Summer of Fun

From what I heard today is officially the last day of Summer..bring it on fall! Not to say that I did not enjoy the summer time at all, I loved every minute of "first" moments with our little boy.

His first swim class was near the end of July into August. I was amazed at the things you can teach your little one about swimming at such a young age. I mostly signed us up because we needed to do something with other people and their kids to get out of the house yet stay cool in the process, something not easily accomplished in Ramona. We walked away from it with lots of helpful tips and such to make our pool time safe and fun. Korban loved jumping off of the edge to the tune of "jack be nimble" or "Humpty Dumpty".

As the day would cool down to something tolerable enough to play outside, Korban would ride in his little bike and help me water the garden and pick any veggies that were ready for eating. The tomato plant is his favorite and each time he see's it I hear "mmm!" and something that sounds like he is trying to say"more?"

Another "first" moment, Korban's first time sitting at the table NOT in a high chair! He was so proud of his new little booster seat. Granted he seams to make more of a mess now that he has more room but it's worth it:)

Then there was his first Padres game! I really did not think he would make it through the whole thing and I was actually quite nervous about bringing him. There isn't exactly anywhere for him to play or crawl but when you attend a game with grandma and grandpa and ton of people from church, chances are somebody is going t want to hold him. In fact he hardly sat with us the whole time! Padres won and we had a blast.

And as if his loud and funny drum playing wasn't enough music to fill the house with "a joyful noise", Korban became interested in the Harmonica. He picked up the concept quickly and gets a kick out of playing it.

Eat your heart out Blues Brothers.

Oh how the list could go on and on.....but I can save them for another day. We just did so much stuff and met with so many friends and family over the summer, to put it into one blog would be way too overwhelming! God willing I will blog again soon...but don't hold your breath just in case!

Crazy Days of Summer

Hot summer days got you down?

Well don't you worry! There is plenty to do!
Nothing says cool down like a nice splash in the pool...what the heck, invite some friends!




Or, you can take in some of the finer amusements like Sea World or the Wild Animal Park. Watch out for those pesky lions!



Now might even be the time to pick up a new hobby or two such as cycling or really loud drums.





But one thing is for sure, you must take time to enjoy the simple things such as...

Reading a good novel.


The fresh sent of a newly washed snugly.


Ice cream!


Dandelions


Beautiful sunsets.


So you see, there is no need for the summer blues. As long as you have a willing Mommy with a fully loaded diaper bag and well charged camera...you can go just about anywhere and do just about anything, well, almost anything.

Happy Birthday!

It is 8:07 am right now and our little boy is STILL asleep....this is rare so I am taking the opportunity to do my first blog in weeks. Korban didn't even go t bed late last night but I think he is just so tired from all of the Birthday fun he had yesterday. His actual birthday was on Wednesday and is was as if he knew that it was his day. It is an emotional thing when your first little baby turns one and isn't really a baby anymore:( But seeing him become more of a toddler and little boy who wants to play and get messy is so much fun to witness. Birthday cake take one....

This was just a little cupcake but it made a huge mess! He enjoyed every second of it. But as if that was not enough, Sunday was his birthday party with our family and friends. The children had such a good time playing in the pool and splashing around and I think all the adults were happy that I scheduled it for 4:00 in the afternoon and not an hour sooner because it was insanely hot. We probably could have cooked the hot dogs on the cement that day.
As a mom I could go on and on about every little thing that blessed my heart about Korban yesterday but then I would never be able to stop, so to make a long story short, here are my favorite pictures...

Well, it is 8:30 and I think I hear a little birthday boy waking up:)

Pause.....

I really needed to pause a moment in my busy life and just sit down and write about all the happenings lately.......breathe..O.K. here we go.
I have packed and unpacked for 3 separate occasions in the last month. First was Utah. My sweet hubby purchased a ticket for Korban and I to fly out to Utah and stay with my parents for a week. And my sweet parents drove 2 hours to pick us up in Lost Vegas, (it is easy to get lost in there). We had such a great time! I can't wait to do it again next year and in May again. The weather was so perfect and everything was green and beautiful. This is Bryce Canyon 10 minutes away from my parents house.

We attended a "New Harmony Days" thingy that I cannot find the words to describe but maybe this photo will help...

It reminds me of one of those funny Birthday cards you get to make fun of turning another year older...If you can think of a caption for it I would like to see it.

Yes it is what it says and it was funny seeing as how the strong wind was a great disadvantage for those who participated. Lets just say I stood far away from the direction the wind was blowing and the people were spitting.

All in all though, I have to say, we did have a fun time and Korban loved watching the square dancing and clapped after each song and dance. The Chili cook off was pretty tasty and pie contest was good as well, once I found a pie that I liked. I actually wish our town did more stuff like this for families.
My parents also have a big patch of green grass in front of their house and we spent several evening out there just letting Korban play and be a boy.

Our last day we Hiked in Zion. It truly makes you amazed at God's creation. I was dizzy just by looking up at the amazing canyons as we were walking through them, but you can't help but look because they are so majestic! The squirrels are quite friendly as well but they weren't going to get any food from me!

Prying Korban away from the river was not a happy moment for him...he just loves water!

Breathe....Next reason for packing my bags again fro the second time...
It was our 6th anniversary. I could hardly believe it was already here! My hubby whisked me away to the Madonna Inn in San Luis Abispo. We had passed it on our way to Chico a few months ago and thought it would be a cool place to visit some day in the near future. So we did and had a blessed time. Josh said he had picked it especially for me because of the field full of Mama horses and their foals but I think he just got lucky on that one......he did not actually know they were there but it made it all that much more sweet.
Here's to many more years my love!

Oky doky, one more breath because it's not over yet, you might want to grab a snack....just kidding it's not too much;)
I packed once again for our Church Women's Retreat with the theme "In God We Trust".
I have to admit when I got there that I was feeling pretty good about my "trust" in God lately. The speaker was good and quite funny too I might add with her Mississippi accent. Now I am not trying to sound boastful or prideful about the whole trust thing, it's just that things have been smooth as butter lately and life is good! But oh how our God loves to give us more to trust Him with just when we think we have it all together. There is not need to say what because our God knows but lets just say I need to trust Him with every situation and that He will be my mouth and my heart. I walked away from this retreat with lots of "fruit"to chew on for a while.
Then Josh and I have the oh so fun discussion about finances. My hubby is excellent with our finances and he is just sick of having this last little bit to pay so he says we really need to buckle down. No problem, we can trust in God to help us do this. We are so close to being debt free that I want to call the Dave Ramsey show and yell "we are dept free!" over the air ways. (He is a Christian financial adviser on the radio who has people say this on his station). Monday comes and Josh's car goes Ca putz, croaks, dies , bites the big one and any other phrase you can think of. A little voice whispers Trust Me....I am glad this happened right after the women's retreat because Trust was fresh in my mind along with everything I learned. I think any other time I might have cried and been pretty stressed and upset. So Josh gets online right away and looks for a used car within our financial guidelines.....we move some finances around.....spend the whole day looking....and whala, we found a car, praise God, Hallelujah, yippee and anything else you can think of!
Well Dave Ramsey, give us another couple of months and I just might be calling you!

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, and trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:3-5

I need to pause and breathe a while and let this verse sink in. I hope it encourages anyone else out there too.

Happy 30th

Today my Man turned 30. He was not too happy about it at first but I think once he was joined by family and dear friends to celebrate, it did not seem so bad. We had such a pleasant time in the front yard eating fried chicken and playing Bachi Ball followed by some decadent ice cream cake and gift/card opening afterward. Korban wanted to get in on the gift opening with Daddy....

We had such a nice time and are thankful for all who came.

Wednesday Korban and I leave for a week long trip to Utah to stay with my parents. We are very excited about it but It is going to be hard to be away from Josh for that long. Have you ever missed someone before you even left them? I know it's only a week but what can I say, I love the guy:)

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Busy Body

This past month Korban has been very busy....

Playing loudly and happily on the drums with Dad...

Going to the Bookstore with his best friend Lilly...


Teaching his new friend Duke some new tricks...notice any resemblance in the cheeks?


And closely studying the stickiness of spaghetti.

He had places to go and people to see like Uncle Paul and Aunt Mary in Chico but before we could get to Chico we took a little detour up the coast to see our friends Dom and Emily in Carpenteria and their two adorable children. Carpenteria is such a cute and quaint little town, a must see if you ever take a road trip up the coast. After our visit there we moseyed on up to Monterrey to visit our dear friend Jonny. While waiting to eat at "Passion Fish", the restaurant where Jonny works, Josh, Korban and I took a stroll down the old Fisherman's wharf...

Hungry from our driving and walking, Korban enjoyed a fine cuisine
with Mr. Frog at Passion Fish. He found the Gerber apple and pear sauce to be delicious.


Finally after many stops, diaper changes and his first diaper rash ever :( we made it to Chico:)
I loved this town. It was so cute and old and beautiful. I like places like this a lot and only wished we could have stayed longer until the rain had passed. Yep, it rained the whole time we were there but we still went out and had fun. The parks here are so pretty and green with lots of neat trails and play structures for the little ones.




(Josh said to Korban "Wazup!" and this is the reaction we get...
I think Uncle Paul found it funny too)

The next day we went to a soda shop but I think it was called the Root Beer Brewery (Mary please correct me if I'm wrong!) I am so bad at remembering the names of places that we visit. Anyways, They had every kind of old fashioned soda you could think of and ones that I just had never heard of before and I wish I could have had a sample of every one!



Their root beer floats and sweet potato fries were DELICIOUS! Korban thought otherwise about the float.....I think it was the bubbles but his expression is priceless.


All in all it was a nice visit with the family and we can't wait to find out what they are having! I think Mary is having a boy but we should find out soon enough.

Speaking of baby's and becoming a Mama, My mothers day was quite restful and pleasant.
My baby boy is such a blessing to me and I am ever so thankful to be his mommy....
I love you too Korban!