30!

today is adam's birthday. his 30th to be exact:) we had a fun day.

here is eli eagerly waiting to give adam his present, then the opening.

a family shot...eli looks so happy:)

wrestling on the bed...one of my favorite family activities. even lyla participated today...however her version of wrestling is basically crawling around on the bed...but she's very excited about it.

adam and i went out to dinner at happy fish sushi (which seems like a strange name for a sushi place...happy? i doubt it) and then out for ice cream. my parents watched the kids, and when we got home we sang and had cupcakes. eli was so excited about the cupcakes...can you tell?

good times

happy birthday baby!!!

swinging

just like her big brother, lyla loves to swing. eli asks almost every day to ride his bike to the little park in our neighborhood. overall, the park is lame. but the swings are the old school type with really long chains so you can go really high, which makes underdogs really fun.

just some notes

lyla is beginning to figure out the way things "are" in the world. she just started to wipe things down, like i do when i'm cleaning up. she gets a wipe and and rubs away. tonight after dinner she wanted to wipe my face, then daddy's face, then her tray and her hands. does she have any clue what she's doing or is she just copying me?



she also is beginning to "dress" herself. she has been able to put on a necklace for a while now. but today she started trying to put on her shoes and socks. this entails setting the sock/shoe on the top of her foot and balancing it there...it's really cute to watch.



facial geography is oh so fun...when i ask her "where's my nose?" she points correctly:) why is this stuff so exciting? my guess is it's the progression from helpless blob of skin to functioning member of society. it all starts here...learning where a nose is, "putting on" shoes and cleaning lessons. this is it. this is learning to live life.



i think this excitement must be how God feels while watching us grow in faith. each little step closer to Him is greeted with a cheer and excitement. why else, as parents, would we feel the way we do? why? because we were created in His image. He's excited about His kids. and i'm excited about mine:)

hiking on the oregon coast

well...not really, but it felt like it. we went up to mores mountain for a father's day hike. it was cold, foggy, green and lush. it had amazing views, even with the clouds. it reminded me so much of our vacations as a kid on the californian/oregon coast. adam carved eli a walking stick, which quickly became a sword...followed by much fighting.

sweet baby

she LOVED the moss on the trees. as we walked by it she would get all excited, bounce up and down and reach out and try to "pet" it. i think she thought it was some kind of animal...it was really funny.

daddy and eli climbing the rocks

there were so many really stunning views, wild flowers, rock formations and trees.

thanks so much for suggesting this suzanne, it is such a great spot!

lyla's new favorite place

the neihgborhood H20 fight

it was finally (almost) warm enough for a water balloon fight a few days ago. our neighbors had all the kids in the hood over to pelt each other. after the balloons were thrown, they turned to the hoses. i think eli liked this even more than the balloons.

liven' in the clouds

the other day we were driving and saw some beautiful clouds in the sunset.

i said - eli, isn't it amazing that God created that?
he said - yeah, i think i see His house!!!
i said - you did! where?
he said - oh no, i don't think that's it.

i'll definitely miss these conversations some day.