ONE year!

Happy 1st Birthday to my precious baby boy Jake!

i can't believe how fast ONE YEAR can go.

we celebrated about three weeks early because

papa, uncle rob and auntie erica were in town!

jake has been such a wonderful blessing to our family

he brings a smile to my face when i see him.

i pray for him daily and wonder what the Lord has in store for his life.

i am so thankful to be his mama and jacob is honored to be his dada.

the party was monkey themed!
here are some pictures from the party! enjoy!

since the party was monkey themed, jake had his own cake
and everyone else had BANANA SPLITS!! they were sooo yummy!

here is jake and his papa and nana and grandma and grandpa!


there was lots of swimming at the party and gabriella is sooo happy to have her cast off!!


i will post more pics from the party tomorrow and i will show the invites too!
WE LOVE YOU JAKERS!

4 years...

4 years ago today i married my best friend

4 years ago today i had no idea where i would be in 4 years

4 years ago today i put all of my worldly trust in him

4 years ago today i was nervous, excited,

uncertain of what the future would bring

4 years ago today i went to the longest wedding ceremony i have ever been to

(1 1/2 hours to be exact) it was wonderful!

in 4 years i have no idea where we will be

or what we will be doing

or where we will celebrate,

but one thing i know for certain (Lord willing)

i will be with the love of my life,

MY HUSBAND!

papa & jake.

the last time papa saw jake he was only 4 months old.

this time he was much more active!

papa, jake loves you very much!

DISNEYLAND

I know it has been a long time since i have posted...

so i have a lot to catch up on.

papa left yesterday to go back to afghanistan...

our "summer" vacation is over.

we had sooo much fun spending lots of time with our families!

we went to DISNEYLAND...

we ALL went on pirates of the caribbean...

the girls sing "a pirates life for me" all day long now and loved the ride!

jake was scared stiff!

there was some crying and some laughing and some fun fun fun.

we can't wait to go again next summer!

lone pine... part 2

tubing in lone pine was not what we bargained for...
i know it has been a while since i posted last,
but i wanted to show another fun thing we did over the 4th of July.


we went tubing in a "river" that was not so clean and maybe not so safe.
we all made it out alive and safe after 41/2 hours!!!


we were all burnt and tired and hungry!


it was a once in a lifetime opportunity,
because we are NEVER doing it again!


not everyone was smiling at the end...
but lots of fun memories were made!

polka dots and poppies!

it is officially OPEN!!

my ETSY shop is called polka dots and poppies!

you can get to it here!

i have lots of other things in mind that i would love to make,

but that will take a little time.

here is what i have listed right now:

let me know what you think!

i can make this in any color combo that you would like! 

i know there is only one thing for sale right now, 

but more is on the way!

i am also going to be making loose flowers to put in a vase,

and bouquets for weddings too!

there are lots of fun things to come!

lone pine...part l

for the 4th we went to a family reunion in lone pine.
it was nice and HOT!

we planned on going on a short walk to fish,
but it was a bit longer and ended up being a hike up a mountain.


this was some of the easier terrain!
and if you are wondering yes we brought strollers and babies!

our sweet girl helping carry her chair when we reached the top.


Cousins being NICE to eachother. i love to see them being kind! it warms the heart.


there were tons of mosquitoes so i covered the kids in bug spray, with NO SPF!!
needless to say, BURNT BABY!!


since this pic was taken, jake had blisters and his face has been peeling!
i felt too bad to take pics of the blisters because it looked horrible!


our little family after a tiring day of hiking, but great family time.
this day was not what we may have had in mind,
but we all made great memories and will always remember being together!