tux off so we had to bribe him with a Spiderman popsicle.
We had a wonderful time at the wedding this past weekend and everything went so well. Thank you so much for letting the three of us be a part of your beautiful day!

Play Time

Here are just two pictures of Talan playing at home. He is really into his legos right now. He loves to build something and then come and show us his masterpiece. I am just amazed everytime. He can come up with something different to make every time.
Talan is really growing up. He will go to his room and just independently play for quite a while. Justin and I will go back there and find him just talking to his toys or whatever and playing so nice. He just getting so big!