Abi went swimming!

Saturday night we took Abi swimming for the first time and she loved it! i knew she would since she has been enjoying the bathtub so much. she gets very excited in the water and immediatly lifts her legs and tries to kick and mover her arms, i think she'll be swimming on her own by the end of summer :-)
When she's in the flaoting things she can kick her legs to get closer to you, its pretty funny to watch her work so hard. Here are a few shots with my camera that is water-proof so we can get super close pictures and underwater shots when she's a bit older.

The Bridge to Good Cooking Cookbook!

This post is a little over due but Jolie and I finally finished the cookbook. It took MANY weeks to complete but looks awesome. I came up with the title which i thought was a creative play on words since the name of our church is The Bridge. We designed the layout, typed or copied/pasted all the recipes into an open source page maker program, added drawings from kids at church, and assembled it all (we did have help putting the books together). It took A LOT of hard work and time but we are both so proud of the finished product. We collected over 530 recipes and it turned into almost a 250 page book. All the proceeds of the book go towards this summer's VBS at church.

Amelia's Bridal Shower

On Saturday I hosted a bridal shower for my friend Amelia. She is getting married on July 4th to a great guy named Chris. Josh's sister made the cake and i helped assemble it, kneeded fondont (and ate some too), and then i applied all the white dots, of course the cake was super delicious and looked beautiful when i added real gerbera daisies to the top.

Here are a few pictures of the very hot morning.

Our Backyard

I have been doing a lot of work on our front and backyard. This last Saturday I hosted a bridal shower for my friend Amelia and next Sunday we are having Denise's graduation party so i needed to do a little planting to make the yard a little more inviting. i think everything looks great and really colorful.

I LOVE MY MOMMY!

Now that i am a mom i think more about the relationship that i have with my mom. I pray that as Abi gets older that we will share the same bond that i do with my mom. I try not to take for granted the fact that i have my mom, and that we live so close to eachother. i love spending time with her and want to treasure every moment. My mom is my best friend, my mentor and someone i look up to. i want her to know that I love her and hope her mother's day was relaxing and fun!

Recap of San Francisco

One of the trips that we had been planning to do sometime this spring was head to San Francisco to see some of our friends and family. Abi has never been to SF and we wanted to show her off to some of our family up there.

We weren't sure when we were going to make it up there but we received an invitation to my cousin's wedding and we figured we would take the opportunity to visit the sites and spend some time with family we haven't seen in a couple years.

I took Friday off and we went up early so that we could spend some time relaxing and enjoying the area. We decided to make the best of the afternoon and go to the Aquarium of the Bay. One of the best parts was that we got in for 50% off since we have a Chaffee Zoo membership.

It was a lot of fun and there was quite a lot to see. They have a 300 foot long moving sidewalk that takes you through two different underwater tunnels. The first that was very similar to what is found on the California coastline and the second with sharks, rays, starfish and other various fish.

There was a really cool moon jellyfish exhibit that we got to stare at for a while. We hadn't seen one this big before and I attempted to get quite a few pictures that would hopefully result in some good shots. Abi enjoyed all of the fish and touching some starfish in the petting exhibits.

Here's some pics of the Aquarium:

After the aquarium we decided to go towards Lombard street. It had been quite a long time since Steph had been there and I couldn't remember ever seeing it. It was quite a walk from the top to the bottom and then back up. We ended up going to Coit Tower on Saturday before the wedding and I was able to take pictures from there of Lombard street as well.

In the collage below you'll be able to see 4 photos that I took from Coit tower using both lenses I had with me. The photos are from 14mm, 42mm, 70mm and 300mm on our camera. The big picture is the 300mm from a 1.6 miles away.

Friday night we gave Blake & Rachelle a ride home from work so we could hang out for a bit. Afterwards we got to watch the sunset at Ocean Beach while Steph fed Abi. It was quite a sunset and we hope to be able to go back and enjoy it some more in the future. In the morning on Saturday we enjoyed walking around the Union Square area and going through some of the stores.

The wedding was very nice and quite unique. Both Jacob and Hub were very excited and had a lot of friends join. It was very pretty and dinner was very good. We got to hang out with family from Kansas (soon to be from Texas) that we hadn't seen in a few years. They got to meet Abi and really loved hanging out with her. We're not sure when she'll meet them again, but it was a great time while we could.

We unexpectedly saw some great fire throwers and performers in Union Square on our way back from the wedding on Saturday night. Below are some other pictures from the weekend.

It was a very memorable trip on many fronts and we look forward to spending some more time in SF in the future. Our next trip will definitely include more of Golden Gate park.

The Last Year in Travel

In the past year Stephanie and I (along with Abi) have done the most travelling together than in any other year. We did not expect to travel this much over the past year, but it happened and we've had a great time doing it.

Once Abi was born it didn't really slow us down either. We've had a great time travelling and Abi has been a great sport as we travel up to 7 hours each way on various trips.

Below is a list of everywhere we've been since April 30th, 2008 (in order).

East Coast Trip:
Oakland, CA
Boston, MA
New York City, NY
Washington, DC

Oregon Road Trip:
Redding, CA
Ashland, OR
Portland, OR
Astoria, OR
Washington state line
Eureka, CA
San francisco, CA
Pismo Beach, CA

Abi's Arrival:
Clovis community hospital (when Abi changed her seating arrangement)

Josh's Birthday:
Pismo beach ca

Thanksgiving:
Shaver Lake, CA

Family Trip to the Snow:
Yosemite, CA

Josh's Work Training:
Los Angeles, CA

Josh's Work Training
San diego, CA

Life Group Getaway:
Morro bay, CA

Josh's Cousin's Wedding:
San francisco, CA

Throughout the year we ended up driving the entire CA-101 freeway from the start in southern California to the Oregon border. It took 2 or 3 different trips to drive it all, but we were able to get it done. It wasn't planned, but it is a nice accomplishment to look back on.


For more information on each of the trips, see our previous blogs. We don't expect to keep up this pace, but we will definitely not let Abi stay home. We'll find a way to travel throughout the year so that we all stay used to road trips.

Morro Bay Trip with our Small Group

Friday we left San Diego and drove to Morro Bay for a weekend with our small group. we already had the Morro Bay trip planned before the San Diego trip came up, so needless to say it was a long week of driving from one beach to another. we stayed at a house owned by my parents friends and it fit all 8 adults and 4 kids. the house is great lots of room and a block away from the beach. Saturday we spent the afternoon at the park for lunch and a little shopping on the Embarcadero.

After hanging out downtown Jolie, Amelia and I took Abi and Ethan to the beach for a bit for them to play. They both liked picking up the sand and looking at it. looking at the sequence of pictures above see if you can imagine what abi and ethan are saying to each other.

I love these pictures of abi! she just sat there the whole time just playing with the sand, she was very content. i am surprised she didn't try to eat the sand until we were walking back to the house and she put her fingers in her mouth.

On Sunday we just stayed around the house and before leaving town went to "the rock" as jon put it. in morro bay state park there is a meuseum and a rock that you can climb up, it has great views of morro rock and the bay. we all had a great time and can't wait to take another trip together, we think hume lake is next on our list. . . .

Seaport Village & Point Loma (San Diego, CA)

Before we left on Tuesday for our trip to San Diego we received our new lens for our digital camera. It's a Olympus Zuiko 70-300mm (equiv. to a 140-600 on a 35mm camera) lens that we had been anticipating for quite a while. Luckily for us it came the day before we left so we could take it with us and play with it at the beach. The lens is going to take some getting used to since it can zoom so close. We didn't get the tripod out, but probably should have for some of the shots.

While the training went well, it was a lot of fun to hang out with my ladies at Seaport Village and Point Loma on Thursday night.

We ate dinner at Seaport Village and enjoyed watching some colorful birds near the water. A guy was out there with about 15 various birds that were all brilliant colors and varying sizes. We ended the night with a drive to Point Loma to watch the sunset. It was a great sunset and Abi really enjoyed the wind that was coming off of the coast.

Below is a collage that Steph put together of some of the best pictures from Seaport Village (birds) and Point Loma (sunset).

Scripps Aquarium in LaJolla

Last week Josh had to be in San Diego for training for work and Abi and I got to tag along. I only had 2 full days to entertain ourselves and i didn't want to spend too much money. On Wednesday I took Abi the aquarium in LaJolla, it is much smaller than Monterey but very nice and had a beautiful view of the beach below the hill.

The next day while abi should have been taking nap she decided to play in her pack n' play. she thought it was very funny to press her face against the mesh, when i would lean in to kiss her she would laugh even more.

Easter

The Many Faces of Abi in March

Abi eats rice cereal for the first time!

We fed Abi rice cereal for the first time today. She seemed to enjoy it. The video is long but funny when she takes the spoon herself. Enjoy!

Here are a few still shots that you can hear being taken in the background.

Abi is 6 month's old!

We can't believe it, we have made it to 6 months!!! Abi doing great and so are we. We are happy to say that she is NOT crawling yet and no teeth. 2 things that make us happy right now, she can't move very fast and she can't nibble. But she is a very accomplished "army crawler" and she can roll around the whole living room. It has been such a joy to watch Abi grow and we can't wait to see all the changes in the coming months!

Abi's Dedication

Today we had Abi dedicated at church. It was a very special day and we were able to share it with all of our family! After church we all came back to our house for a beautiful BBQ lunch outside. Here are a few pictures of our day:

The Many Faces of Abi in February

Abi's First Trip to the Zoo

The weekend before we drove the Blossom Trail we took Abi to the Zoo. For Christmas my brother gave us a Zoo membership and we wanted to put it to good use. We know that Abi wouldn't be too into the Zoo but we figured Josh could take some great pictures. Abi's enjoyed being in the front carrier and not having to take a nap. Here are some pictures that Josh took of our afternoon.

Blossom Trail

Last Saturday Josh, Abi and I decided to drive the Blossom Trail to see all the blooming trees and take some pictures. Here are a few pictures of our day.

Boo!

What's not to love. . . . .?

The Many Faces of Abi in January

As I put these together i can't help but think that each set of pictures is more cute than the last. abi's expressions are so funny and i love to look at them. i hope everyone gets a kick out of these like i do.

Our Trip to L.A.

Last week Josh had a conference for work in L.A. and Abi and i got to tag along. I had the chance to see a friend from high school that i hadn't seen for a few years and spend some time with her in Malibu, she showed me where some famous people live and a few other hot spots. Then Josh was able to take the rest of the week off so we could spend time together visiting family. We stayed with my Dad's cousin Liz for 2 nights in Encino and got to visit with her family. Then we drove to Chino Hills to see my Dad's other cousin Martha and her family. The most exciting person for me to spend time with was my great aunt Linda. she has Alzheimer's but i think she remembered me and knew that she had new baby that was coming to visit her. needless to say the conversations with her were pretty funny and very repetitive. my aunt Linda was like a grandma to me when i was younger so it was very important for me to see her and for her to meet Abi. Abi has become a wonderful travel companion and adjusts really well to new surroundings and people as long as she gets to eat on schedule she stays pretty happy, even without regular naps.

The Many Faces of Abi in December

A little something to brighten your day!

Grandma wanted to take Abi to Nashville

My Mom wanted to pack Abi and take her to Nashville for a conference. My Mom is sad that she wont see Abi for two whole weeks! Abi didn't mind being in the suit case for a few minutes but we both figured she probably wouldn't like it for very long. So my mom decided it was best for Abi to stay home.

Abi Talking and giggling

Yosemite

The Saturday after Christmas our family decided to take a trip to Yosemite for the day. The valley was covered in snow and was so beautiful. it was a warm 29 degrees in the shade and a bit warmer in the sun. we had a delicious lunch at the ahwahnee hotel and spend the rest of the day taking lots of pictures and playing in the snow.

First Annual Christmas Cookie Decorating

This year my mom decided to start a new tradition of decorating christmas cookies. She figured it would be a fun thing to do before christmas and as our family grows and denise and aaron start families some day it would be a fun activity for the kids. Denise hand decorated stocking cookies for each person that would be over for christmas eve dinner she even used tweezers to apply some of the sprinkles! Abi even helped by holding the sprinkles for my mom. here are a few pictures of the afternoon.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

My favorite smile so far. . . .

Abi and Ethan

On Sunday during a Sunday school leaders meeting Abi and Ethan were laying side by side on the couch and periodically they would reach over and hold each other's hand. They did this quite a few times but i thought it may be rude to pull out my camera in the middle of our meeting to capture the super cute moment. So after the meeting Jolie and I reenacted the hand holding and the kids went along with it. . . .

Christmas Tree Lane

Last Tuesday Josh, Abi and I walked down Christmas Tree Lane with Jon, Jolie and Ethan. It was a nice night and wasn't as cold as we expected but very wet from the drizzly fog. I think the highlight of the night may have been the guys spotting a car in the parking lot at Fig Garden Village, it was a De Lorean (the car from Back to the Future). The guys had to stop and take a few pictures as seen above.

Thanksgiving at Shaver Lake

This year my parents decided to rent a huge, beautiful cabin at Shaver Lake. Now when most people hear "cabin" you may assume a rustic log cabin with the only source of heat being a wood stove, this was not the case where we stayed. This cabin was 3 stories, 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms a beautiful kitchen and many other amenities. So here are a few pictures of us "roughing it" in the mountains.

The Many Faces of Abi in November

Ben's Trip to Fresno

Our friend Ben made a last minute trip to Fresno because his Grandfather passed away. He wanted to meet Abi and Ethan so we got together this morning. I thought it would be funny to compare the picture we took this summer of Ben with us before the babies were born and then a picture with Abi and Ethan. The funny thing is that Ben happens to be wearing the same shirt in both pictures (did you plan that Ben?).

Josh's Birthday Trip

For Josh's 28th Birthday we took a long weekend to Pismo. We had the trailer all to ourselves and had a relaxing time.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Santa Maria to see Josh's cousin Paul and his wife Alison and Josh's Aunt and Uncle. They hadn't met Abi yet so we spent a few hours hanging out and enjoying a yummy dinner.

We think Abi really enjoyed her first trip to the beach. There will be many more trips to Pismo but there is nothing like the first time a baby can put their feet in the sand.

Halloween

Just a Few More Cute Pictures

Two weeks ago we were at my parents house for a family dinner. My grandparents (my mom's Dad and Step-mom) hadn't met Abi yet so we took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the generations that were there that night. I hope everyone is around long enough for Abi to appreciate the fact that she has 4 living great-grandparents, 4 grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins. never has our family seemed so big when you think of all that we are so fortunate to have around us.

The Many Faces of Abi (and more to come).

i tried using the picasa collage tool and it works great for a large number of pictures. this way i don't have to spend all day uploading pictures to our blog. especially when we have SOOOOO many pictures that we want to share with everyone.

Ethan & Abi

I think Abi is showing Ethan who's boss!

Pumpkin Pictures

These pictures were quite tricky to take, first, wait until Abi was awake and happy then keep her from tipping over.

Mikow Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Antique photographs - Dynasty

I don't think it is gas. . . .