Family Photos

Yesterday, our good friend, Daniel Ruhkala, graciously agreed to take our family pictures.  He did a great job!  These are some of my favorites:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It's been so fun seeing Christmas through the eyes of a toddler this year.  She notices and understands so much!  Julia helped me decorate the tree this year.  She loves the tree and lights.  She also loves all the Christmas lights on our neighbor's house.  It's a nightly ritual now for her to look outside at night or sometimes we take a walk as a family since so many people in our neighborhood have lots of Christmas lights on their houses. 

We just bought the Big Picture Story Bible for Julia.  I highly recommend it.  http://www.crossway.org/books/the-big-picture-story-bible-hcj/
I am hoping that as we read this book to her and we get to the part about Jesus' birth, that she will be able to understand the big picture of why Jesus came to earth.  We look forward to helping her understand more and more about our precious Savior!

Here are some pictures of preparing for Christmas in our home.

Julia, all smiles, as she helps mommy decorate the tree

 

Julia decorating while Caleb watches - Caleb is happy as long as he can watch whatever we're doing.

 

My sweet boy, watching us decorate the tree

 

I took pictures of some of my favorite ornaments.  They are my favorites for different reasons.  This one is an obvious one - Julia's handprint from Christmas last year.  So tiny and precious!

 

Ethan and I got engaged on the top of the Empire State Building.  So, I bought this ornament as a souvenir to remember that special day.

 

A Philippine ornament given to me by my mom.

 

And what tree would be complete without a Starbucks mug?!

 

Before Julia was born, Ethan and I went on an Alaskan cruise.  What a special memory that is!

 

Last year for Christmas, I used a gift card to Pottery Barn to purchase 3 lanterns.  For a whole year, these lanterns were empty.  I finally bought candles and also bought berries to make them "Christmasy."  I am not very good at decorating so I was quite proud of myself to finally do something with them lanterns.  Love them!

 

Caleb, checking out the Christmas tree

 

Another Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

My parents got to visit us again on their way back home.  It was so fun to have them here!

Caleb with his Grandpa

 

The kids playing with Grandpa

 

Grandma got lots of snuggle time with Caleb

 

My adorable little guy

 

Julia had so much fun playing outside with Grandpa - here she is looking at our neighbors dogs.  She likes to wave to them and say, "Hi dogs" but gets upset when they bark...  :)

 

 

 

We walked through our neighborhood and looked at Christmas lights

 

This is one of many front yards, decked out in Christmas lights.  I love how many people in our neighborhood like to decorate for Christmas.

A Weekend Away

Ethan recently finished "Budget Time" at work which is the busiest time of the year for him... many late nights and working on weekends.  We thought it would be nice for our family to get away and spend quality time together once budget time was over.  Originally we hoped to go to San Francisco, but decided to go back to Santa Barbara instead for various reasons.  It was nice to not have to drive far.

Our first night there didn't go so well - Julia had a little trouble falling asleep in her pack n play.  Caleb, who usually only woke up once to nurse, woke up 3 or 4 times and of course I was a little on edge since I didn't want his crying to wake up Julia. I didn't want the rough night to ruin the blessing that it was to be on a vacation, so I prayed a lot for a happy heart.  God was gracious.  Also, the next night went MUCH better and both kids slept well.  Yay!  The kids did well, overall. 

We enjoyed our time together as a family.  It is always such a blessing to get away and just enjoy each other.  Of course, we ate a lot of good food, too!

Since Julia just turned 2, we turned her car seat to forward facing.  Our drive to Santa Barbara was the first time she sat forward and it was quite exciting for her.  :)

 

Our sweet girl, reading books and playing in our hotel room

 

Our sweet boy, chillin' on the bed - these pajamas are in honor of his Grandpa - DinoJerry!  :)

 

Watching T.V.  :)

 

We met up with our good friends - Chad & Vicki.  They were also on vacation near Santa Barbara.  They met us for breakfast the first morning and also at a pizza place that night for dinner.

Vicki, me, and Julia

 

Hal and Mandy's Visit

My really good friend, Mandy, visited recently from Northern California.  She, her husband Hal, and twin boys (Kaleb and Bryce) were all down here for a wedding.  There were able to stop by for a few hours for lunch and hanging out.  It was so great to see her!  The last time I saw her was at her wedding.  Her twin boys are so precious.  It was fun to see our three boys together.  Her boys are a few months older.

All of us (minus Julia who was upstairs taking a nap)

 

Kaleb and Caleb.  :)

 

Bryce joined the boys on the couch

 

Kaleb was so excited to see his brother!  So cute.  :)

 

It's almost impossible to get all 3 kids to look at the same time.  I was laughing so hard.

 

Mandy and I were good friends back in our single days.  How strange it is now to both be married and have 2 kids each.  I so wish she lived closer so that we could walk through motherhood together.  I miss her!