Hawaii

I'm sitting here in a beautiful hotel room while my little munchkin sleeps in the other room and looking as ocean waves come crashing onto the Hawaiian coast line. What a blessed life I have. Jacob and I had the joy of joining my Mom and sisters in Hawaii for a 1 week vacation. Mike unfortunately is not with us because he had to travel for work to meet a few customers and attend a trade show with his company. We miss him dearly and never miss an opportunity to call him on the phone which is hard to coordinate since he is 6 hours ahead of us in Florida. Jacob has enjoyed our Hawaiian schedule of waking up at 6:30 having some breakfast, putting our bathing suits on and heading down to the pool to play. We've also taken a few trips out to the beach which I've discovered he doesn't seem to like as much as the pool. I put him in the sand and he looks up at me with sandy hands outstretched whining that he has sand all over. I keep telling him that he is a boy and should like being dirty but he doesn't believe me I guess. He did love watching the waves crash in however from the comfort of mommy's arms...up off the sand! He giggled uncontrollably every time a wave came. He's so cute and is most content sitting on a pool chair playing with his cars. I'm hoping by the end of the week to entice him to actually jump in off the side of the pool into mommy's arms. We shall see. I love you Mike and I miss you terribly. I wish you were here and I'm sure you feel the same way.

Paradise sledding

Paradise

This weekend we headed up to Paradise, Mt. Rainier. What a BEAUTIFUL day! The sun was out and we took Jacob for his first sledding experience. He loved sliding down the hill with mommy and daddy giggling the whole way, however, he did not seem to like not being able to get his footing on the slippery snow and wanted both of us to carry him everywhere. Hiking up a mountain with a 35 lb kid is quite a lot of work. We loved playing in the snow and the fantastic views. We also stopped at a creek on our way down and took a small hike. Jacob seemed to have no fear of the water and immediately headed right for it. If left alone I'm sure he would have jumped right in for a refreshing swim. Mommy and Daddy ruin all his fun.

I love you Babe!

I had such a wonderful weekend with my sweetie celebrating the last three happy years of our marriage. We we're able to escape down to Portland, just the two of us, thanks to my awesome parents and sister. Thanks guysfor taking care of our little munchkin! We stayed at the Westin downtown, just a short walking distance to great restaurants and shopping. I loved walking around hand in hand with my sweet husband and getting to take our time everywhere we went. Mike also took me to the ballet where we watched "A Mid-summer Nights Dream" which the Oregon City Ballet did beautifully. Then on our way back to the hotel we stopped in to The Melting Pot for some yummy chocolate fondue. Sweetie, I love you and there is nothing else in the world I would rather do than get to spend my entire day with you, even if we aren't doing anything. Thank you so much for such a wonderful weekend and treating me like a queen. I love you so much! Our weekend was just fabulous and then we got to come home and greet our sweet little boy who had a big smile for both his Mommy and Daddy. What a great way to come home.

Girls Weekend

What a wonderful weekend I had! I had the opportunity and privledge to spend Friday and Saturday at a church women's retreat with my Mom and two sisters Julianne and Dasha. We got to stay at the beautiful Alderbrook resort out on the Hood canal. The weather was perfect and the scenery was amazing. We had the opportunity to study Psalm 119 with a bunch of other women that go to our church. It is such a beautiful Psalm reminding me just how in love I should be with God's Word and all the blessings that come from storing His law in my heart. It is so amazing to get to study about the Creator of this universe and then step outside and observe His majestic mountains. I loved getting to have a slumber party with my mom and sisters as well since I don't get to do that as much and was able to finally get to know a few of the women that attend our big church in hopes of making connections with other mommy's in my area. Thank you God for blessing me so much!

If you can't read the sign it says:

"Unattended kids will be given a double espresso and a puppy!

How blessed are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the Lord.

How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,

who seek Him with all their heart.

Psalm 119:1-2

Fun in the Sun

We sure are enjoying this beautiful weather and I discovered that Jacob loves to play in the park that is in the neighborhood adjacent from ours. He giggled and laughed as he climbed through the fun tube and saw his silly Mommy poking her head through the other side. He's always so curious and constantly exploring. I love to watch him. February is always a favorite month of mine and we have been enjoying it immensely. I get to enjoy my birthday, valentines day and our anniversary all crammed into the shortest month of the year. I turned 29 this year and hope that it goes by real slow being that I'll no longer be in my twenties next year. My family and husband were so sweet showering me with gifts and taking me out to dinner. It's amazing how time seems to be flying by with every year that passes faster and faster. Here's some fun photos of my little man playing in the sun.

Sometimes hats make it hard to see!

Jacob's favorite way to go down slides

It's hard to believe the cherry blossoms are already coming out

It's time for an update!

Wow it's been quite awhile. It's amazing how time can run away from me so quickly. It felt like the beginning of December just yesterday and it's already February. We've done quite a bit these past few months including a very fun Christmas/New Years vacation to Orlando, FL and Disney World. My parents treated the whole family to 10 days in Florida by renting a big house 10 minutes from Walt Disney World with plenty of room and our own pool. We spent our time hopping around to different theme parks like Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood studios, and Animal Kingdom. Mike and I had such a blast watching Jacob take in all the fun. We found out that his favorite rides include dumbo (which he didn't want to get off of), the merry-go-round, and above all else "It's A Small World". Here are some pictures of everything. Thanks Mom and Dad for giving us such a wonderful vacation. We LOVED it!!!

Since getting back our lives have returned back to their normal rhythms, with Mike working at Continuant and me picking up a few shifts a week at the hospital in between taking care of our sweet little man. I'm a lucky girl that I have the ability to pick and choose the days I get to work and that I have such a great mom who is willing and happy to watch Jacob when I do have to work. Jacob has picked up a few new tricks as well since the last time I wrote. He is now a full fledged toddler and is walking everywhere! It's so cute to watch him meander about with his arm out for balance and his legs spread wide like he just dismounted a horse. He sure gets around quickly and needs to be watched even more carefully since he's now figured out how to open doors and likes to head straight out to the garage! He also loves that he can carry things around with him and will be often found wandering around with either a toy of his or mommy's tuppaware which he loves to take from the kitchen. He sure keeps us busy!