Apple Hill 2015

This year we got a chance to head up to Apple Hill in Placerville which is one of my favorite places to visit. It's beautiful, refreshing and everything pertaining to Fall lies in this place. From the colors, to the smells, to the views, to the tastes. This place is a must see if you ever are in Northern California. When we go we make sure to hit a few of our favorite spots.

Rainbow Orchards

Home of the Hot Apple Cider Donut. I'm sorry you LA donut lovers, you haven't tasted a real donut until you have tasted this. It's made when you order and given to you warm. They have an entire barn filled with awesome produce and I really loved tasting the Arkansas Black Apples, great texture, meatiness, sweetness and beautiful color. Make this your first stop in the morning before hitting up the rest of Apple Hill, they open at 9am. Perfect place to start your morning.

In the second picture while my dad was holding Jonathan he grabbed an apple out of the presorted bins for sale and took a bite out of it. We ended up buying that apple. So funny. He held onto it for a good majority of the morning munching away.

Zeke couldn't wait to get his hands on one of these. In the third picture below Zeke isn't looking but Jonathan is about to steal his donut.

Did I mention the beautiful grounds? It's so nice to be in a place that's just filled with vitality. Things are fresh, crisp, colorful. People are nice, industrious and know the value of hard work and patience. It's on my bucket list to own my own orchard one day. I want my hands and feet in the dirt and I want to see the sunrise on my own land. And I want to share with my family the legacy and the rich blessing that God gives through something so simple.

Over the weekend the weather dropped about 20 degrees in one evening and we had an amazing downpour of rain. I just love it when it rains. Some of us were prepared and some were not:)

We ended the weekend with some pumpkin carving.

A One Year Old and a Preschooler

Today we are reflecting on two major events, Jonathan turning one year old on July 29th and Zeke starting preschool today on Sep 15th. These are both huge milestones for them and us as parents. Just making it to one year with a child is a huge accomplishment as well as potty training your three year old and preparing him for school. It's exciting and overwhelmingly precious. We will never get back the year and years past but those will be times we cherish and we are thankful everyday for the life that God has entrusted to us.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY JONATHAN

HAPPY 1st DAY OF PRESCHOOL ZEKE

Happy Resurrection Day

One thing I will remember most this Easter is Good Friday, April 3rd. This was a very important day for me because it was the first time Zeke told me he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. He has heard the Gospel story many times but never has he wanted to ask Jesus to save him until the evening of Good Friday while sitting at the dinner table. He wanted to be saved, he wanted Jesus to come into his heart so that he could go to Heaven and his sins forgiven. He asked me how do I pray? How do I ask him? So I showed him how and we prayed together asking Jesus to save him. It was an amazing moment of faith and of God's grace. There is nothing more humbling to me than to see a three year old seeking Christ. The Gospel message is simple...

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:8-10

My prayer is that Zeke will be remember this day and continue to seek Christ as he grows old.

We had a really nice Easter celebration with Robert's side of the family and we got some pictures to share too! This was the first time I was able to dress Zeke and Jonathan in matching outfits. Zeke and Jonathan loved looking at Aunt Barb's bunny and they got to go swimming in their heated pool!

Best Brothers

3 Years Old!

Happy 3rd Birthday Zeke!

Before I even began to discuss with Zeke the details of his birthday, he already had an opinion on what he wanted. He wanted a Lightning McQueen birthday cake. So of course because I love Zeke very much I set out to try to make one. And because ideation is not one of my strengths I had to rely on the internet for the idea. We had a park birthday and the weather was great!

Thank you to all the friends and family that came. Zeke really loved his birthday very much. 

Now that Zeke is three years we decided to interview him...

What is your favorite color?   Blue

What is your favorite toy?   Lightning McQueen Cars. But not the Dusty airplane because he doesn't have his landing gear.

What is your favorite food?  Salad and In N Out

Where do you live? Redondo Beach!

What is your favorite book?  The Dusty Crophopper book

What is your favorite thing to do outside?   Play with my tractor

What is your favorite ball?  A volleyball

What is your favorite way to get to the park?  Walk, drive a car, ride a dinosaur

What is your favorite ice cream?  The granola kind

What is your favorite place to go?  At home!

What makes you happy? Lightning McQueen

What makes you sad?  Yucky chicken

What is your favorite sport?  Soccer

What is your favorite movie?  Planes

What do you want to be when you grow up?  I don't know

Who is your best friend?  You (points at mommy)

What is your favorite animal?  The rabbit

3 Months

Before too much time gets away from me I wanted to post some official pictures of Jonathan at 3 months old. I love these pictures. This week he will be 4 months old (the week of Thanksgiving). I am very thankful for my family and this new little addition:)

At 3 to 4 months old so far Jonathan can...

• Laughs and giggles- especially when you tickle him under his chin
• Rolls over - he is very determined to move around!
• Grabs his feet and toes - he loves looking down at his feet and grabbing them
• Smiles - his smile is charming:)
• Chews on his hands - I think he is teething already
• Grabs at toys - He loves toys a lot!
• Grabs at food - I was eating a burrito the other day and he about grabbed the whole thing out of my hand!
• Scoots backwards - this was very surprising to me, almost a backwards crawl
• Cries and says mama - I am pretty sure that is what he is saying
• Wearing 3 to 9 month clothing - it's a wide range due to his length
• Watches his brother like a hawk
• Naps well during the day with 1 to 2 wakeful moments at night - I figured out he has been a little cold at night in our apartment and he fills his diaper quickly which bothers him
• Exclusively feeds from a bottle breast milk every 2 to 3 hours and loads up before naps and bedtime

Brothers

The past three months have been the most challenging and refining months of my mommy life. So much has happened I don't think I could even write it all out. I have literally had no time to take a step back and marvel at God's abundant blessings. These infant and toddler moments seem so trying and tiring, and yet so rewarding. This season in life is literally a vapor, coming and going so quickly. Every moment is so precious that I long for the frame of life to slow for just one second more so that I can capture in my memory God's wonderful and fearful creation.

Here is a picture of Zeke almost 3 years and his little brother Jonathan now 3.5 months. Jonathan loves watching Zeke's ever inspiring energy. And Zeke loves his brother very much.