A Boy and A Stage

I just came across this video of Kaden busting out some sweet dance moves in down town Monterey. We're outside of Bubba Gumps with Jennie (yes, from the movie Forest Gump) and the restaurant has these wooden crates that the boys have adopted as their own personal stage whenever we're down there. Anyways, this is what you get when you cross Kaden with a chance to perform! :) He gets all his talent from his parents...who also can't dance! :)

  And just in case anyone was wondering what' on the schedule for this weekend....it's Costco again! :) Somehow, I always end up grocery shopping on the weekends. However, I do hope to get in a walk along the coast and some family time...can't spend all my time at Costco you know! :) Hope everyone has a good weekend. Jesus loves you!

What Mommies Are Good For

Quote from Kaden this morning..."Mommies are good for goodnight kisses and making breakfast!"

Sunday night rambling

I'm not sure what Caleb's pointing to I just like the expression on his face :)
Sitting by the fountain...it's the only place we could get them to sit and take a picture since it was in the shade

Ok, we found on more shady place to take a picture
Pointing out the lemons in the lemon tree
I love this one that Matt took of the dew drop on the flower
  Not much going on just felt the need to say hello to everyone. Spent a quiet and semi-productive weekend spending time with the Van Hook boys and organizing baby clothes. It astounds me how much stuff we've accumulated since having children! We've been very blessed and I'm excited it's our turn to share the blessing! :) 

  Matt's finishing up some homework (I do NOT miss homework) for the start of another week. Not sure what we'll be up to this next week...probably more organizing and purging...This nesting syndrome is driving me crazy but at least it helps me be productive. 

  As for the pictures, we took these last weekend when we visited a local mission in Carmel. Matt's having fun and getting really good with his new camera so thought I'd share and brag on him a bit. This weekend was not so sunny...in fact it's rained for the last four days...but I'm not complaining rain is still better then snow! :) 

  Hope you all have a great start to your week. Jesus loves you. 

  

What are you doing?

I'm headed to Cosco (grocery warehouse) on this fine Saturday. What are you up too? :)

Boys day out vs. Moms day in

Just thought I'd share a quick Kaden quip with you.  To be fair, I do like cleaning and some may say I'm slightly obsessed with it :) that being said here is the following conversation:

  Kaden: " Caleb wouldn't it be fun to go fishing! We can't go fishing in the ocean because we're to small and the fishes will pull us in, but we can go fishing in the lake, and that would be fun." Turning to me..."Mom, someday Dad is going to take us fishing for a fun boys day out, and you...you can stay home and catch up on laundry! Won't that be fun!" :)

  

Date Day

Kaden's shot of the model blimp

Kaden's favorite ship in the museum
My little Fireman checking out the bay
Posing on the huge ship anchor
Kaden telling mommy to "pose"
My Fireman turned Pirate got to hold a real bird down on the warf...he wan't real thrilled but did it long enough for me to get a picture. 

Kaden and I got to go on a date Sunday, his choice as to activity. We had a special day down by Fisherman's warf. He wanted to spend it first at the Maritime museum where we looked at all the old model ships, played with the horns of the lighthouse, and watched a short movie on the blimp. Then we walked down Fisherman's warf and looked in the pirate store and wandered with the people. At the end of the warf there was a man with about 11 birds for people to meet and hold. We left the warf and headed to Target (where else) for Kaden to spend some of his Christmas money. I was so proud, he's turning out to be a bargain hunter just like me! :) We had a great time just being together, and I loved getting to see and hear about the world from my little man.

 Hope everyone had a good Monday. Jesus loves you!

January 17, 2009

View of the Pacific
A random blimp flying over Pebble Beach
Happy face on the beach
Drums....
...or hat
You decide

Just wanted to send all of you in the frozen part of the country a glimpse of what January is looking like in California! :)

San Francisco

View of San Francisco from the Full House hill top! ( the opening scene of Full House)
The crookedest street in the world...Lambard street

City of San Francisco
View of the bay from Pier 39 (Golden Gate in the background)
Kaden on the carasol (sp) on Pier 39...definitely the highlight of the day for the boys (couldn't get a picture of Caleb where he was riding)
Brothers at the Palace of the Fine Arts
Jennie and Michelle
Highlight of the trip for Jennie...this place is from her favorite movie Heart and Souls
Matt got a great picture of the MOON rising above the city just as the sun was going down on the other side of the Golden Gate! It was huge and we later found out it was the biggest moon of the year.
Highlight of the day for Kaden. At first glimpse of the Golden Gate he exclaimed, "This is the FIRST time I've seen it in my WHOLE LIFE!!!!" 
Kaden by a cross section of one of the cables that hold up the bridge
Beautiful night and beautiful girl

Our big trip with Jennie was up to San Francisco. It was a long day but we had a blast and thanks to Matt's exceptional driving skills and ability to navigate we not only survived the driving and the city but go to see so many parts...weird, beautiful, scenic, and well...it is San Francisco so you can imagine all that we got to see! :) 

First few days

Amazing 
Caleb was not so thrilled with the forest. 
Walking the trail...one of the few moments Caleb was walking...can you see the baby belly!
Kaden on the forest trail. He LOVED running through the forest and exploring, a true adventurer at heart.
Inside a Redwood! 
On the Boardwalk...yes, the boardwalk from the song.
Chatting on the beach

Finally getting around to posting some pictures from the first few days Jennie has been in California...actually these pictures are all from one day but you get the idea. We took a trip up to Big Basin up in the Redwood forest. It is indescribable how amazing and awe inspiring these trees can be. Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and it's just astounding to see their height and width and to realize how long ago God made these trees and all they have lived through. There is a cross section of one of the trees up by the lodge that shows all the rings and that tree has been there since like 200 A.D.!!! Incredible. Needless to say we were all impressed...well not all of us. Caleb was actually terrified the entire time we were there. When we first stepped on the trail, Kaden innocently said something about spiders in the tree and not wanting to get to close. Next thing we knew, Caleb was screaming in terror...and didn't stop for about 30 min. Best we could figure between sobs was that he thought the ground (which was damp and covered with pine needles and leaves) looked like worms and spiders and he was afraid to walk on it. Needless to say, the serenity of the forest was broken but it was still enjoyable and once he calmed down we coaxed a few smiles from him and he eventually even touched a tree! :)

  After the redwoods we headed to the beach and showed Jennie the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It was shut down for the winter but still fun to walk through. Since then we've done shopping days, the aquarium, Big Sur, Carmel, and San Francisco! Fun times. We've got some great pictures thanks to Matt's new camera so I'll get those uploaded sometime this week. He's getting really good at photography! We're just going to enjoy every minute we have until Jennie has to head home!

  Hope you all are have a great start to your week. Jesus loves you.

First Post of 2009

Mommy and Caleb on the beach ( I love his little red nose!)
We celebrated new year's eve with an amazing spread, sparkling cider, amazing friends, worship, a good movie, and party hats...what more could you want...and I even stayed awake until 12!
Matt with his boys on the "dog stature" that he used to go to as a small boy when he visited his grandparents. 
  Four days into the new year and I thought it was time to stop in and say hello! :) We've had a fun and blessed whirlwind of the last couple of weeks. We enjoyed every unplanned moment of the last week with our dear friends (yes, we did all the "normal" Van Hook sight seeing tour stops such as the aquarium, Big Sur, Lovers Point, Fisherman's Warf...but added in Jack's Peak and San Mateo)  and just feel so blessed to love and be loved in return. That being said, we've spent the last couple of days taking Christmas down, cleaning the house, running errands, and preping for our next guest...Ms. Jennie! We are so excited that Jennie is coming to spend the next week with us. She is one of our daughters from Del Rio (from the youth group) and I can't wait to show off California to her and her to California. 

  Kaden is excited to head back to school tomorrow...Matt is not as excited to head back on Wednesday. That leaves Caleb and I without school but I'm sure we'll be busy as we pick up the routine and mommy starts nesting! I have the unquenchable desire to purge, organize, and clean...hmmm must mean we're in the second trimester! :) 

  Hope everyone's New Year is off to a blessed start...no matter what the circumstances may you know that God is on His throne and this world is just a shadow of things to come!