Mason Turns 1!!!!!

And all that was between...

 We have had quite the eventful life since my last post.  Mason and I traveled to the OC to visit some family and friends We had an excellent time swimming at the pool, enjoying the beach, walks around the lake with my mom, movies with my fam, dinner w/my dad, coffee with momma Janey and lots of other fun outings in the 90 degree September weather, which I love.    As we arrived home, I was greeted by my 25th birthday and my wonderful husband who took me on a shopping spree and on a date to our fave; Wasabi Bistro for the celebration. We then proceeded to the next night where Sam played a live show with "The Knowledge", hence the hot pink t-shirt in the photo above.  I was the rock-star's wife, well at least for the evening.  

 Upon the end of the weekend, came reality and Autumn in Seattle, which I couldn't have asked God for such a good reality. I am just reveling in this beautiful disaster. I love life some seasons (like this one) and hate it others; either way I am most grateful that Jesus came, died, rose, lives and that my time in heaven will surely be longer than my time here on Earth. Although I do hope God allows me to stay long enough to raise our children and turn gray & wrinkly in Hawaii with Sam. O how, I do love Hawaii, Sam and Mason.

Our little man...

Praise Jesus for such a delightful little man He has given us! We are so thankful for a healthy and growing not-so-baby boy. Our prayer is that the Lord would guide us as we teach and disciple him and that Mason would come to adore and worship our amazing God. Mace is 10 1/2 months and this year has flown by-they change so fast! This month has been full of walks, "bonking", not sleeping due to intruding teeth, and lots of talking, laughing and playing! We are enjoying these last few days of warm weather and Sam's new X-box 360. I can honestly say that life is soooo good and I am content. We are truly blessed!

Teeth, Walking and Being A Rascal!

Summer Fun & Siblings Galore!

I've been thinking...

Each July I find myself looking over the year and evaluating where I am at with God, remembering things I have learned, repenting of ways I have failed Him and celebrating ways He has changed me. I am so thankful for the life that God has given me. Yet there are so many times I fall short at bringing glory to Him in my heart- outpouring through my words and actions. The truth that I have been thinking about is that no matter what I feel or do....He still loves me and pursues me like crazy. I know that I am a work in progress and I will never feel like I have "arrived" spiritually (as Sam reminded me last night). The amazing thing is that by God's example of pure love and grace I am inspired to be more loving and gracious in my life. And all the glory is for Him!
Here's a little synopsis of what we have been up to besides my recent thinking. Sam's been working diligently at MH and I've been busy at home. The highlights of these two past weeks are: we went to the beach again, Mason got two little cute crowns of teeth, I started playing Wow with Sam (I know..I know... I never saw that one coming either), we visited with Julia & Curtis whom just had their baby girl Lillian!!, I decorated Mason's room a little with black polka dots and guitar paraphernalia on the walls and we went out to dinner at Outback to celebrate Sam's raise, which we are so thankful for! Well, that was one ridiculously long run-on sentence of our recent weeks. Enjoy the pics!

Summer Begins

I love summer and all my memories from childhood of going to the beach. This was our first trip to the beach with our little Mason man. Boy o boy, was it fun! We discovered Mason's main objective was to get off our blanket so he could eat the sand, which we wouldn't let him do of course. Alas, our juggling act of tossing Mason between Sam, I and the air, we had an incredibly new experience. We managed to have a picnic , play with Mason's favorite yellow shovel, get a little bit of sun to our desperately white skin and receive a lovely memory of our first family day at the beach, before we had to head home for Mason's second nap. O, just another day at the beach!

The Mancub

UPDATE: Mason is now standing on his own. This is how it goes down: He squats...pushes his legs up to stand...balancing and smiling a gloriously proud grin for up to 10 seconds...he then falls back to the sitting position he once rested in so comfortably.
He was in a wild, happy mood today. He was all over the place & just loving the sun streaming in through our open patio door. We had fun laughing & playing today at home & the park across the street. I wonder when and where he will take his first step, although it seems too soon, I know it is on the horizon. I just love our little mancub.