Last Night with Daddy

Tonight we spent some time as a family before Josh heads off to China. It was a great evening! We went on a walk, ate Popsicles, and just had some fun time. It was a relatively calm night that was very much needed after the last week of busyness. We spent the last week down in San Diego celebrating my cousin Aaron's wedding, going to Mexico for dental work, getting sick, going to the Doctors in San Diego, celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary, and help at our churches summer bible camp. As I write all this I understand why we are all SO tired:) Here are a few pictures of the last week!

This is Josh and Ezekiel with their Popsicles.














Ezekiel wanted Daddy's!









Here are some pictures at the wedding. Did I mention that it was 109 degrees!!!!!!

































We also spent time in the pool. It was perfect weather to be in the pool:)

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Day to Josh (Daddy)!!!!

He is an amazing daddy and Ezekiel LOVES him!!! They have so many special times together and yesterday was just one of them. We spent the evening at Disneyland at Daddy's request. It was a great evening as a family!

Ridin' Man

Here is our first attempt at a video. We wanted to show Mema what a big boy Ezekiel is.

Splish, Splashin' Saturday

Today was spent in swim trunks. The first water adventure took place at a church car wash. Ezekiel helped Daddy and the students clean some cars.

Next we spent the afternoon and evening with some family friends, the Boswiths. It was a great time of hanging out, laughing, and swimming. Thanks Boswiths for your friendship!
Here is Ezekiel jumping into the water and loving his swim time. He loved going under:)

Mini Papa

Ezekiel finally got a hair cut after quite a while. It seemed every time we thought about cutting his hair it was either too late or we had something else that needed to be done. So finally yesterday we had the time. It was amazing the resemblance that came out.

We have always known Ezekiel has a lot of my father (Papa) in him, but if you look at him now-he's a spittin' image! He has his ears, his features, his hair, and lots of his personality. He is very giving- to the point that he won't take no for an answer. You must take what he gives you!!!! He is very kick back and easy going and he LOVES the garage too. I know that if Ezekiel grows up to be a man like my father I will be blessed. My father is amazing I couldn't pick anyone better for my son to be like. My father is kind, generous, selfless, gifted (he can fix anything and build anything) and overall is the BEST and GREATEST father a person can have. In general- he is Superman- seriously the man should have an "S" on his chest! So on this fathers day weekend I look at my son and am elated at all the traits that my son gets from his Papa.

WE LOVE YOU DADDY!!!!!

The Dark side of the Zoo

On the request of Auntie Tiffany I share the following dark sides of our trip to the zoo today. Yes there are sides- as in plural.

First while I said Ezekiel and I saw many animals the side I neglected to mention is that while I was pointing out and trying to get Ezekiel to focus on the animals he had only one thing on his mind- BALLS. It seems that in every cage or pen or area each animal had a ball to play with. So as I lovingly look at my son so intently staring into the cage, pen, or area and I feel this overwhelming pride build up at the thought of my son taking in the animal and admiring I say "look at the _____"....and he respond......."BALL" -- what can I do, the kid LOVES every kind of Ball and will find one in any type of environment.

Second, EVERYTHING is a Dog. We have just covered the two overuse and predominate words in Ezekiel's vocabulary. After Ezekiel excitedly pointed out every ball today, he proceeded to call every animal a dog. I have just come to the conclusion that correction is falling on deaf ears and for sometime everything with four legs, fur, and animal like is a DOG. There is no arguing or changing.
Next came the playground. This is where we truly entered the DARK side. As Ezekiel took his first steps into the playground today he was greeted by a not so nice boy. After the following you will understand why this description is accurate. This boy ran up to Ezekiel and pulled him down to the sand FACE first. This would not be so bad if Ezekiel did not take after his grandfather and continually have his tongue out. Yes- as you can imagine he came up with a mouthful of sand- covering the tongue and all. So here was mouth washing #1.

After a while of standing next to his side everywhere he went, I felt it was time to let him venture off alone. I decided I needed a drink of water so I proceeded to the stroller to take a sip. I had one eye him as I walked to the stroller, but I needed to look at the stroller to grab the bottle and when I looked up Ezekiel was GONE!!! He had decided to get off the equipment by way of FALLING. He tumbled out of one of those wonderful holes. Yes the holes where there is that great apparatus to climb up, but when it comes to getting down the easiest way is a fall:( So here comes mouth washing #2 because remember he ALWAYS has his tongue out. I was so amazed at how well he did getting sand out of his mouth and eyes.

So there you have it- it isn't just sunshine and roses at the zoo on some occasions.

These ARE the GOOD Days

I have been reminded over and over again this week that these ARE the GOOD days. I am sooooo enjoying this time with Ezekiel and all the adventures we embark on together. Everyday seems to be filled with special moments that I treasure and never want to forget. He is such a precious gift and I love him so deeply. Today was another day that reminded of how special my gift is.

Today Ezekiel and I spent the morning at the zoo. It was just the two of us and it was a blast. All the animals were out playing and enjoying the beautiful day. We saw so many monkeys!!!

Of course, Ezekiel loved the farm area where he got super close to a duck that wanted to munch on his face. Here he is right before the attempt:)

He also fed the goats which is one of his favorite things! Amazingly Ezekiel has no fear when it comes to feeding animals and petting them. He will even stick his hand in the goats mouth to make sure they get the food:)


He LOVES animals and I am not sure where he gets that from. The zoo was amazing and I will always treasure the moments we get to spend together enjoying the world God gave us:)

Precious Moments

Quite often Ezekiel has precious moments, but nothing can top what happened the other day. As we were sitting down for dinner, which always seems to have a hectic start, Ezekiel remind Josh and myself of the important thing in life. Dinner normally starts with getting Ezekiel his food first and then Josh and I will finally settle down to eat after about two or three trips up to get all different items we forgot. Well, we finally settled down to eat when we heard Ezekiel saying please. Both of us looked up thinking- What more could he need?- when what we saw was toooooooo precious. There he sat with his hands folded ready to pray!!!!!! With the busyness of getting dinner on the table and everything all together we forgot to bless the meal. How touched were we by our 20 month old reminding us of who should come first. How I pray that he always has a heart for God like he showed the other night through his folded hands and simple request to thank God:)

Beach Day!!!

Today we ventured off to the beach again. We first hit the boardwalk (asphalt running along the beach) in Huntington for a little exercise. I have taken up rollerbladding with a friend. We both push along our children and they love hanging out. It was tooooo cute watching Ezekiel and Lexie holding hand while we pushed them along in their strollers. Sorry I have no pictures:(

Next we headed off to meet a bunch of other moms at the bay. It was a great morning of digging in the sand, throwing sand, and giving mommy sandy hugs:) Got to love it. We had a fabulous day and I finally feel like we are taking advantage of living in Southern California:)!!!!!

Happy Family

This weekend was full of family time. We had a great time hanging out and enjoying each other. Here are some of our family photos of the weekend:) Josh really takes his Buzz Lightyear Score seriously. Ezekiel and I were just content to enjoy the ride:) Again it was fun at Disneyland!! And of course- we got a shade umbrella that will serve multiple purposes. Here is purpose #1- backyard shade:)

Can you say CRAZY!

Today started off normal, with Ezekiel waking us up with the yells of "Mama" over and over, then the usual morning play with Daddy, and finally getting all that he can out from under the sink while I get ready. Here is where the CRAZY comes in.

As I was finishing up Ezekiel went to grab something more from under the sink and tumbled into the cupboard. I thought it was a usual fall, but when I picked him up and the silent cry was starting I knew it wasn't right. Of course, he hit the perfect spot to get a good cut on his eye. AHHHHH!!!! So I learned today that I don't handle my son bleeding too well. Ezekiel on the other hand, bounced back as usual- a few grapes and a ride on his motorcycle made life great. After Josh coming home and a doctor visit, Ezekiel only had to get a couple strips to keep it closed. Yeah- no stitches YET!!!!!!

Well the rest of the day was normal- Park, Nap, Play with Daddy- the usual. So here is the start of mothering a boy! I hope I am up for it:)

Officially Summer

It is officially summer!!!

Ezekiel and I took our first trip to the beach:)











I can't believe how enjoyable it was. Just so you understand- I HATE sand!!! It gets everywhere and sticks like nothing else. AHHHHH!!!! Ezekiel is also a warm water kind of guy so the thought of the beach and ocean just puts a wrinkle in my nose, BUT today I got a totally different view. We went to a bay with a bunch of other moms, kids of Ezekiel's age and it was a BLAST!!! Ezekiel wadded in the water, played in the sand, and just had a marvelous time. It was such a great day with friends for Zekies and mommy! We can't wait to do it again next week- we are hooked:)