Reedley Time!

My mom, Carola, and her cowpokes, Isaak, Daniel, Luke, Koen, Ava & Naomi.

Great Grandma Ardis, my maternal grandma, with all her great grandkids. Naomi, Giella, Luke, Ava, Koen, Isaak, Daniel, & Sadie. Bonus kid: my cousin Cody on the left.

Luke's killing me with cowboy cuteness!!!!

 

We had a lovely time with our family in Reedley this weekend. I wish I was better about getting pictures! My mom and my dad's families all live in the area (for the most part) so we have lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. to have fun with! It's a huge blessing to feel so loved by so many!

 

We got to hug Susan, Grandma Ardis, Doug, Jill (& baby girl due soon!), Koen, Isaak, Mom, Tex, Uncle Danny, Aunt Margaret, Shawna, Giella, Micah, Amy, Sadie, Uncle Mark, Aunt Julie, Uncle David, Aunt Toni, Cody, Breann, Janel, Aunt Mary, Uncle Brad, Andrew, Lisa, Liam, Clara, Mike, Amy, Brian, Sarah, Aunt Lois, Holly, and Bryan & Ryan.

And a few were down for the count with the flu bug: we miss you Garcias!

 

Christmas

Snow

Naomi



Luke is enjoying the snow balls! Looks like Daniel may want to eat them!



He nailed Daddy in the keester!

It snowed twice this month. The second time was today and the kids and Steve had a blast. I enjoyed staying warm in the house.

Luke is FOUR!

This was an extra special birthday for Luke. He got to have an "at home party" with cousins and a "gymnastics party" with his buddy Fisher and friends.

Home birthday cake

Koen, Luke, Naomi, Ava, Isaak & Daniel

Taking calls of well wishes from across the USA



Halloween Math

The Fairy + Batman + Dinosaur + Sacagawea = Fun day with cute kids!

Naomi's 8th Birthday

Climbing a giant fig tree

Hiking

Bird Girl leads the way!

All the natives made it to the destination

Happy Birthday Naomi!

Aunt Susan gets the cool gift award! Bird Girl has her own tee pee.

Naomi read two books on Sacagawea, aka Bird Girl. So she asked if she could have a Sacagawea Birthday Party. So we went on an adventure to Boulder Creek Falls. We saw bear scat, ate wild grapes, rock hopped across the creek, and scaled a downed tree. It was a unique party for an equally unique, caring, lovely young lady of eight.

Daniel's Second Birthday

Monkey!

Checking out the new trucks from Grandma Ardis

Toot, toot, he's two!

We are blessed to call this spunky sweet boy our son. What a delight he is! He enjoys driving hot wheels all over, using real tools to help, laying on kitties and keeping up with "Wook."



Hawes Farm

The crew

Luke & his buddy Ryan on the train ride

Miss Jessie and Daniel

Donkey!

I just love that Daniel thinks he can do anything!

Great day at the farm! Naomi, Ryan, Luke and Daniel.

The mom with a sweet photo bombers:Ava and her friend Melody.

 

 

 

Fishing at Carr Powerhouse

The brook trout were biting! Ava caught 1, Naomi 2 and Daddy 3. Fun!

Coleman Fish Hatchery

A few of the kids with a very LARGE Salmon

Miss Aleta (with the baseball cap) was our lovely guide

Naomi, Ava, & Conner touching the new salmon eggs

Hands-on science was a blast at Coleman Fish Hatchery!  A friend invited us and we were so blessed to see one of God's amazing creations in action: the salmon. Here's what I wrote to Grandma Ardis about the day:

Today we went to the Coleman national fish hatchery in Anderson (20 min south). The fall run of salmon has begun. Naomi was interested in their entire operation; she even took a video. Daniel insisted on keeping up with the big kids and would only go in the stroller when I forced him to. They all loved the fish jumping upstream. What an amazing sight of one of God's special creatures. Although I think Ava was more excited about being with her friend Corrin. :-) Naomi carried her own purse the entire time!

Kayaking on Whiskeytown Lake

Ava's first kayaking trip

The veteran kayaker

 

We were so fortunate to be able to kayak on the most lovely lake in Northern California! What a beautiful day to enjoy God's creation. We saw vultures drying themselves in the sun, a blue heron, frog eggs, explored Boulder Creek, spied an osprey nest and lots of little fish. Ah, I love where we live!