Christmastime

I love being in Auburn where the light parade brings the whole town together. Every year we go, we wish we would have participated. All we'd have to do is jump on our scooters with a string of lights attached. Hmmmm, maybe next year (we always say). These are a few pictures from that night of festivities... which later included decorating gingerbread houses with the Garates. They have more pictures from this night on their blog if you want to see more...

Thanksgiving

The days surrounding Thanksgiving were eventful and fun for our family. We miss everyone throughout the year. It is always exciting to see the extended family that we rarely see. It is especially exciting when there is news to share. This year we were blessed to be able to tell our family that we are expecting another baby! We are thanking God already for the exciting potential of having a 4th child added to our family. Will we have a family of boys? Or will we have a girl with 3 older protectors? It's exciting to see what God has in store... as we patiently wait until July. Here are a few pictures from our trip:


Family picture with cousin Cal at the Santa Barbara zoo


Fun day with Cal and Rye at the zoo


Cousins



Family photo at Colleen's parents house the day after Thanksgiving. Top row is David, Erin (tia loca), Danielle, Missy, and Chris... awesome aunts and uncles to our boys!

Friends

"A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:17
(try not to be jealous of the film quality in these pictures)


Two of Tayven's soccer buddies, Charity and Drew. It's crazy to be at the "soccer mom" stage of life. Soccer season has been so much fun for Tayven and our whole family


Even Dax has a soccer buddy, Aiden, to hang out with on the sidelines


After some inside rainy day games, candy, art, and cartoons, we got our crew to pretend to love posing for pictures. We always have so much fun when the Andersons come! We miss you guys...


Tayven's dear friend Gwen. They are getting older and going to different schools, but continue to have a sweet dynamic when they do get the opportunities to hang out.

Costumes!

A day set aside to dress up has to be the best day ever for our boys. We loved getting together with friends from church and school and making more contact with our community. An eventful day, to say the least

So much fun!

Harper is catching up to Tayven and Dax lately... trying to keep up with the big boys! These pictures make me smile... some of our fun times lately. It's amazing how much joy they can bring to our lives. We feel so blessed!



Tayven and Dax flexing


Harper can do it too!




4th of July with their buddy Macoy

Tayven Started Kindergarten

Tayven started Kindergarten a week ago. In the parking lot on the way to class, he whispered to me nervously, "mom... I am so excited". Dax had a hard time moving away from the class as we waved good-bye. We fought back tears as he stood in line and walked into the room. I managed to keep myself together... but only until I got to the car and cried hard... really hard. I can't believe this day is here! It is a blessing to know he has been happily enjoying his class, his teacher Mrs. Hyatt and his buddy Drew ever since. We are excited and sad all at once. We pray that the Lord finds us faithful as we parent him through the public school system. This is a great opportunity for us to be plugged into our community- something we've been craving for a long time. Although its a temptation to want to keep Tayven close and protected, we are loving and anticipating more opportunity to talk to him about the world around him; teaching him how to grow, respond to others, learn with distractions around him, inneract with other children, submit to new authorities, etc. We hope pray that this is all done to the glory of God!

Father's Day with Grandpa

Hey Dad! I had to put this cutest picture of you with the boys up. This was taken on Father's Day!

Two families in Tahoe

The Winans and Deneuis up at Kings Beach in Tahoe. We ate dinner every night right here. So beautiful. So fun!

Family in Tahoe

A family picture during our time up in Tahoe early August

Simple and Fun

We thought it would be easier and more convenient to have a place where our family (and a few friends!) could see pictures of the boys. They are changing everyday! With pictures and a few brief updates, we thought we'd keep this simple and fun. Hope you agree. We love you guys!