Valentines Daddy Daughter Dance

Our little town hosts a Daddy-Daughter Dance...I love how old-fashioned it is, and how Kaila talks about it almost every day ;)

Josiah dressed up all by himself and came running out, wanting to go on a date with me. He chose sushi an I didn't argue : )It was so sweet to get a little one on one time with him.

Christmas 2014

Christmas was a super-fun filled season...I'm leaving you with a blur of photos, in the correct order, but just quick, to catch up.

                                    

Freitas Family Christmas

 

Chico Christmas

Neon New Years

thanksgiving "I'm on a Boat"

Ryan and I got a small taste of what it's like to live the "high life" for about 5 hours, but really, it was just really funny playing out the following conversation over and over with people; 

Them: "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

Us: "oh, you know, we're just having Thanksgiving on a Yacht. You? Porterville..hmmm, Sounds nice. Have fun..."

My Granny and her husband Bob usually host around 25 to 30 people at their home. Granny cooks for everyone (think, four turkeys...). This year, being "too old to do that" they decided to take everyone out on a yacht for Thanksgiving with a dinner catered by a professional chef.  Ryan and I debated ....for about zero seconds, and decided to go. Actually, I think a few extra people even jumped in on the affair. 

Granny and Bob are some of the most generous people I know.

 I have to say.  I thought I would miss the "homey" Thanksgiving feeling.

I didn't.

It was awesome.

Josiah and Tata sideling up to the bar for a martenellis ; )

75 degrees, sunset over the ocean, good food, LOTS of family and great wine...

We are one spoiled family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Years Eve 2013

For the first time in years, we actually stayed up till midnight. Usually we love to celebrate New York New Years and call it a night by 9:30. That's what we've done every year, for years. The past few years we've made some friends who are more "night people" than us. So, for the first time in a long time, a babysitter, house party, a rousing game of Taboo, and a Vegetales video at 6:45 am made it possible for us to stay up later.  

New Years Day Ryan watched the Rose Parade, we had a great breakfast then we went to Morro Bay and swapped surfing and playing on the beach. We came back that afternoon and worked in the beautiful weather around the yard, puttin' down roots and enjoying our time around the house.

Christmas 2014

This was the first year we have had Christmas at our house. I loved hosting, decorating and making out home as cozy and welcoming as I could for my entire family.

Some of our most interesting gifts included an incubator full of incubated eggs, a growing, organic mushroom mother/plant, a saurkraut crock, a bike, some neat shoes, hats and books...

I think one of my favorite things was seeing the folded paper airplanes steal the show after it was all said and done. Grandpa Bob and Josiah and Kaila threw those things for hours and the kids couldn't get enough.  Forget the toys, it's always the random paper thing that is the most intrigueing ; )

We went on a few hikes, lounged around and talked, laughed alot and thouroughly enjoyed each other's company. One of the best parts was that after Christmas Day, we knew that we didn't have to say goodbye because Uncle G and Aunt T had another adventure planned for the 26th...

To Be Continued...

thanksgiving... A little late!

It's just been one fun thing after another around here! I can't complain of being too busy, it's just that I have to let things go by the wayside to keep from feeling too busy! Thus the lack of blog posts lately.

Here are some Thanksgiving hilights...

Spending time with the family and playing in the creek...

Chatting with our beautiful family, near and far (via skype)

Running a T-day 5 K with Ryan, who paced me and I got a great time!

Spending time with these amazing people...and good food of course (not pictured...pictures mysterously missing!)

Easter 2013 He is Risen!

I have to admit. Easter snuck up on us this year.  I feel like I didn't prepare my heart during the lenten season like I could have. The celebration of Christ's resurrection is so huge, so deep, so profound, and unfortunately this year, I feel like I missed out.  Sorry to have a sad Easter post, but it's true. 

Our family time was good though! I didn't get a good picture of everyone but here are a few shots.

Just after the Easter-egg hunt.

We book-ended the Easter day with vomiting. Kaila threw up first thing in the morning, and Josiah threw up around 11pm. Because of that, we had a mellow stay-home morning. My favorite part was our little family bible-study together in Josiah's room that Ryan led. 

We taught Josiah and Kaila just enough...

Mommy and Daddy: "Josiah, what happened on Easter?"

Josiah: "Jesus rose from the dead!....Ummmm, Jesus not like the dead?...Winny the poo like the dead?"

Kaila: "weeus  oose eead!!" Translation-"Jesus rose dead!"

Yep, just enough. : )

Josiah hadn't thrown up yet and Kaila didn't really seem sick at all, so we still ventured out to our family gathering. My Granny hosted, like she always does, and provided a beautiful meal.

 Regardless of my state, it remains true that the greatest gift we have ever been given can be summarized by the traditional exclamation;

"He is Risen!" 

        The response,  "He is Risen Indeed" rings in my head and I am so grateful for God's deep love and forgiveness on the cross.
Happy Easter

Thanksgiving 2012

We started with a little "stay-cation." We headed down to shell beach  a week before thanksgiving where my Granny graciously let us stay in her fully-stocked condo for five nights, three of those were with my mom and dad. We then added two nights at L.'s house, just to stay near the family, since we were heading down there every morning and staying until after dinner.  

Throw in a walk to the beach every day, a stomach flu that went through everyone, some surfing and a 10K run, and you have our thanksgiving...week celebration!

 The day of, we all did a 10K! A., J. and I ran it, mom, dad, T. and G. walked it, and the kids rode it. Here's them crossing the finish line. What athletes! (R wasn't feeling well and opted to rest at the condo, I missed him!)

 K. practiced walking. Look at that smile!!

A few of the cousins, Granny and B. (our amazing hosts, they hosted Thanksgiving for 21 people, and they are in their 80's! Wow! Granny is my role model in life!)  

Showing K. how to do the "Crocodile Crawl"  on the kitchen floor. She was perplexed.

Thank you to my Granny for hosting a great Thanksgiving and for my parents for taking care of our little family all week. 

Happy Halloween!

We're not big halloween celebrators, and this year we kept remembering that last year, I was in labor...right now. Well, our little K. was not feeling well all day and R got home late so we were all dressed up and ready for bed by the time we had our little trick-or-treating round the neighborhood.

Just in case you were wondering, 1. That's a headlamp on J's head (it's really dark out there!) and 2. K is mid-cry, not mid-laugh.

Happy Halloween!