Parents' 40th Anniversary

My parents invited all the "kids" to join them in Newport Beach to celebrate their 40th Anniversary. We enjoyed appetizers at their hotel before heading over to the harbor for a dinner cruise. My dad had a slideshow of pictures chronicling their lives before and after marriage which was fun to watch. He also presented a new wedding ring setting to Mom which is beautiful. Congratulations Dad and Mom and thank you for your faithfulness and commitment to each other! We had such a great time...

San Diego Zoo

Caleb, Katie and I joined friends for a day at the zoo in October. Our family had last been there just before Katie's birth, so I enjoyed walking all around this time and not having to worry about going into pre-term labor!

Thanks again for, Jill and Tracy, for inviting us!

Fall Photo Shoot

Fall is my favorite time of year, so I asked Tracy to also take shots of the kids dressed for the season. Emma is pictured with her American Girl doll, Nicki, Caleb is going to be Wolverine from the X-Men for Halloween, and Katie is our adorable little pumpkin.

Thank you Tracy for a wonderful experience (and if you can say that after a two hour shoot with three kids on a hot day, you know you're in the hands of a gifted photographer!).

Katie at Six Months

Katelyn has discovered her will upon entering the latter half of her infancy. She's not quite as willing to smile and put up with everything. Truthfully though, she's still such a sweet and happy baby. However, for two weeks in a row they've had to come get me at church because Katelyn pitched a fit in the nursery. Why? She wants Mommy to give her the bottle, thank you very much.

I've treasured every second of her first six months ...what a sweet gift from the Lord she is.

Our friend, Tracy Dodson, is a talented photographer, so when she offered to take Katelyn's six month pictures I jumped at the opportunity. They came out soooo great!

Emma's last day at MES

Yes, I know it's a bit strange that Emma would be leaving her new school two months into the year, but we have a good explanation for it. I learned of a K-8 school associated with Julian Charter School (which I worked for a couple years ago) that is just what we've been wanting for our kids. There was one spot open in the second grade so we went ahead and enrolled her. Emma is thrilled because her dear friend, Lauren, is also going to start attending there the same day. Thank you Lord for granting us this desire of our heart! One of the unique elements of this school is that students are homeschooled on Fridays, so we're looking forward to working on projects and other material that would otherwise be difficult to fit into our schedule.



On Emma's last day at Murrieta Elementary, we brought cookies for her class and said goodbye to Ms. Reddick~she is an outstanding teacher and was so encouraging to Emma.

Captain Jack

Jonas and I just laughed when we walked into the kitchen the other night and found Jack looking very comfortable.

Soccer Mom

Yes, I am officially a soccer mom. This is our third soccer season...and can I just say that I'm especially joyful not to be the team mom this year! Caleb is on the Firecrackers team thru TVSA and has an awesome coach. We're very excited for the year that his maturity catches up with his ability. Here's some footage from one of his practices (they practice twice weekly plus a Saturday game, yikes!)...

We love the nights when Jonas can join us...

Floor time

Emma and Caleb really enjoy interacting with Katelyn now that she's so responsive and excited to be around them. They get her to laugh from the gut like no one else! At six months she's just starting to scoot around and is also grabbing everything within reach. Note Emma's face in the group shot...she's crying out because Katie has just yanked her hair...ouch!