October

In October Amelia contracted at least 3 different illnesses. She's awesome that way. After having a really gross stomach bug for two weeks, she got a cold, promptly followed by a case of walking pneumonia. Poor kid has had a really rough Fall.

James got his school pictures taken and got a game ball. He LOVES baseball.

 We went to a Fall Festival and the kids had a lot of fun. They each got to pick out a pumpkin and carve it. I think Paul and I did the majority of the work.

Amelia was very proud of her Elsa "tattoo."

Our theme for Halloween was "When I Grow Up." So, naturally, James was a scientist. With green hair, because it's his dream to have green hair when he grows up.

And sweet Amelia was Doc McStuffins. I made their lab coats and Paul took James out trick-or-treating while sick little Amelia stayed home and watched I Love Lucy episodes with me. For some reason whenever my kids are sick, they want to watch I Love Lucy.

That was our October!

Sunset Beach & Labor Day

We went camping for Labor Day again this year. Last year we went to a great campground in Uvas Canyon, but I've been dying for a beach camp experience. Of course, it was much different than my experiences with beach camping in Southern California, but it was still a lot of fun.

 September in NorCal can be chilly. I thought it was going to be colder than it actually was, but at least we were prepared!

 All the pictures I took of him looked like this :)

 After a fun night of camping and a delicious breakfast, we headed to the beach! On our way down we saw at least two dorsal fins. Luckily we had only planned on beach-combing anyway.

Sunset Beach is full of sand dollars! James found quite a few.

Amelia just liked running and trying to scare me with getting too close to the shark infested waters.

The view is quite stunning. The beach is surrounded by large agricultural farms full of lettuces and strawberries. It's quite different from Southern California, but a fun adventure.

Anyone who knows Paul knows he's a sucker for pie. So before heading home we went to Gizdich Ranch. It's a very cute apple farm with amazing pies. Like, seriously the best pie I've ever had.

It was a very relaxing weekend and we got some much-needed r&r! Now it's back to the grind of life.

Point Montara Lighthouse Trip

Back in February we purchased a Lighthouse Passport when we visited the Point Pinos lighthouse in Pacific Grove. Basically when you visit a lighthouse, you get a stamp (or sometimes two!) in your passport. It's been fun to visit several lighthouses in the area in the last couple of months. I love history and old buildings. Lighthouse properties are typically well maintained and offer free or low cost museums.

So far we've visited Point Pinos, Santa Cruz, Pigeon Point, and last week we visited Point Montara.

Point Montara Lighthouse is actually really small. Apparently it started off in Maine, and was auctioned off to a ship captain. No one is quite sure how it came go be at this spot, but it's unique to Northern California. 

I LOVE this lighthouse keepers house. I would live here now and never leave. The property is lush with organic landscaping and I absolutely loved it.

They aren't kidding. It drops off right there and goes waaaay down. 

After exploring the area and getting our stamps we headed to Pacifica where the weather was much warmer and we had a picnic. We are living in an apartment in San Jose right now so the kids need to stretch their legs and run wild. We try to oblige as often as possible.

It was a great day trip! We are loving living so close to the ocean!

Nutshell Updates

Because I have been absent from blogging for so long, I just can't even begin to think of proper updating, so instead, here are our two most recent Christmas letters! They give a pretty good summary of the last couple of years. I can't believe it's been that long since I last updated this blog! Enjoy!

Back to Blogging & Privacy Settings

I started blogging earlier this year over at www.joyfuljourneyings.com. I love it and love that I have a creative outlet, but I've come to realize that I'm not doing a very good job at documenting our family blog/journal. Recently I've become aware and concerned over family safety and privacy issues, and so I will be changing the privacy of this blog. I want to share with anyone I know who is interested in our lives and journeys, I just want to keep the creepers out and my kids safe. If you'd like to stay posted on our family news blog, send me your email and I'll add you to the approved list.

Thanks for understanding!

Going to School

Ever since reading about Stephanie Nielson's tradition of a back to school feast (5 years ago!) I knew I wanted to something similar. James was looking forward to his feast for weeks. He got to pick the menu this year:

Honey Ham

Cucumber Salad

Sweet Potatoes

Hawaiian Rolls

Chocolate Cake

I'm pretty sure he told every random person who would listen about his feast.

 

 Paul and I thought a long time about a simple, yet meaningful family theme for James' first year of school. Our theme comes from Ephesians 4:32: "Kindness begins with me."
We will take this school year to study the life of Christ, who is the perfect example of unfailing kindness.

I ordered our family theme star (also stolen from nienie) from Piggy & Dirt. I absolutely love it and can't wait to have our own collection of beautiful stars to remind us of our themes over the years and to inspire our children to let their examples shine brightly.

At the dinner table we picked pencils with topics out of a jar and discussed all the things that we felt were important to talk about the night before school:

Choosing the Right

Being Kind

Helping Others

Being a Good Example

Listening

Obeying the Rules

There were several gifts on the table for James that related to our family theme.

I got this copper key chain from Littlefield Lane for James to take to school with him (attached to his backpack) as a constant reminder of our family theme.

I decorated crowns from Socials for the kids to remind them that they are children of God.

After dinner James received a priesthood blessing from his dad and we all felt ready for this next phase of life.

Bright and early Thursday morning I drove James to school. There was tearing up on my part, but no crying! James is adjusting to the rules (being quiet, sitting still, etc.), but he's loving Kindergarten!

We did it! We survived the first day of school!