2020 - Can it be 2021 already?

First, an update. We are alive - all of us. It's been over 8 years since I updated the blog, and I am sure no one was really worried about our health and safety. Since I have your attention, though...

Here is a recent photo of our family at the beach.

The boys have grown. Faster than I could have imagined. I'm not even sure where the time went. I only hear my parents' voices in a distant fog "You're growing up too fast", "Where did the time go?", "When are you moving back home?" and I feel that inevitable failure of keeping the sand from slipping between my fingers. The beach always brings me comfort, even when I don't really feel like going. There is something amazing about looking out in the distance and seeing nothing but the horizon, an endless sea going somewhere while I can be firmly planted where I am. The scent of the fresh ocean air, cool breezes, a slight saltiness adding depth, as I breathe in and out. The conundrum of wanting time to move ahead and yet wanting some things to stay the same is the very dichotomy of our existence, I think. I worry for the future, but at the same time know that all things happen as they should. "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." - Ecclesiastes 3:1  I shouldn't be surprised when seasons last longer or shorter than I think, I should be trying to make the most of them while they are here. So, I am committing to the now. 2020 has not been my favorite season - pandemic, job hunting, digital learning, no travel, but in the midst of it, a fierce love of the people in my house grew within me.  I feel fortunate that my family is so close right now, that we have this time together before the next season, that we're willing to give each other the space to be individuals even if we are living on top of each other. I hope everyone is able to look at what they can gain in this season instead of what we are losing. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The "airplane incident"

So, as a parent, you never want to see your kids get hurt. You especially don't want to see it witnessed by a busy crowd at Starbucks on a weekday morning.

Poor little Aaron this morning, went running into Starbucks, metal jet plane in hand, to grab his usual box of milk from the refrigerated section when he tripped and fell. Unprepared, he didn't even have time to protect himself and he face-planted into the ground, and into the airplane. There was blood everywhere.

We were able to put ice on it right away, but nothing could console him - even the free chocolate frappachino and cake pop they brought outside to him. He eventually calmed down and asked for a scone and some milk, so we sat outside and threw pennies in the fountain and had our scones and "coffee". I finally got a close up of the damage when he went to sleep for his afternoon nap.

I have to say, as parents, we have a tough job in that while you know you can't protect your kids from everything, you still feel like you should. I was reminded at how fragile our little ones are, even when they can be so tough on the outside, and also how resilient they can be. They heal fast too, right?

Casa de Mariposas

We have recently been invaded... by Butterflies!
(Beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies courtesy of Insect Lore (http://www.insectlore.com).)

Jonathan received a Butterfly house with a coupon for 5 caterpillars for his birthday. We, of course, immediately sent away for them and received aforementioned caterpillars about a week later. We spent the next week watching them grow and make a mess of their tiny container and then overnight, they all climbed up to the ceiling, hung upside down and made their chrysalids.

We pinned them into the Butterfly house and about a week after that, they all hatched leaving us with 5 amazing butterflies. (They guarantee at least 3, so we felt we did an extra special job taking care of them.) Instructions state you can keep them and feed them every day, or if the temperature is above 55˙F, you may release them into the wild. Jonathan wanted to keep them, but after about 4 days of me making a cup of sugar water and putting it in their house drops at a time, I encouraged him to let them go. The last picture is Jonathan's last butterfly making her way into the wild. He was happy and sad to see them fly away and determined to drag me to Home Depot where we could find a flowering bush that butterflies like so next time we can release them to a nice spot just for them. :)

I imagine we will be ordering more soon as it really was quite amazing to watch - even for the adults! Jonathan is convinced that butterflies are God's coolest creations.

Go Padres!

First of all - A big Thank You to the Bergstroms for giving us their Padres tickets for this game; it's always a treat sitting so close to the action on a beautiful sunny San Diego day.


It was Aaron's first baseball game (at least that I can remember). He did great, being 2 and having that short attention span, and he still made it through the last inning. Jonathan liked trying to find the players who were on the field or up to bat in the program and reading their names and positions.

We had a great time at Petco Park and loved watching the game from close up. Best part... Padres won!!

Birthdays and Cakes

Someone turned 7 last month!

Jonathan had two birthday parties - lucky little man. :) One at the house with family on his actual birthday (May 19th) and one on Saturday at Pump It Up with all of his friends and family too.

It amazes me how fast our kids are growing up. Being 7 was met with much excitement and having Grandma and Grandpa Small come visit for his birthday was the topping on the cake.

He is such a clever, intelligent, loving, and social boy and we are so lucky to be able to see him grow and learn and become more and more incredible each year. He is looked up to by his brother immensely and he is very sweet to him (most of the time). Happy Birthday Jonathan!



A sample of the Fishy themed cupcakes that I made for Jonathan's birthday party at Pump It Up. They were super easy to make and fun, too!

New Years Resolutions

I saw that we haven't posted anything since July of last year!! Wow, we are really bad at keeping up a Blog. Maybe this year will be better. Jonathan's class spent the first week back making New Years Resolutions. He came home with a paper boy's head, party hat and all, and written underneath was: "My New Years Resolution is... Be nice to my family" So simple, yet so hard to do for a 6 year old with a rambunctious little 2 year old brother. I don't know what my New Years Resolution is this year, but I guess I just want to be better somehow than last year; it doesn't really matter what is better as long as there is improvement somewhere. What is your resolution?

First Snow Day of 2011

Early one Saturday morning, we decided to go play in the snow at Big Bear. Between closed roads and our bad memories, we finally found a fun place to slide downhill and build, quite possibly, the best snowman ever.


Jonathan called him Mr. Snowy and was very sad that we had to leave him there. Some tourists were so smitten with Mr. Snowy, they even took their picture with him.


Aaron had a fun time discovering the snow and we all miraculously stayed dry and warm in our new snow clothes. There was an amazing sunset view from the mountains which we enjoyed.
Hopefully we get to go to the snow again soon!