Love Bugs

Our funny valentines.

Super spy ninjas.

Cookie cuties.

Ben sends a hug.

Our ballerina girl.

XOXO

Tried and True

February brought visits from special friends. Misty came out from Denver (escaping mid-snow storm!) for a much-needed weekend of remembering and catching up. It was incredible to visit spots dating back to when our friendship began nearly seventeen years ago. Walking around the Westmont campus we asked a student to take our photo, to us it felt like our college days were just a few years ago, but we laughed realizing that to the kid taking our picture we were definitely in “middle-age” category. Reflecting back we were able to see all the ways we’ve grown and changed, but also how we’ve stayed the same. As always, people assumed we were sisters and that assumption seems right.

One of Misty’s few SB requests was a stop (or two) at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

And of course, In N Out!

Kristi and her girls also headed up to Santa Barbara from Thousand Oaks for some weekend fun. Leah met Kristi at her first post-college job where they became instant friends. Since those early days, both have left Santa Barbara, started families and now all of us are back in Southern California. After years of phone calls, e-mails, text messages and quick Facebook comments there is simply nothing better than having an extended face to face conversation with a treasured friend.

"Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary."

-Louisa May Alcott

Disney Time

The day we told the kids we were moving to California, we used a standard ploy in the parenting arsenal of trying to make sad kids happy. We promised them a trip to Disneyland. We had hoped to go back in the fall for Ben’s birthday, but it didn’t work out. The kids were troopers about it but often asked, “So, when are we finally going to Disneyland?”

The answer to our Disneyland dreams came in an end of the month call from “Our Jan” with passes for the family the very next week. Calendars were quickly cleared, we surprised the kids with a bedtime story about a certain prince and princess revealing our destination, asked Leah’s “mom-council” for advice on maneuvering the happiest place on earth and enjoyed our one and only first time visit as a family.

Kiddos the night before our big adventure:

The fun begins:

Rest stop in a non-moving teacup (the only type Leah can handle):

Rest stop on daddy’s shoulder:

Ben’s biggest adventure was being chosen as a participant for the Jedi Training Academy. We were all excited watching him go through his training exercises and then we were thrilled as he became the star of the show defeating both Darth Vader and a Strom Trooper attack. If there was ever a moment of a father living out his dreams through his son, this was it.

First Jungle Cruise for Mark, Ben and Clara!

Clara’s big moment was going on the Thunder Mountain Railroad coaster and loving it. Here she is triumphantly showing her rollercoaster rock star status:

The family willingly indulged in a mommy Little Mermaid moment:

Don’t even think of messing with this crew:

The kids lasted until closing and must have been sprinkled with pixie dust, because the day was clear of meltdowns and whining. It was a day we had anticipated for so long and it did not in any way disappoint. 

It's summed up best in this moment— when Mark leaned into Leah and whispered, “Can you believe we're at Disneyland with our little boy and little girl?” 

Dreams really do come true.

Little Celebrations

January gave us plenty of moments to celebrate:

Ben & Clara raised over $250 for the Hands of Grace Clean Water Project. We still have our buckets and the kids continue to save dimes and quarters, along with hitting up people for donations. Big thank you's to everyone who contributed to this special advent project.

We had a sunset (actually, sunset/twilight/dark) picnic at the Mission. Clara loved trying out her new picnic basket from Christmas and Ben always looks forward to another round of launching stomp rockets. 

Mark enjoyed a Santa Barbara birthday with his favorite people, his favorite view, his favorite cake and twirl with his little girl.

January is the anniversary of Clara undergoing surgery with Leah (in her mama’s belly) that we remember every year as, “Clara’s Special Day.” Rusty’s Pizza, another cake and a glow stick dance party (best $4 ever spent at Dollar Tree) was the perfect family night to celebrate our strong, sweet girl, how happy we are that she belongs to us, to say a prayer from thankful hearts and to shake, shake, shake our booties.

We had a simple tea party. Simple because of all Leah’s magic mommy craft closet goodies are in storage. At first, Clara said, “What kind of tea party is this? This isn’t a tea party!” But after a couple of rounds of pink lemonade, feeding Wally, Little Chewy and Baby Sister some brownie bites and watching the sunset sky over the ocean she declared it, “The best tea party ever!”

Ben’s original Lego creation, he wanted us to take a picture to send to the Lego company, “because they are totally going to want to see this!”