More from California

I hate living so far away from my sisters.  Holly is in California and Hillary is in Indiana - we don't see each other near enough and it's hard to connect at times.  I was so glad to have the chance to see Holly's life in CA - she and Nate are attending Fuller Seminary and they have had a great opportunity to not only learn a bunch of new things, but also meet some amazing people.  Their life out there reminded me of Peter and I's time at Duke.  Being back in an academic setting, where people are at the same stage of life, pursuing similar things...making friends was easy and we were blessed to get to know so many people during our time there.  They have been able to meet some wonderful people and made some long-lasting friendships.  It was good to see them so happy and settled.  I loved being able to put some faces to names and to be able to spend time with a few of their closer friends there.

Holly and Nate loved on Henry and were so helpful with taking care of him.  Henry's internal clock was a little messed up during our time there - I forgot about the 3 hour time change and the affect it would have on him (and myself).  Consequently, Henry and I were up at 4 am most mornings and they were very gracious to a noisy apartment at that hour.  :)

Holly and I had the chance to spend a lot of time together - we took walks around town, shopped, had brunch with her friends, Henry and I helped with her babysitting job, and even went out for dessert one night while Nate stayed with the little man.  I really enjoyed hearing about the things she is processing through and learning at school...she and Nate are growing in their faith and have been wrestling through the things they believe.   It was challenging for me to hear the things they are learning and good for me to analyze my own faith and why I believe what I believe.  I'm so proud of the two of them - they are pursuing their dreams and although it has taken awhile to figure out exactly what those dreams are...they are on their own time table and not letting opinions of others affect what they want to accomplish.

And like I said before, the camera was out most of the time and we were able to capture some sweet moments.  :)

Trip to California

My sister, Holly and her husband Nate have been living in California for almost 2 years now and I had yet to visit them and see their life there.  When I lived in Arizona, I had the chance to visit California a few times and I loved seeing that part of the counry and the people there.  California is just different.  I don't know how to explain it, but life seems to be more glamorous and so "chill."

Peter was unable to join us due to work and it was hard to not have him along for the trip.  I hate having him miss out and it's getting more and more difficult for him to be away from Henry and me...well, mostly the little guy :).   I have to say that I was a little nervous of how the cross-country flight was going to go.  We had flown before, but not for THAT long and by myself.  A week before, I started having him watch a little puppet DVD I got from my sister-in-law, just to have something ELSE to occupy him for the 5 hour flight.  It caught his attention for minutes at a time and I was thankful for the break.  It was a LONG flight - my own legs were falling asleep and we were running out of things to do, but we made it.  Thank goodness there was an empty seat beside me and the 24 year-old guy on the isle was patient!

 Before the flight...practicing...

These were during the flight, although keeping the headphones in (and not eating them) was a challenge.  :)

My parents were able to visit as well, so it was WONDERFUL to all be together.  We walked around Pasadena, ate at some favorite places, and were able to have our usual marathon conversations about various topics.  :)  Of course the cameras were out.  At one point, there were three cameras pointing at Henry and it got a little embarrassing. :)

 

More to come...

Crawling...

Just a little video to document Henry's army crawl.  He's been doing this for awhile and is now properly crawling, but I wanted to send it out anyway.


He's been doing this for awhile and we're ready to see the real thing...although not TOO ready because then he starts to do this:

And gets into things he shouldn't.  Time to baby-proof the house....

Here is another clip we took on Christmas Day...

Fun TImes with Mom...

 Hi Snotty nose...

Giggling...

Henry was in an especially giggly mood yesterday and I was able to grab my phone and capture a little of the moment.

Random shots the last few days...

 Not feeling well and feeling very needy at the moment...

 Thanks for the adorable onesie, Corcoran's...can't wait for him to see Disney in person!

We were attempting to read a book, but he's very distracted...

Go IU!!

All ready for the game...