{this moment}

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

::Sleepless in Seattle(actually it was quite restful)::

We took our family vacation the very last week of summer.

We had a delightful time with our family in Washington.

What glorious weather we saw...lots of cousin playtime...delicious, healthy meals...lots of outdoor exercise by all...the week was just about perfect (except for their hiker friend that got lost in the mountains for 4 days while we were there)

There are lots of pictures, sorry about that!

Some of these images are mine, some are Anna's

There was a whole lotta cousin lovin' going on...

One day a handful of us checked out a nearby lake...

One day John & I got to go off a day date.  We saw this waterfall and went on an arduous 4 mile hike...

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows one night...

Aunt Anna took the little girls on a coffee date...with babies of course

We went into the city one day to check out a new park with a FAB view...

Sunday we took a picnic to the beach & John played old fashioned races with the kids...

Lots of playing with babies and dressing up...

And even a yoga session taught by Chasey (the hippie)...

We were blessed with gorgeous Northwest summer weather, as you can see in all the pictures. 

We loved every single minute...of course it flew by too fast.

But we'll be seeing them all again soon enough...

Thank you for the wonderful hospitality you showed all of us and just for all of the fun that was had in general.  We love ya'll lots!

{this moment}

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

My sweet little guy is 6 months old.

Time just keeps on flying by!

He has his 6 month check-up on Monday, so I'll let you know his stats then.

What he's up to:

He smiles all the time.  He laughs, he loves to play with Chase and reacts happily to her.

We started him on rice cereal this week.  He is so funny when he eats.  He thrusts himself into the spoon & is quite a mess.

He's also drinking formula about 40% of the time.  We just felt he wasn't getting enough to eat and as you can tell from his little chubby thighs, he's bulking up :)

We just moved him into his own room.  He's doing pretty well.  Now Chase seems to be in our room every night instead :(

My goal each night is to get him to sleep past 5am.  One night he woke at 2 and we had to let him cry it out.  That has to be one of the hardest parenting moments ever.

He loves his jumperoo and is also content to lay on a blanket with toys - mostly on his tummy.

I just love this little baby.  He is darling and a cuddler.

We are so very thankful for him.

He makes a great addition to our family!

Thank you Lord for this little blessing!!

::The Klipsteins Come for a Visit::

We are just coming off of 3 weeks STRAIGHT of family visits ~ both here and away!

We feel very blessed to have so many people come & see us this year, especially to see Beck.

I just counted our visitors in our guest book and we've had 11 sets of company in less than 9 months:

{WOW}

But, back to the visitors at hand...my brother Adam & his wife Rachel came down from Portland for an entire week...it was a great time for Chase to bond with them & also for them to meet Becker.

They've both had full year's with both work and school, so I think this was a much deserved and needed vacation for them.

We had a really fun, full week.  We'd have a big outing one day and then stay close to home the following.

I'm still not at100% energy level due to my waking nights :)

They came one of the hottest weeks, although they are all turning into the hottest weeks ever!

We're OVER this hot!  What happened to our perfect San Diego weather I ask!?!

They arrived on Saturday and we cooled off in the pool.

Chase has gotten really confident in the pool this summer with floaties on.

Sunday, after church, we borrowed a friend's van so we could all be together, had a picnic in the car on the drive :) and went down to the San Diego Bay and went (for the first time) on the ferry over to Coronado Island.  It was a gorgeous, blue skied day...

We went over, walked around some shops, had a little snack & cold beverage...played at the playground, stopped in Starbucks for another cold drink, and headed back over to the Mainland!

Monday we stayed nearby and went to the mall...Rachel & I love to shop!!  

The next day we went to the world famous San Diego Zoo...

They totally treated Chase to a super face paint spectacular.  It was awesome! Had all the bells & whistles.

:: Have you ever seen a smile so big??::

The next night we had a sitter come for the kids, and we got to go out as true adults!!

We found a fun little wine bar pretty close by.

John took an afternoon off and we went to Del Mar Beach for the afternoon.

It was such strange weather...it cooled off a bit and I think we may have seen a few drops of rain.

We ate a yummy dinner at Smashburger that night, one of our faves!

One of my all time favorite pictures~ so sweet!

Friday was a low key day and they took Chase on a date to paint pottery. 

Here is that masterpiece (I was warned prior to picking it up - it looks like she was in an accident!)

They also were so kind to let John & I go on a date.  We went to Macaroni Grill for a delicious dinner and then to the Batman movie.  Whoa!  That was a late night for us.  What a long, dark movie.  But fun nonetheless to be alone together.

And then the last day, we did our "new" family hike with them - Torrey Pines Beach.

We love it and it is not an easy hike, especially with children strapped to you.

Oh Adam & Rachel how we loved this time with ya'll.

Thanks so much for spending your vacation with us, we know there are more exciting places in the world to visit.  Chase & Beck both loved their time with you, whether they know it or not...

...and so did WE!!!

We'll be seeing you again before we know it!