Just Because...

My camera's home!

11 days without it while it was being fixed was way too long. Praise the Lord it is back and working beautifully. Here are just some pics I snapped the night we got it home.

Happy October 31st!

We had a great time on halloween, spending time with our friends, the Woodwards, and then ending the night at the annual Hoe Down. Luke dressed up as a ninja, Matthew was a race car driver and Caleb was the UPS man =). Matthew, Luke, Reese, Hudson & Caleb

Matthew won this gigantic cupcake during the cake walk at the hoe down. He was VERY excited!

Luke participated in the potato sack race... and came in last. But he had a great time!

P90X for the Family

Oh man. Nate and I have started a new, pretty intense work-out program called P90X. There's no logical reason why I should be attempting this workout since (1) I am in horrible shape and haven't even stepped foot in a gym for 3 months and (2) I've always nurtured this hatred for working out which I have convinced myself is totally healthy. It is only because of my love for my husband that I have committed to this work-out. And I HAVE committed to it(notice the need to reinforce that in my own mind). Luke and Matt think it's great when they see us move the coffee table and get out our free weights and they have decided to join in the workout. This proceeds to crack me up and forces me to herd them back into the playroom. CJ's resolve is to, as seen below, sabotage any and all efforts we make towards getting in better shape. It is quite a situation at our house...

Happy 4th Birthday to our Matty-Man!

Our sweet little Matthew Paul is turning four tonight, at 6:32. Why do years fly by so fast? I still remember bringing him home like it was last week, with a head full of blond hair and the sweetest little face imaginable. I know mothers probably shouldn't say things like this, but he was definately our cutest baby! =) Matthew is such a blessing to us. He fills our home with tons of singing and is just the funniest little person. We feel tremendously blessed by having this little boy in our lives. Happy, Happy Birthday baby! We love you so much!!!

3rd Birthday

2nd Birthday

1st Birthday

A day old

Lake Almanor 2009 1 of 4

Yesterday we got back from our 2nd trip up to Lake Almanor! Our whole family has just fallen in love with Almanor (especially little Luke who just miserably sad when we left) ~ it is easy to see all of God's beautiful creation when we're up there. We got to do so many fun things at the lake and enjoyed the company of some of our best friends. I just love family vacations!! Below are some pics from the trip:

My 3 sweet boys.

Mr. Caleb Joseph, sitting patiently for pictures to be over so he could go play with Hudson-Man.

Lake Almanor 2 of 4

Caleb & Hudson being goofy, as alwasys =)

Luke just LOVED the jet ski! Daddy let him drive by himself (Nate was still on the ski of course, he just let Luke steer and control the speed). Here they are getting ready to go out.

Getting ready to drive the golf cart down to the lake.

Having the time of his life... Matthew was all smiles the whole week. I just love his face.

Lake Almanor 3 of 4

Best Friends =)

The Girls

The Men

Feeding the ducks (who wouldn't eat)

Lake Almanor 4 of 4

The Congdon Family

The Garcia Family

The Woodward Family

These were all the kiddos between our four families (except for Hayden, the youngest). Keep in mind that the Congdons are in the process of adopting at least one, the Woodwards are pregnant, and we hope to follow in their footsteps very soon. =) From L-R: Holden, Luke, Jaden, Caleb, Reese, Baylee, Lauren, Hudson, Matthew & Aubrey.

Why is he so cute?!

This is the smile I see most often on Caleb's face. This cocky, flirty, mischievous grin... he is his daddy.

Havin' Fun!

What fun the past 10 days have been!! With the exception of some weird, short term sickness that attacked Caleb, we have been staying busy with birthday parties, swim school and playdates. Below are some pics of our summer fun!

Happy Birthday, Kristin! We had a wonderful dinner at Uricchio's for our dear friend's birthday on Monday July 6th. Dinner was great, the conversation was hilarious, and the company was unbeatable! Love you girls!

Also celebrating a birthday on the 6th was our friend Gabe Woodward. For his 30th, his amazing wife, Staci, had Luigi's (a "famous" local Italian restaurant) cater an 'adults only' party at the Romanini's gorgeous house. It was so fun to spend the night out with my husband and celebrate!

Taken at Gabe's party~ me and my handsome husband!

Thanks for the great party, Stac. Everything looked beautiful!

This is our first day of swim school. Matthew did great swimming with Miss Macie, his teacher.



By the end of the first day he was almost swimming the width of the pool. He is so excited!

Kick those legs!! This is Luke working hard ;)

Luke is swimming the whole LENGTH of the pool... 3 times. What a big boy!

Caleb watching his big brothers swim... and looking cute =)

This past Tuesday we had the "C" kids over for a playday. Here they are getting ready to paint.

So much fun!

Matty and Baylee and their masterpiece. Notice the backwords "M" that Matthew painted, and Baylee was making "fire". =)

Luke & Jaden proudly showing off their artistic abilities. The green smiley face above Jaden is (as he said)"a picture of me loving Luke", and Luke was very into painting carrots.

And after they were finished painting, everyone took a dip in the pool. We had so much fun with Jaden & Baylee! Thanks for coming over to play! =)

Love to you all, hope you're week has been great also!