11 Years

John's parents have been out to visit us over the past week.  We've had a wonderful time with them.  This year worked out nicely as they were able to go up to Anna's house for the week of Christmas and then come down to see us the day after.  I believe the weather differences they've experienced have been amazing!  The day after they got to Seattle it snowed and the whole time they've been here it's easily been in the 70's!

They offered us a sweet gift of watching our kids overnight so that we could have a little anniversary getaway.  John and I reminisced our anniversaries and all but two of our anniversaries have involved some sort of a getaway, if even an overnight!  I guess we were smart to pick New Year's Eve as our wedding date - it puts everyone in a festive mood and incurs celebration wherever one is!!

So 48 hours in advance, I was able to find a "reasonable" hotel rate for New Year's Eve.  We stayed at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel.  It was lovely!  But first, before we checked in, we stopped at the Lodge at Torrey Pines (golf course) and sat on their back porch and had a cocktail.  I've always wanted to check this hotel out and this was the perfect afternoon.  We had a great seat, under the heat lamps (it was in the mid 60's at this point!).  We had some good people watching, a beautiful view and crystal blue skies.

 After exploring the Lodge, we went into the village of La Jolla and walked around a bit.  I was able to pop into a few shops and spend a Christmas gift card.  Then at 5:30 we thought we'd try to find a place where we might be able to walk into for dinner ( on New Year's Eve I remind you - without reservations)  I went on Yelp.com and found an italian restaurant that got great reviews.  We walked over and they were just opening up.  John was scoffing at me saying that there is no way we'll get in.  I asked them if we might be able to eat dinner there and they said they had one table that was not reserved and we needed to be done by 6:30.  We said we could do it!!  We had the most delicious 5 course dinner.  It was like yummy, old fashioned Italian food.  The courses were small, but so very tasty!  I had bruschetta, caesar salad, penne vodka, parmesan crusted chicken and Christmas coconut cake for dessert.  Oh my goodness the cake was delicious!!!!!!!!!!!

After dinner we zipped over to the hotel.  We got a welcome glass of champagne and had quite a hunt to find our room.  Eventually we did.  I had requested a quiet room because I'm so sensitive to noise and John was making fun of me the whole search because he said that they had put us way far away and hidden down several hallways.  The architecture of the building was spanish style and so pretty.  The room was gorgeous and serene.

We had a food credit with our stay so we splurged and had breakfast in bed.  What a treat!

Sad to say good bye to the Christmas decorations, but it is time!

I'm ready for the fresh start of the New Year!  What a pretty setting.

We're thankful for our 11 years.  We continue to hear about marriages crumbling and all of the sadness that goes along with that.  There are a lot of sad people and broken marriages all over.  The Lord has been so very gracious to us.  Our path isn't easy by any stretch.  But as I think over our last year and different things that we have encountered, the Lord has been faithful and we have endured the difficulties.  We feel so very blessed and are thankful.  

That is all - thankful.

::Life in the Last Seven Months::

Where has time gone?  The last time I posted was at the end of the school year.  And now here we are about to be in 2014.  It has been a wonderful year.  Full of many ups & a few downs.

This summer we had a couple of trips.  Chase & I flew to the Midwest to see our family there and attend a family reunion.  We had a really nice time together.  John and Beck stayed home and a sweet friend kept Beck for us during the day while John worked.  So thankful for our community here.
We saw both sides of my family while we were there as well as my mom.

Three generations of Klipstein's but one generation missing 

All second cousins and second once removed (I think !)

Four generations of Heinkel women

At the end of the summer we went to the Pacific Northwest to see John's sister's family and my brothers and sister in law.  This has become an annual trip and it works out really well to see everyone.  We even got to see my parents as they flew in for a baby shower for our new niece to come.  We also took a family vacation to the Oregon coast for a week in there.

Chase started Transitional Kindergarten in August.  She is not eligible for Kindergarten due to her birthdate.  She is really enjoying it.  Her teacher is very seasoned and is excellent with the kids.  It's been fun to finally be able to attend the community elementary school.  It's wonderful - we walk everyday to/from school.  It's been fun for me to volunteer in class on Monday mornings too.  I take Beck with me which is a bit of a nightmare, but the teacher is ok with it and Beck has gotten better.  The kids are adorable.  

In October John and I celebrated a belated tenth anniversary celebration in Maui for about 10 days.  This was our dream trip and it was complete bliss.  Both of our mothers came out to stay with the kids and everyone seemed to get along great!  It was quite sad to leave the kids but eventually we were able to relax!!  We decided that after almost 11 years of marriage and two kids that honeymoons are not needed in life - but that parent moons are - like after several years of kids you should get a vacation from kids.  Much more needed in life :)

We had a sweet new niece born at the end of August.  Sweet Camille Monroe.  Chase and I got to go up to Portland and meet her in November.  Unfortunately we took some bad germs with us and got everyone sick.  But I did get to spend two days with Cami while Rachel was able to rest up and get better. 

Of course we had many visitors throughout the year.  Two of our nieces came down from Seattle for about two weeks and that was a lot of fun.  Both sets of parents came out once or twice (or more!)  The kids continue to grow and change and challenge us both.  We are thankful for the deep friendships that we continue to have here in San Diego.  It truly is home here for us.  We have said good-bye to several very dear friends this year as they have left the area.  That is always tough for me.  I'm not sure that will ever get easier.  I'm going to start interviewing friends before I deepen ties with them :)

John continues to enjoy his job at HP.  He is continually challenged in his role there.  I enjoy my days at home with the kids (mostly).  It is amazing to me how the days, months and years go by.  Life is a marvel.  John and I will be married 11 years in two weeks and I've now lived in California for 12 years.  Amazing!!

We hope that 2013 was full of many joys in your life and that 2014 will be a year full of blessing and growth.  

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

{Fella}

This guy.  He kills me.

He is so active.  We had to (finally) baby proof our house.

Or I would never sit down again.

I was completely stressed for about a week with all of his adventuring.

But I think I've calmed down.  Or my in-laws were here and helped me immensely by letting me have lots of breaks, and therefore I've forgotten how crazy he is.

It's funny because in all of these pictures he is seemingly sitting calmly.

But it is a ruse!

This darling little baby that was as sweet as sweet can be, and whom I loved so very much because I was able to enjoy a baby finally, decided to become an active little boy.

And I can't blame him, because I want him to be an active boy, it just may cause me to lost my mind a little in the process.

I get that whole rhyme now about "what are boys made of?"

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails.  TOTALLY!

And he is now 14 1/2 months old and wants nothing to do with walking!  Silly boy!

He is so hard on his knees.  It hurts me to watch him at times.  His feet, toes and legs have cuts all over them.  But he does have 14 teeth, so there must be something to be said about his growth & development! 

Side note: Chase walked at 13 months and got her first tooth at 14 months!!

This boy will keep me on my knees (speaking of knees!)

I find mothering so difficult.  Rarely does a day go by that I think, "I've got this made in the shade".

And if I do, by the next day that thought has long gone out of my mind!

I love being a mom, but it is so hard.  It is mentally taxing and physically exhausting and just plain old hard work.  But I'm so thankful for the encouragers and cheerleaders I have in my life. 

It is so important to have women in my life that have walked ahead of me - those with older kids.

I need them to tell me that I can do it and that this is worth it.  And thankfully I do.

I was able to visit with 2 of them on Sunday night.  I feel like a million bucks when I leave a conversation with them.

Thank you Lord for those that you've put in my life.  I can't make it through this life without them.  Thank you for my children.  That they are strong and healthy and opinionated and active!  All such wonderful traits.  But please strengthen me in the process.  Give me new mercies each morning.  Amen.

...and then there's THIS girl...which is another chapter entirely :)

right now.

enjoying 24 hours without kiddos

Right now I'm...

- apparently so busy that i don't have any time to blog!  or maybe i'm more into instagram.

- back to my pre-pregnancy weight!  very exciting times in this household.  i'd still like to lose an additional 6 lbs.  we'll see.

- amazed that we have 4 weeks of school left.

- planning a fun summer.  chasey & i get to go on a mama-daughter vacation to see our extended family on my side.  we'll also spend some good time in the great NW seeing all of our family up there.

- the mommy of a registered public school attender for the fall.  this was a big week.  she is all registered for transitional kindergarten.  now we're just hoping that she gets into the school closest to our house.  i'm not really sure she knows what all is happening.  guess it's time to we start talking.

- not sure that Beck will ever walk!  he shows no signs of wanting to walk.  speaking of school, he may be crawling to kindergarten.

- enjoying using our home for hospitality again.  i've had about 4 get togethers at our home in the last week.  it's been a joy to use & serve.  

- having a bit of a rough patch with CJ regarding her obedience and willingness to help out around the house.  it's hard being a mom.  not a single. easy. day.  ever.  i'm thankful for the strength of the Lord.  i'm thankful that His mercies are new every day.  and i'm thankful that i can show my daughter every day that i am a weak vessel and that i am in need of the Lord.  that i can't do it on my own.  that i have my own struggles too.  not just her.  you can pray for me!  thanks.

fun girl's day out at la jolla cove with the junior league food & wine festival

{Easter Sunday}

 We had a really lovely Easter.

We started out with a basket hunt in our house.  Surprisingly, Chase wasn't as quick at finding it as we had thought.  It was almost like it was too much for her brain to handle!  Eventually she figured it out with some big clues.  She enjoyed her goodies and Beck had 2 little goodies.

Then we were off to church.  J & CJ went early to help set up for our big outdoor service.  

B stayed home with me and napped.  We got to church at 10.  We had a lovely service with gorgeous weather.

We have a church tradition where we always have a brunch afterward. This has become especially meaningful since we no longer have family around.  Chase and I baked 2 loaves of lemon blueberry bread with fresh lemons from friends' trees.  It was delish!!

After that we headed over to our good friends, the C's with 2 other families.  

We love going to their house and hanging with the gang.  It is fun, relaxing and casual.  It's like family!

All the kids love each other and love playing together.

We did an egg hunt with about 150 eggs or so.  I don't know how many exactly, but it was PLENTY!!

The kids were frenetic in their candy eating abilities!  It was like at any moment the parents were going to look over and realize that the kids were eating candy by the fistfuls and take it all away.  So they pretty much gorged themselves!

He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!

:::::Becker's Birthday Bash:::::

We celebrated with a small party the day after his birthday.

The weather was glorious (you never can be sure for a winter outdoor party here).

The kids got sick the day before so we went back & forth about whether to have it or not.

But we pressed on since most of the kids that were coming had already been exposed to us before we were sick, earlier in the week!

The theme was sort of a circus...I always have theme ideas in my head but then they don't quite come out like I was expecting.  Oh well!!

Just 5 kids came, 3 families with little buddies about Beck's age.

Then some of our fabulous, local, adopted grandparents/family.

Beck definitely was not his usual smiley self.  That was a bit sad.

But we are glad that we had it and shared this occasion with loved ones.

He is most definitely loved by MANY!

::the food::

::the cake (which I was awfully proud of!)::

::the goody bags & activities::

::our sweet friends that we love::

::the cute birthday boy playing::

::the eating of my masterpiece::

Thank you for helping us celebrate Beck's first year of life!