Steph's Birthday Gift

Last Thursday (the 11th) was Steph's birthday and I wanted to surprise her with a memorable gift that I haven't been able to giver her in a while. We have been quite busy and Steph (and I) had really wanted to get some time on the beach.

For her birthday I gave her a hilarious card (about a Lobster Tale) that informed her about her activities for the 12th. We were going to have lunch at Brad's in Pismo Beach and enjoy the day at the coast!

We left around 8:30am and got to Avila Valley Barn around 11am to browse the fresh food and see the animals. Once we had browsed the food, Steph fed Abi in the car and I went around to take some pictures of the animals. The baby goats were very cute and fun to watch jump around their pen.


From Avila we went to Pismo Beach. Lunch was at Brad's and it was good. I don't care what other's say, Brad's is the best! We then took a walk on the beach and let Abi play in the sand for a while. She enjoyed it and started crawling in the sand towards the end.

From the beach we went to a park we had heard of on Wadsworth on the top of one of the Pismo hills. We put Abi in a swing for little kids and she loved swinging back and forth. I think we're going to have to find a way to get a swing in our back yard.


Below are some pics from the top of the hill. It would be a great place to watch fireworks but it must be packed on the 4th of July!

Abi Eating Cheerios

This is how Abi eats cheerios:

Step 1: shove hand into cup as far as it will go.

Step 2: insert cheerio into mouth

Step 3: show cheerio off so mom and dad can see

Abi Loves the Bath

Abi loves the bath and she doesn't even have to be in it to enjoy it!
You will need to turn your laptop or monitor on its side or tilt your head (i couldn't figure out how to rotate a video) anyway enjoy!

Our New Tent

A few months ago we bought a tent so we could raise Abi right by exposing her to real camping, not the "fancy camping" that we really like in Pismo. We will be camping for the first time as a family in San Simeon the weekend after 4th of July with our Sunday school class. we will be fancy camping the whole week before and will drive up the coast to experience "real" camping. we needed to set up the tent ahead of time so we knew what we were doing. Abi loved playing in it and as you can see from the pictures she was reading the directions to us and helping us put it together. Watch the video, its kinda long but abi was very determined to get my sunglasses, so i decided to have a little fun with her.

Abi and Ethan Climbing Stairs

A week and half ago jolie and i were in the atrium at church while the guys helped load a piano into josh's truck. the kids were crawling around and abi found the stairs. i let her get on the first step and she looked back to me to get approval, i joined her on the steps and let her keep going. she was about half way when ethan decided to follow suit, then her passed her up and made it to the landing before abi reached it. they were both very proud to reach the top.

The Many Faces of Abi in May

Yosemite

To celebrate the cookbook being finished and the month of May being over we decided with Jon, Jolie and Ethan to take a day trip to Yosemite. The weather was great, cloudy, cold and raining, just the way we like it!

We started our day at Glacier Point. We walked to the point and enjoyed the beautiful views, especially before the clouds covered half dome. But before they did using our new wonderful lens for the camera i could see LOTS of people on top of half dome.

We had lunch and made our way down to the valley. On our way there were a ton of cars parked on the side of the road and we soon found out why, there was a brown bear roaming in the meadow. Once we made it down to the valley we also saw lots of dear in the meadows. They were in a couple different places but i grouped the pictures with the bear. There was a funny sign we kept seeing everywhere "Speeding Kills Bears", i thought cars or people kill bears not speeding. . . .and what about killing dear??? my dad has has a couple run-ins with dear not bears, hummm?

Here are a few pictures of the valley. All the falls were not as full as a few weeks before but still looked beautiful.

one last cute picture of abi that didn't make it into the collage

Abi & Galilee

Josh's cousins were in Fresno for a while before heading back to Ethiopia where they are missionaries. They have a little girl named Galilee that is one day older than Abi. They got along so well and were always very excited to see another baby. Here a two pictures of them playing and enjoying each other's company.

Denise's Graduation and Party

The month of May was a busy month, but Denise graduated from Fresno State with a degree in interior design and we needed to celebrate!

I hosted a party with my mom at our house for all Denise's close friends and our family. It was a great night, great weather and delicious food.

Mother Daughter Tea

On May 9th my Mom hosted a Mother-Daughter Tea at church. It was a great afternoon of yummy goodies and tea. Here is a picture of my Mom, Grandmommy, Abi and I.