i have loved my niece and nephew since before they were actually my niece and nephew =) you see, they are actually Stephen’s niece & nephew by blood, but i adopted them as my own long ago! i met them for the first time when he and i were dating over 6 years ago. i remember Stephen leading worship at church and his family was there. he introduced me to them after the service, and showed off these two adorable kids…
they were much younger at the time, of course. in fact, Alli was about four years old, and she had me at “scuba.” Stephen asked her to tell me what SCUBA stood for. in her adorable little girl voice she replied, “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.” so darn cute!
unfortunately, they moved to Texas shortly after, so i’ve only had the opportunity to spend time with them on a handful of occasions over the years. but i love and look forward to each moment!
they came out to California with Stephen’s parents right after Christmas so that was awesome. “Uncle Steve” always calls Alli “Crazy Monkey” and she reciprocates =) so that has become the running joke over the years. each visit is always filled with arguments that go like this…
Uncle Steve: You’re such a crazy monkey!
Alli: No! You’re the crazy monkey!
Uncle Steve: Uh-uh you’re the crazy monkey!
i love to watch my husband act like a child…it’s so entertaining =)
anyway, i just wanted to share some awesome photos that Stephen captured of them last week. i had to go to a coffee shop to work for a little while, so he took the camera and took them to the park.
aren’t they gorgeous?!
the football fan! i’m jealous of how good he can throw the ball =)
i love you guys so much and miss you already! so glad we got to see you for a few days =) give your mom a big kiss for me!
xoxo
aunt jess