Candles and Coldplay

Last night Jim and Drew made a special Valentines dinner for Jenna and I. We dropped the kiddos at Drew's mom's house and then headed out for some shopping while the men fixed us dinner at our house. We arrived home to find candles lining the walkway as we walked in, complete with a candlelight dinner, the table was beautifully arrayed with flowers and carnation heart candies. No detail was left unturned, shrimp cocktail appetizer, ceazer salad and filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled roasted vegtables for dinner. Oh and delicious flourless chocolate torte with vanilla ice cream for dessert. They were so sweet in praying for us and telling us how much they appreciated us. It was a very memorable night. I couldn't believe all the effort they went through for us. And even still as I am thinking about it I am just smiling and thinking.... WOW! God has truly blessed me with an amazing, thoughtful, compassionate and loving husband. This is what we came home to....

Wild Animal Park

One of the great things about living in San Diego besides the weather is all of the things to do in southern california. One of which is the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. This place is about a 15 20 minute drive from my house. The park is 1,300 acres. It's so cool, you take a tram around the park and the animals are just out chilling in a a semi- normal habitat. The animals that don't get along are separated and there are different habitats for different animals to explore. The lion exhibit was by far my favorite, the two momma's in the pride just had seven cubs between them. They were asleep when we first walked up and then the BIG poppa lion woke up scratched his face and just stared at me, here is the picture, it was amazing. He didn't take his eyes off me for a couple of minutes. The elephant exhibt was also great, i love how the people are behind the fences and not the other way around. Here is Aslan and i with the elephants. I didn't get any of them in the deer petting zoo but Aslan was so cute he kept squating down to look at the deers in their eyes like he was trying to talk to them:) Lastly the kids rode the animal carosel( Aslan's first time). It was a great last day with Nana and Pop Pop, they left today. We'll miss you guys. So for any visitors to San Diego I would highly recommend a trip to the Wild Animal Park it is worth it to see some maginificant animals in their semi- natural habitat( are there palm trees in Africa?)

Before and After- Aslan 1st Haircut

We finally cut Aslan's hair last night. He looks so cute, he looks like a British rock star. Jim was talking in a British accent and cracking us all up. Everytime I look at him I laugh, his hair is way too cool for a 2 year old. To get him to not freak out our friend Drew was improvising car wrecks and telling stories to distract him, it worked like a charm as you can see from his face. Thank you Jenna for cutting his hair you did an awesome job!

Before

Catching Up-Sledding in Idywild

Yes don't fall down I am finally posting. Sorry it's been so long... Jim's parents actually flew out here to help take care of the kids and manage the house so I could get some rest. They have been a huge blessing and i am resting more and getting much better as a result.
These pictures are of us taking the kids up to a cabin in Idywild, CA and both of my kids saw snow for the first time. We went up with two couples from our church and had a great time. Mady was not too thrilled about wearing ski pants for the first time, inside getting dressed she kept saying how hot she was, i explained they would keep her dry and warm in the snow. When we took them out sledding for the day she was sledding on her bottom for the first half and exclaimed, "I love these sliding pants". We eventually got her and Aslan on a sled. Aslan was a little frightened so we found we just had get on the sled with him and take off immediatley. I couldn't get any pictures of his face going down but he was excited and didn't want to get off after he was done. Mady had so much fun going down with Drew and Daddy. And she of course wanted to do things by herself so there are some shots of her and her friend Lauren going down together on a mini hill. I love their faces, Mady wants to figure it out and Lauren is just laughing and having fun. We all had a great time and even though our bottoms were a little sore it was well worth it for the adventure.
" Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" Ps 37:4 Thank you Lord for this day and this weekend, what a treasure it was to delight in all of your creation and all that you have done in our family, and what a joy it was to get to share these moments with my family and friends. I owe it all to you, and to your son, for laying his life down for me.