ugly.face.contest.2010

the kiddos trying

john.veronica

me

nanny

pappa

brad

andrea

russ

it was mom griffiths birthday on jan. 3rd, and we were all together, so i took it as an opportunity to have our first annual ugly face contest. as some of you may know, this is something my family tries to do every year. i thought it would be fun to try it with russ' side of the family. there are a couple of good contenders. russ is usually hard to beat, but brad may have taken this one.
it's funny because i noticed that russ' family is more hands on...meaning that a few of them use their hands to help out in the uglyfying of thier face. whereas my family never uses their hands. there is no rule about the use of hands, it's just a difference i noticed between the two families.
:)

happy 4th birthday to our sweet noah!

our noah is 4 years old today and i am overwhelmed when i think about how blessed i am to have such a funny, smart, and loving little boy. he is a great helper around the house, loves the Lord, and loves his brother so much. i think about how undeserving we are to get to borrow and raise him up for God's kingdom, but are so thankful for God's grace and his constant blessing over our lives. noah's brilliance surprises me every single day. i am so excited to see what the future has in store for him. happy birthday nowie!!!

melt.my.heart.

My 3 (almost 4) year old Noah and I were having a conversation about Christmas. Russ and I have been trying our best to share with my kiddos what the season is all about...Christ.

Me: What do you want for Christmas? Do you want a bike?
Noah: I don't want anything!
Me: You don't want anything?!
Noah: I don't want anything, I want to make a cake for Jesus' birthday.
Me: Alright, we can make Him a birthday cake!
Noah: But I don't know how I'm going to give him his birthday cake, I guess I'll just have to give it to him in my heart.

Oh my gosh!
It is moments like these that I remember how truly blessed I am to have such amazing kids. I do not deserve my precious kiddos and yet God has entrusted me with them, allowing me to borrow them and to raise them up for His kingdom and glory.
Uhhhhhhh!I love them so much!

future career???

the boys were playing with their mega blocks and noah said, "look what i made!" we looked up and he had built himself the cutest, most well designed airplane that you could make with baby mega blocks. he was so proud! and i was so proud of my three year old! he even had a pilot and a doggy in it :) i just loved seeing the joy on his face. who knows, maybe this is a clue to his future career. hmmmm...maybe it's time to upgrade to real legos :)

beach fun in oxnard

me.russ

brody.noah

griffiths

me.stacie

moose

we spent a day in beautiful oxnard with my friend stacie. even though i didn't bring their swim suits the boys had a blast playing in the sand and chasing birds. i think our puppy moose had the most fun though. he loved it! he was running around, swimming, and playing with all the other doggies (which all happened to be choc. labs as well). it was a great day!

the boys and their best friend

i just love how these guys love each other :)

Craving

It's a gloomy day in T-town and for some reason I'm craving a cold, fruity, tart treat. So sad that neither of these or anything like it are near me.

Yeah BroBro!

Brody told us he needed to go poop in the toilet yesterday. We are so proud of our 2 year old! We haven't really been working on him very much because I thought I'd wait until after the holidays, but this is a good sign.

Dodger game

Cerisa and I

Brody with his new bat!

Noah recovering after getting hit with Brody's new bat :(

The Cubs fans

The boys got free doggies at the game

Dodgers vs. Cubs

Walking to the Stadium

Our little Dodger family

It was about 100 degrees, we were in the sun for a couple hours, a bottle of water costs $5.75...but we had so fun with my sis and her boyfriend at the Dodger game. Chris is from Chicago, so he is a devoted Cubs fan. Because of our kind hearts, we decided the Dodgers could lose one game so that Chris could go home happy :) J/K Chris. The boys also got to run around the actual bases after the game which was pretty cool, even though my boys insisted on walking.

Obsessed...

with our Loving God!
Read it!

Crazy Love
by
Francis Chan

The newest addition to our family...

MOOSE!

Anna and Amadeo blessed us with this little guy and we just love him to pieces. The boys adore him and are having so much fun playing and loving on their new pup. He is the sweetest puppy and is so calm. He is doing good potty training and loves swimming!
We are so grateful to the Nevares' for giving us one amazing dog!
(Love you guys!)

Trampoline fun!

plus it was Free off of Craigslist!

who needs a pool

when you have sprinklers! :)

Happy Birthday to our Ciara!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sis...the most beautiful Peace Corps Volunteer ever!!! You have such a big heart and so much love to share with the world, we love you! When you are done with your work...Africa will never be the same :) Have a blessed day! Can't wait to see you in Sept.!

Beach Day

The boys love the beach and could play there all day! They were busy, busy, busy digging their hole...which later became their own personal pool. :)

New Hair!!!

Thanks to my unlicensed stylist, Anna! :)
10 1/2 inches off to Locks of Love!

Daddy...

the Human Mattress.

Hillsong United...here we come!

We are super excited about seeing Hillsong United on Monday at the Nokia Theatre in L.A. Monday night. They are a praise and worship band from Australia and they are amazing. I know it will be an experience we will never forget. Thank you Jesus!!!

* Also, we are so excited about my BFF being pregnant. It has something we have prayed about for a long time. We know that our Lord has perfect timing for everything and we are just so thankful. So yeeeeeeah! I am gonna be auntie...sort of :)