Isaac finds a fun new playmate ...

Thea was thrilled to have Isaac come over yesterday and they had a good time getting to know each other ... of course, Thea loves to lick whoever will let her and Isaac had fun trying to grab her tongue when she licked his hands ... i think they will grow to be great friends over the next few years. Isaac was so cute with his "chicks love a boy in uniform" t-shirt on and this was yet another photoshoot this grampa couldn't pass up.

when i told Isaac about the pictures of Jalene, Evan and Janelle i posted yesterday ... he said he wanted to see them ... isn't he cute here trying to do just that ... of course he is ... don't be silly.

on their way to the valley of the sun ...

i LOVE to combine watching the grandbabies with a photoshoot ... as i have said many times ... i feel like i'm THE most blessed grampa in all this world ... we are going to miss the Mackmers while they are in phoenix ... but ... i'm sure Terri will be sending pictures and videos like she did when we were in kansas city ... i hope you enjoy these images as much as i and the kids did while we were taking them ... (-8b

the ONLY ok thing about any snakes in phoenix are the "diamondbacks" ... Uncle Adam and i sure did enjoy their world series win on november 4th in 2001 while we were in green bay !!! hmmmm • will Ev become a D•BACKS fan ??? time will tell ... i do hope we can visit sometime in my favorite "season " ...

thank you Jalene, Evan and Janelle for letting this grampa take SO many pictures of you ... you are 3 of my all•time favorite models ... i love you all !!!

hangin with the suttons ...

steph and steve have been great with our little miss thea ... and she LOVED getting out and visiting them and sarge at their house last night ...

this is SARGE ... steph and steve's awesome dog ... their cats BUSTER and MISSY hid the whole time we were there ...

sarge and thea had a great time getting to know each other and playing together !!!


kc's oldest and youngest daughters ... (-8b

the kids had a great time in the backyard ...

kc's 2 favorite fellow CUBS fans ...

opening day !!! 1 of my favorite days ever ... sadly, i missed watching all the games because of my new job ... i sure wish i could have been watching with Adam and Isaac ... oh well, maybe next year. GREAT photo Jenn !!!

this was super bowl sunday nite ... just me and Isaac watching the game together while Adam & Jenn were hanging out with their community group ...

i sure do miss my wednesday nites with Isaac ... but ... Gramma Ruth is doing a FABulous job on her own with him ... (-8b

"grampa•nanny•ing" ...

what a blessing [ for me ] that i was asked to sit with the kids a few days a week before i go to work so Terri could go back to work ... i know Terri would rather be home full time with them but ... her low has become my high ... it's awesome how God works these things out ... i LOVE my grampa time with the kids ... and as i'm adding this i'm realizing my low of not being able to watch Isaac on wednesday nites anymore ... Gramma Ruth gets that pleasure full time now all to herself ... i just have to stop by on my and adam's off days and get some time with Isaac ... (-8b ... btw • adam's off today • i'm off today • the cubs are on tv in little while ... hmmmm

Janelle was 2 months on the 15th ... she is such a joy and she smells SO good too

2 of my favorite "reality league" baseball players ...

it's hard to believe Evan will be 3 in just a couple of months ... he's got so much character and he's quite a character at times ... i love it when he gets a little disappointed and pouts and then he magically waves his hand in front of his face and a BIG smile appears ... (-8b ... he too helps grampa out ... he LOVES getting Janelle's diapers.

Jalene is a BIG help to her grampa ... she knows ALL the do's and dont's [ mostly for Ev ] and where everything is ... but ... when 11:30 comes ... it's ALL about "word world" ... the other day i got an envelope in the mail from her with a couple of words she just learned ... nothing else ... just the 2 words ... crown and gown ... ask me in 5 years what those 2 words were and i'll remember them for sure ... (-8b

a sleepover at grampas and grammas ...

EVERYONE likes to watch football ... good to see
jalene AND thea have taken to it ALOT sooner than terri did ... (-8b

craft time is always a hit ... jalene made a necklace

for gramma ruth and gramma ruth made 1 for jalene ... and ... they both

wore theirs to church this morning ... (-8b

after her bath ... jalene dazzled us with her

puzzle prowess ... her dad would

have been proud

and ... she was quite pleased with herself when she finished ... (-8b

when we asked her how she did it ... she just

shrugged her shoulders and said ...

" i don't know • i just did it "

after a good nights sleep in her nice, new, blue sleeping bag ... she was

greeted good morning by thea ...

we all had a wonderful time together and can't wait til we can do it again ... YEP • it was what terri calls ... " a torturous weekend for sure " ... btw • sign us up ANYTIME !!!

it's [ almost ] all about the grandbabies ...

xoxoxo ...

JALENE ...

JALENE NOELLE MACKMER is kc's 4 year old grandaughter and here she is talking with grampa kc [ in KC ] on the phone ... it was conversATions like this that made it easy for us to decide to come back "home". jalene is amazing ... she loves crafts and baking and is quite the wii player as grampa kc found out last night ... (-8b ... she is an awesome big sister to evan and now janelle and ... she just may be the most polite little one this grampa has ever seen.

EVAN ...

EVAN WALLACE MACKMER is kc's 2½ year old grandson. as you can see here he is a very determined little guy. the thing i like best about EV is how much he loves thea ... when he comes over he lets her lick his face and kiss him longer than most others can take it ... (-8b he is now a big brother to janelle and he is a great little brother to jalene.

ISAAC ...

ISAAC NATHAN CONGDON is kc's 4 month old grandson and 1st to carry on THE congdon name [ wtgi ] ... as you can tell he is adam's son and already a packers fan. we've gotten to spend some wednesday nights babysitting him while his dad and mom go to their community group. it is amazing to see how much he changes just from week to week.