We had a recent visit from our dear friend Spencer.  He’s an honorary uncle to our kids, and it was a real treat to have him out.  We had a fun time at Disneyland and enjoyed getting to spend almost a week with him!  Come back soon, Spence!

In no particular order:

1. He loves his family.
2. He is passionate—about his faith, his family, his dreams, the Lakers… there’s no lukewarm with him.
3. He never fails to put the toilet seat down.
4. He loves Disneyland as much as I do.
5. He is a devoted friend, willing to put forth the time and effort to make relationships last.
6. He is a faithful husband, and I look forward to growing old with him.
7. He makes breakfast for his family…several times a week!
8. He empties and reloads the dishwasher, just because he sees that it needs to be done.
9. He is quick to apologize.
10. He serves his church.
11. He’s sincere and honest.
12. He is devoted to prayer.
13. He has an award-winning sense of humor, one that I get and thoroughly enjoy.
14. He’s not afraid to be silly with the kids.
15. He has big dreams.
16. He helps clean the house.
17. He’s a fantastic father; his children adore him.
18. He is creative and artistic.  And very talented!
19. He takes initiative…at home, at work, at church.  He isn’t afraid to step up and lead.
20. He loves the Lord and encourages my walk with Christ.
21. He lets me take family pictures with a minimal amount of complaining.
22. He balances my weaknesses with his strengths
23. He’s a gentleman.  He still opens the car door for me.  He treats women as ladies.
24. He’s a great communicator (which distinguishes him from the majority of men).
25. He makes a mean chocolate chip peanut butter cookie.
26. He does the ironing.
27. He has a great work ethic.
28. He is generous.
29. He’s hot.
30. Regardless of our situation, he maintains a positive outlook, focused on God’s sovereignty.

Happy 30th Birthday, Matthew.  You are an amazing man, and I am blessed beyond words to be spending my life with you.  May this be your best birthday ever, as we look forward to the adventure ahead!

xoxo

Here are a few recent pictures of my kids (from April to early June). 

We visited Universal Studios last month with Matt’s brother, Jonathan.  Katelyn enjoyed her first visit there, while Ethan stayed home with Papa & Grandma.  The highlights of the trip for Katelyn were getting to see Dora and the dog from the animal show. 

We took the kids to Griffith Park in March to ride the ponies.  Katelyn, of course, has always loved it.  We thought we’d try Ethan out, just for fun, and he cried almost the whole way around.  We did manage to snap a picture when he had a pleasant face, but for the most part, he was a sad little boy until that pony made it back around the track to Mommy. 

We visited Disneyland in late February and counted it as Ethan’s birthday trip.  The highlight of the day (besides celebrating Ethan’s birthday), was Katelyn’s picture with Minnie Mouse wearing her own Minnie dress.

It snowed in the mountains around our valley back in February.  I took pictures, intending to post them back then.  Every now and then, I am especially impressed by our neck of the woods, and this was one of those times.  I thought it was really beautiful.  I tend to be partial to other types of landscape, but I’m learning to appreciate the beauty that is right here in front of me.  The pictures don’t really do it justice, so you’ll just have to take my word for it… it was lovely.

So, after a long pause in my blogging, I’m determined to do a little catching up.  To start, the kids and I enjoyed a lovely visit to Canton in early February to visit my mom and my sister and her family.  It had been almost a year since I had seen any of them (save Richard on his visits to LA).  We had a great time catching up… Katelyn LOVED getting to hang out with her cousins, and I was refreshed to spend some time with my family again.  Poor Ethan was sick for half of the trip, but I’m sure he enjoyed our visit too.  

We also got to see my oldest friend, which is always a nice treat and an unexpected blessing of my family living where they do.  Thanks for the pictures, Karen.  We look forward to many more!

We can’t wait to go back for a trip this summer (Lord willing).

Our baby boy turned 1 today.  I can hardly believe that it has already been a year since we brought the little man home…

My favorite part of the day was watching him dig into his very own cake.  After a good taste of what was before him, his preferred method of eating it was to bury his face in it.  Over and over again, he smashed a wide open mouth into the top of his cake and came up for air as needed.  It was really cute and not at all what I expected him to do.

We’ve had a great first year with baby Ethan and look forward to continuing to watch him grow.  He’s turning into a little boy with a big personality that keeps us laughing.  We’re ready for more…

(of his emerging personality, just to be clear). 

On our most recent trip to Disneyland, we let Katelyn take along her Cinderella dress.  I knew we’d be able to find Cinderella at one of the shows in California Adventure.  I staked out our spot so we’d be waiting for her when she stepped off the stage to take pictures with the kids.  Only this time, she finished the show, but did not seem to be sticking around for pictures.  Spotting Katelyn, she asked if she could walk with her.  Cinderella grabbed her by the hand, and the two of them walked across that section of the park together.  “Did your Fairy Godmother make your dress too?”  she asked.   Stopping for no one else, she led Katelyn over to the cast door, ducked around the corner, and knelt down to give Katelyn her full attention.   Taking both of her hands, Cinderella told Katelyn to look up at the sky and then close her eyes really tight.  After that, it was probably some version of “Believe in yourself and all of your dreams will come true…” but I didn’t hear what she said.  Katelyn wasn’t clear on that point, so I guess we’ll never know.    The princesses parted ways with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  It was a special, never-gonna-happen-again time that Katelyn thought was pretty neat.