Tennessee pt. 2: good to be home.

^^ the real deal! at Edley's

^^ Sunday hike at Shelby Bottoms with my family and Merle, the great dane. 

^^ queen anne's lace is so beautiful

^^ more Wesley time! love these of she and her daddy. 

^^ my sister, brother-n-law and I saw Frances Ha late night at the Belcourt Theater

^^ 32 weeks!

When I am home, we spend a lot of time on my mom's screened in porch...talking, laughing and enjoying each other. I think it's my favorite thing to do, especially in the summer with a lovely adult beverage in hand. It was particularly fun this last trip, because we had little baby Wesley to pass around as we chatted. These photos are what a lot of my trips home look like-- family, food, and a touch of nature. I really like to get a hike in if possible when I'm home. Hiking in Tennessee is very different from hiking in Colorado-- more lush, less altitude. The trees are so dense and green, and everything is growing wild and almost out of control. We saw a snake this time as wandered down the 'ecology trail'! My mom was out of there pretty quickly :)

I'll be back again in Nashville early August for my sister's birth. It's hard not to look back on this past year and get a little emotional. With my sister becoming a mother, and my brother now being a father, things are really pretty special right now.

Tennessee Pt. 1: Oh, the places she'll go...

^^ mama Kali looking so stylish!

Between birthdays and baby showers, I feel like the past few months have been kinda crazy! Well my sister is now 32 weeks {woot woot!}, so my mom threw a baby shower in her honor last weekend and naturally I had to fly out to Tennessee to join. I also finally got to meet my beautiful niece, Wesley Jayne Souder! The long weekend wasn't quite long enough, but we crammed a lot of family time in and had some fantastic meals (oh how I miss Southern food). Saturday was the shower and my mom of course went above and beyond and everything was darling. She set up a DIY tent with paint and stencils and we all made onesies. It was by far my favorite baby shower activity to date-- ^^ look how cute they all turned out. Baby Wesley stole the show for a bit and let me hold her while Aunt Kate opened presents (doesn't she have the best facial expressions?). I can't tell you how good it felt to be with family for a few short days. They mean the world to me and I know it's just going to get harder and harder to leave with these beautiful babies in the picture!