Dear Hayden,

You’ve been having a great time with the doggies in your life lately. You love Emmie’s dog, Sassy. Whenever I tell you we are going to see Emmie, you start saying, “Sassy! Sassy!” Also, we volunteer at After the Bell on Fridays, and there is usually a little puppy there named Dexter with whom you are in love! It’s a neat thing to see you amazed by animals.

Love you,
Mama

You, Emmie and Sassy

You and Dexter

Dear Hayden,

Tonight we took some underwater photos of you — proof that you have been doing some super swimming!!

Love you,
Mama

PS – This is your 200th blog entry! I can’t believe how fast you are growing!

Dear Hayden,

For about a year now, you have had a special friend — Meggy. You even call her “My Meggy” and everything! Well, Meggy started her “real” job last week, so we have seen a lot less of her! You keep saying, “My Meggy!” and I keep trying to explain that Meggy has to go to work so she can’t spend as much time with you as she used to! She is so good to you — she willingly watches you whenever she can, and she absolutely adores you! We know Meggy is going to be a great teacher, but we sure do miss having her around! Thank goodness we get to see her every Sunday at church!

Love you,
Mama

You and Meggy

Dear Hayden,

Today Hannah Jane is spending the day with us. You love this because she is your BFF!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

This weekend, while I was at the Piggies & Paws conference, you and Daddy went camping! You had a fantastic time and Dad took some great pictures. I had a great time at my conference, but it looks like I missed out on a wonderful time with the two of you! I can’t wait until we can all go camping — we’ll try to do it soon!

Love you,
Mama

You and Daddy, first morning

Swing!

Pushing Alex on the Swing

You and Chet Helping Kim with Lunch

Hanging Out

Hiking

Swinging with Chet

Making Crafts with Leaves

Blowing Bubbles

Roasting Marshmallows around the Campfire

Camping Bedhead the next morning!

You and Your Camping Buddies: Alex, Kylie, Madison, Lily and Chet

Dear Hayden,

Toady you got to play with your cousins! Charlie, Alex and Oliver came all the way from North Carolina and you got to play all day!

Love you,
Mama

Alex, Oliver, You, Charlie

Alex and You

Alex and Charlie

Oliver

All four cousins!

Dear Hayden,

Today was another fun summer day! See below for proof!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

A day you have been waiting for for quite some time has come! The backyard is finished and you are having a grand ‘ol time playing back there! It doesn’t matter to you one bit that it is a million degrees outside!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Today we went to the Stuffington Bear Factory for a tour. It is the oldest teddy bear factory in the United States! You had a great time with your friends looking around, and at the end you got to make and name your own bear. Your little bear is named Hazel Eloise McCauley. She has the same initials as you do — HEM. The noises scared you a little bit, but you really enjoyed yourself!

Love you,
Mama

You and your friends

You and the BIG teddy bear

Listening to the tour guide explain how teddy bears are made

Checking out some of the different furs used to make bears

Giving your bear, Hazel Eloise McCauley, an air bath after she had been stuffed, sewn, brushed and combed

Hazel and her birth certificate

Playing in the tunnel of bears

Checking out the bears with Hannah Jane

Dear Hayden,

Today, Meggy and Jeffrey came over to hang out and Jeffrey had home work to work on. Well, you can’t see anyone writing on a piece of paper and not participate. So here’s a pic of you and Jeffrey doing homework!

Love you,
Mama