An Example to Follow

This was a very special weekend for us as we celebrated my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary! Their marriage has been a wonderful example of what a Christlike marriage looks like for many couples, including Nick and me!

The other awesome part of this weekend is that my sister, Kendra, and her husband and son came out from Florida to surprise my grandparents. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

 Here is Samuel letting Nicole know what he thinks of her hitting him....

 Nicole playing with the food that was on Nick's plate. I think she is wanting to start on solid food.

Nicole playing with Grandma Linda's cup.

 Grandpa Ron, Grandma Judy, Samuel, and Nicole.

 Nicole playing with Granddad's cup. She likes taking things that don't belong to her.

Karissa holding Samuel while we were at dinner at Lucilles.

The waitress brought out 2 sundaes to help us celebrate their anniversary.

Here is the cake I made for their party.

And the rest of the cake....errr....cupcakes. I made cupcakes since it was an open house party so people could take desserts as they came. The cake cutting was about halfway through the party.

Here are more cupcakes.....We had about 45 frosted cupcakes left over and another 20 or so that weren't frosted yet. At least we didn't run out!

Grandma and granddad cutting the cake.

My mom, Nicole, Aunt Susan, and me! We had a great time visiting with my aunt Susan (from my dad's side) who has known my grandparents (on my mom's side) for the past 50 years!

Granddad feeding grandma a piece of cake......No face smashing here!

What a long party weekend! Good thing Nicole had her dad to hold her and snuggle with her!

Nicole and Grandma Joan

I know I say it all the time, but we are SOOOOO blessed to live near family! We love being able to share in special moments and visit with our family! 

In the Blink of an Eye

So it feels like Nicole keeps learning something new every time I blink! This week she has learned how to put her pacifier in her mouth (she already knew how to take it out....) without having her finger in the way or backwards.

Nicole is also alot more mobile than she's ever been! I guess we will have to start keeping the clutter up off of the floor a little better! She has figured out how to crawl..............backwards! Here is a video of her moving around and crawling backwards. She is also buzzing her lips the entire time!



'Nicole and Nick were playing the other night with an unusual toy.....Her changing pad.



First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for everyone in our family.............except for the only child in our family. I started working as an intervention teacher at a school in Corona. I will be working as extra support for 1st, 3rd, and 5th. The most exciting part is that I have my own classroom keys! The room I'm using is also used as storage for other stuff, but I am working around that (hey, I finally have a place for my teaching stuff!). I am really excited to start working with the kids and seeing their improvement!

Nick also started his first day of college classes! He is taking one course at the Chino Chaffey campus and two online classes! He has a busy semester ahead of him! He will have class from 6 to 9:50 every Monday and Wednesday night. Those will be long days!

I hope that you find ways to learn and use your mind every day!

5 Months Today

Today Nicole is 5 months old! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! I look at newborn babies and am in denial that Nicole was ever that small......She is continuing to learn new things every day! Her current new trick is to be able to sit up on her own for about 30 seconds. Here is a video that we took last night that shows her sitting.

We also took pictures of her to celebrate that she is 5 months old.

On a side note, at church today Nicole was in the nursery and the main teacher said that she was the best baby in there! And Nick received the best wife award during church because he brought tissues up to the pastor who was preaching and sweating. I was bummed that I missed that moment (I was teaching Sunday School).

Richly Blessed

As I sit here tonight and reflect on our day, I see how richly blessed I am and how God provides for me.

1) AAA- Yes, today I had to call AAA since I had locked the keys in the van. He came quickly enough that I wasn't late for my appointment.

2) My mother-in-law (and sis-in-laws)- They were already planning on watching Nicole, but they were willing to drive all the way down to our house (instead of meeting in Corona) so they could pick me up in case the tow truck driver wasn't fast enough.

3) My Jeep- I never thought I would say this, but I missed having my car! I am so glad to have it back and running well!

4) My parents- They have been willing to loan me their van (I feel a little silly driving with 13 empty seats....) while my car has been in the shop for several weeks. They have also watched Nicole for the past 4 days while I made cakes, went on a date, and went to a job interview.

5) My job- yes, I said job......I signed a contract today to work as a temp specialist at a school in Corona!! I will be working with 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. Also, if things go according to plan, I will have a classroom of my own to work in! I am praying that this job goes well and that it will be a great experience for me! I will miss spending my days with Nicole, but am very fortunate that she will get to spend her days with both sets of her grandparents.

I hope you are able to look into your days and see how richly God has blessed you!

A Weekend To Celebrate!

This weekend gave us many reasons to celebrate with our family. First, it was Nick's grandpa's birthday party on Saturday (his birthday is tomorrow). We celebrated with his family with dinner and cake.

Then on Sunday we went to Doug and Karissa's wedding in Brea. The wedding was beautiful and so much fun! They had the park decorated beautifully and had fun things that made their wedding unique. By one of the trees, they had several frames (just the wood, no glass or backing) with handles screwed on the back. People could take pictures of themselves or as groups using the frames. I also must take a minute to brag about the cakes. They were AMAZING!!! I think they were the best cakes I have had at a wedding (oh wait, I might be a little biased......)! Here are some pictures from the wedding.

 Nicole had no intention of sitting quietly through the ceremony. She was sneezing, blowing bubbles, spitting on Hannah, pulling my mom's hair. It was really pretty funny.

 The boxes of cakes.

 Nicole with her great-grandma Linda

 Hannah, me, Nicole, Grandma Linda, my mom

 Nick taking the time to pose in a frame.

 He wanted to make sure he had all angles covered.

 A 3-D picture of Hannah and me!

 In case you didn't know that I am short.

My Aunt Alisha, her son Bryant, Nicole, and me

We are so very blessed to have family close by so that we can join in on special occasions and make memories together! What a blessing family is!

Look Who Came To Visit!

Today we visited with Nicole's Aunt Hannah (my sister) who came down from Idaho to see Nicole (ok, she really came down for my uncle's wedding.......but we can pretend). I was busy making cakes for the wedding, so Hannah and Grandma Joan kept Nicole entertained for the day. Here are some pictures of the time together.

 Guess who bought her this little shirt
(It says: "I'm as cute as my aunt").

The best part of being an aunt! 



Music to Our Ears

Today we went to LakePoint Park to walk for a while and on the way home, Nicole showed off with a new trick. She has a toy on her carseat handle that will make noise if you touch the frog's eyes. Until today, Nick or I would push the eyes to make it play the song, but on the way home Nicole kept pushing the frogs eyes....over and over and over and over and over and over again.....I haven't decided whether this is a good trick or not.......

At dinner tonight, Nicole was sitting in her high chair and we put several toys on the tray for her to play with. However, she felt that her lap was a better place for the toys.

I hope your day is going well and that she put a smile on your face!

A Busy Day!

Today Nicole decided to show off some of her new tricks. She has learned how to crawl on her back using her head and her feet. It's pretty funny to watch, but it gets her to where she wants to be.

She has also learned how to buzz her lips. This is entertaining because she makes a VERY serious face and she spits/drools EVERYWHERE!

Also, today we went to a National Night Out event where there were police officers and firefighters in the Target parking lot. We decided to get a picture for Hannah of Nicole with a firefighter. But we got better than just one firefighter, we got three!

It's amazing to watch our little girl grow and the new things she learns how to do each day!

New Start

Since I have been posting about so many changes in our little family (ok, the many things that Nicole is learning how to do), I decided to start a blog so that we can easily see how she has grown over time. Hopefully I keep this up (and other people read it!).