My Baby

It makes me a little sad that my baby won't be the baby anymore, but he sure is excited to meet his baby brother! He has enjoyed practicing being a big brother and reading books about babies. Gabriel will be 3 in about 3 months and we have had so much fun seeing his personality come out and hear all that he has to say :)

Yesterday was very warm and we were enjoying some lemonade outside, just the two of us. He took a drink and looked at me and said "Mommy, it has ice!! But I'm not a girl!! I'm a boy!!" To which I replied, "So only girls should have ice in their lemonade? " He nodded and wasn't content until I took the ice out of his cup and put it in mine, since logically, I'm a girl :)

Disneyland

Papa decided to spoil us all and take us to Disneyland for 2 days and he put us up in a hotel nearby, which the kids loved just as much as Disneyland! The first night we got there we celebrated Weston's birthday and as you can see he liked all the attention :)

 The cousins had a blast together

Weston was still a little scared of all the indoor rides since they are so dark and loud, but he loved riding all the outside rides

Gabe was very happy with the little spray fans to keep us cool in line

Another huge hit were the parades- they are pretty amazing...here the kids are waiting for the parade in California Adventure

Here Weston is telling Donald that it is his birthday- it was pretty cute

After all the excitement of Disneyland, the highlight of the week was coming home to put together the bike that Nanni got for our big boy and he hasn't stopped riding it since!

Thank you Papa for spoiling us with this fun trip all together and for all the happy memories we made!

Weston Turns 4

Our baby turned 4 this month, for some reason that number seems so big! Not a baby, not a toddler but a big kid with big kid birthday wishes. For a while now he has wanted a Razor scooter to keep up with his friends :) It felt very strange to buy him something like this! But we just love our growing boy and all the energy he has and we love watching him learn and excel at new things. 

This month has also been challenging in the fact that whatever plans we have made, they just aren't coming to fruition and it has been a month of many small trials- the kind that irritate but also make you remember what is truly important in life! These bday pics were supposed to be filled with out of town family celebrating with us, but our air conditioning went out and we didn't think it wise to house 10 people for 2 days when it was about 95 degrees in the house. Our friends the Ames were so kind to let us stay in their home while they were away for a couple days. So after presents at our house we packed up and moved into a cooler climate :) So we were sad to not have our family with us, BUT we did enjoy a quiet birthday celebration with just the 4 of us and were able to focus on the gifts of each other!

Scooter and Helmet!

my parents sent us a couple super fun tree swings that the boys have loved! Especially in the evenings when it is cooler outside.

The next day we headed to the Ames home filled with fun new toys for the boys to play with

Since we weren't home Weston got to pick whatever he wanted for dinner and we went out: He chose Cheeseburgers :) We went to a yummy BBQ spot called Rattlers

I also had grand plans of making Weston his birthday cake, he said he wanted a vanilla "Cars" cake- so we improvised and picked up a Costco cake and I put Cars figurines on it.

For cake time we were able to Face Time with my parents which was so fun! Almost felt like they were there too.

It was such a sweet little celebration and we had a fun week to look forward to. A few days later we met Andrew's family at Disneyland! Pics to come of that.

So mommy learned a big lesson this birthday- birthday's are not about having the perfectly planned party with a gourmet menu and a homemade cake- but about a life that we have been given to use for God's glory. My birthday boy didn't notice all of the elements that I thought were "missing" but simply enjoyed his family that loves him more than words can express and of course his scooter ;)

"Refreshments on the Journey"

"The settled happiness and security which we all desire,God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."
C.S. Lewis

Happy 4th Everyone!

No matter what happens in our country we can celebrate the freedom we have in Christ everyday! God Bless America!

Blackened Fish Tacos

These tacos have quickly become one of the regulars in my monthly meal plan. They are quick, light and flavorful...perfect for summer when no one wants to turn on the oven!

I put all different types of toppings on depending on what I have in my fridge at the moment, but some of my favorites are a light cabbage slaw, corn, roasted onions and peppers, salsa and lime of course :). Serve with brown rice and beans and you have yourself a fab meal.

(This is a cooking light recipe)

All you do is make your spice mix, coat the fish, cook in a skillet and you are ready to eat!

While the fish cooks I assemble my toppings and heat my tortillas. I break the fish up into pieces to put into the tacos and then set everything on the table for a "build your own taco night." Yum!

Blackened Fish Tacos

3 large Tilapia or Salmon fillets

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp dried oregano

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground red pepper ( leave out if you don’t want it spicy)

Combine all the spices 

Heat 1 T oil or butter in a large skillet over med/high heat. Coat both sides of the fish with the spice mix and cook on each side about 5 min each or until fish flakes easily

Serves 4

Manteca

I definitely didn't take enough pictures during our week in Manteca, but here's what I have. Thanks Jess for this sweet one of all the second cousins.

The boys had the time of their lives playing with their cousins in the "big new house"! I think the highlight for them was playing hide-n-seek in the dark before bed, where they had to find all the adults using flashlights. It was so cute to hear their squeals as they found each of us.

One morning we all went blueberry picking- it was the sweetest place! They had a ton of stuff for the kids to do while the adults picked if they were too little to handle the picking. I brought home 12 pounds of delicious berries that are now in my freezer waiting to be used :)

Another day we joined some church friends at a little zoo and park 

And our trips always include yummy food- papa and joy made papas famous salsa and nanni made us the best afternoon lattes

We had so much fun with you all and loved spending a whole week with you! Thanks for having us in your gorgeous new home!