Fun with Family!

A couple weeks ago my mom and dad came out for a visit. We were excited to see them and spend some time with them. One of the days they were here we arranged to have a get together with my aunt Karen and uncle Ken. They are here serving an LDS mission.

 I loved watching my dad with my aunt. They kept calling each other my brother/my sister. I loved it.

It was great to see them again. It's been just over 5 years since I saw them last. We had fun grilling chicken and then we essentially just sat around the table a talked and talked and talked. I loved every minute of it. It was so fun to hear how everyone in the family was doing. I'm so glad that we got to visit with them. I love them so much!

Mom and dad really wanted to go see the ocean while they were here. I didn't have any problems with that request, I love the ocean. We took them to Half Moon Bay. It's actually one of my favorite beaches. The fall and winter are perfect times to go because it is less crowded. But it is still just as beautiful. It was a very clear day. The color of the water was just brilliant. It was a bit windy though and Jaden did not like that one bit. He cried and cried when I got him out of the car and he felt the wind. He was upset for quite a while.

Eventually he calmed down and saw the sand toys and decided to play. He still wouldn't smile but he played.

Grandma was trying to play with Jaden. He was still having issues with the wind and had a hard time deciding whether he still wanted to play or not. We didn't bring the tent with us this time like we did last time. I think we will now always bring the tent when we go to the beach just in case we find ourselves caught off guard by the wind again. Jaden probably would have enjoyed it more if he could have seeked refuge in the tent away from the wind.

I love this photo. It makes me so happy to know that my kids will have memories with their grandparents. That's always been so important to me to make sure they have these memories especially since we live two states away. I grew up living only a 30-40 minute drive to my grandparents on both sides. I remember many sunday afternoons going up to visit Grandma and Grandpa. That was one of the hardest things (and still is sometimes) for me when I had my kids and we lived multiple states away, knowing that my kids wouldn't have the weekly visits with Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins. I really miss that and so photos like these are real treasures.

Ron decided to take Jaden down to the ocean. He was still having a hard time with the wind and we thought maybe walking in the water might distract him. It did seem to help. At least for a little while. Walking along the water is one of our favorite things to do. The kids especially love to race the waves. Kaeryn and Tristan could stay in or by the water all day long. It's their happy place.

Jaxen loves to be by the ocean. He loves to walk along the shore, chase the waves and search for shells and cool rocks. But his most favorite part of the beach is the sand. Digging, scooping, patting, dumping. that's his happy place. I love watching him play.

This is one of my favorite angles of Jaxen playing. There was a slight slope as you got closer to the water. Jaxen played right at the top of that slope. It was the best spot to have easy access to wet sand and still have dry sand. I love my little dirt boy.

I love having fun with my photography. It is an art that you can be real creative with. I decided to have some with my photos. I changed the settings on my camera so that the images would be a bit over exposed. Then I added a tiny bit of shadowing to make my family pop out a bit. I actually thought it turned out pretty neat looking.

Kaeryn really didn't want to sit around. She wanted to walk along the shoreline and explore with Grandma and Grandpa. They pretty much did walk the entire shore line where we were at one side at a time. Here she is waiting patiently for Grandma and Grandpa to finish their rest. Tristan went also and he and Grandpa ended up searching the beach for shells and rocks. Tristan was very proud to have found an entire crab shell.

This photo makes me happy. I love these memories. This was when Kaeryn and Grandma began their second leg of their long walk.

This was a nice surprise. I was actually trying to focus in on a sea bird that kept diving into the water. Right as I was getting ready to take a photo of the bird this whale popped up. I love whales. They are amazing and beautiful creatures. There actually was two of them. I'm guessing some type of dolphin or porpoise. I was fun watching them as they went on their way.

Most people get annoyed by the sea birds but I actually like them. I think they can be very entertaining. I find that their prints in the sand are just as beautiful as ours.

This is Grandma and the kids on the way back from their long walk. My dad was still looking for shells, Tristan was ready for a rest. His legs were getting really tired. Kaeryn and Grandma were enjoying themselves so much that they just kept walking slowly and taking in the moment.

There were some awesome waves that day. I keep mentioning how much I love the ocean but I really do. I love the waves. I love the sound of the waves, the power of the waves, the beauty of the waves. In these photos I love how the sun shining bright behind them gave them their translucent look.

I love being able to see all the different colors and hues.

Kaeryn and Grandma are still taking their time. Walking in and along the water. While my dad finally caught up just rising above the slope of the beach. He's still looking for shells.

More of the awesome and beautiful waves. I will never tire of the ocean, or standing in the water or watching and chasing the beautiful waves.

poor little bee. He got all wet and seemed disoriented and confused at what just happened.

I'm so happy I was able to share this time with my mom and dad. It really was a perfect and beautiful day.

This was right before they left. We loved having them here. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully soon we'll be able to have another visit soon. It was wonderful to have some fun with our family!

Jaden and his Books!

Jaden loves books. When we are at home books are his happy place. Lately he has been learning crawl up on the couch by himself. Sometimes he makes it and sometimes he doesn't. I couldn't help but smile when I looked up one day and saw my little boy had crawled up on the recliner by himself with a pile of books! It was so cute. The perfect "I'm just going to sit back and relax and read a book" moment! I love that my baby loves to look at books so much. I hope this still is true when he gets older and learns to read. Such a cute cute boy!

Jaxen is reading!

This photo makes me smile! Our Jaxen is learning to read! I'm loving it! I love to see my babies learn new things. As part of Jaxen's daily homework he reads at least one book to me then I read a story to him. On the days that Ron is working from home Jaxen will read his story to him. I love watching the kids spend time with daddy! It warms my heart. I will always treasure this memory!

Happy 36th Birthday Ron!!!

 August 18th Ron celebrated his 36th birthday! We celebrated by staying home. That's what he wanted to do. Stay home and play video games. I made him a slime cake. A slime is a character from one of our favorite video game series, Dragon quest. I must say I am very happy how this turned out. So cute and happy!

 Ron loved it! I kept it a surprise but I had been planning on it for a while. I came up with an idea of how to make it and luckily it turned out! He was so excited when he saw it.

Even in the dark his cake looked happy!

I love this picture of daddy and the boys. The boys were so excited to celebrate daddy's birthday with him. Jaxen got Ron a stuffed koopa from the super mario games. He choose it himself and couldn't wait to give it to him. Tristan and Kaeryn went in together and got a video game for daddy. They were excited as well.

We did have a very good day and Ron has told me again and again that it was a wonderful day for him. I'm so happy to be a part of your life Ron! I love you so much! happy happy Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man, husband and father! You will always be my love! Thank you for sharing your special day with us!

Jaden's takes some steps!

 The middle of August Jaden finally started to take some steps at 18 months. He started learning to balance first but just wasn't interested in walking. He knew he could get there quicker by crawling.

 Finally took his first steps and seemed to have fun with it but still was more interested in crawling. Here in these photos he is playing a game with me. He takes a deep breath and starts to giggle like you do as you get on an amusement park ride. He would toddle over to the T.V. and back to me and bury his head in my lap with more giggles. It's so adorable! I love it when my babies learn something new. The world is filled with wonder again!

Stinson Beach

 August 4th we decided to make a trip to the ocean. It's always a favorite thing we look forward to. Jaxen had already started his school year but Kaeryn and Tristan hadn't yet. This was our end of summer break celebration. We hadn't been to the beach yet this summer and we were all begging to go! We choose to go to Stinson Beach. It's one of our favorites but we don't go there very often because of the long windy road you have to take to get there. Someone always ends up car sick. But it is worth it once you get there. It's beautiful.  Of course once we got there Jaxen hit the dirt and started digging in the sand. He could live in the dirt if we let him.

 Jaden was of course nervous at first and unsure of the texture of the sand. But once he saw Jaxen playing he reached for the truck and started playing as well. He realized it wasn't so bad after all and it was fun! I just love his smiles.

 After a while Jaxen moved on to bigger and better things. Someone had started a big hole that was in the wet sand area. Jaxen loves that area because the sand sticks and is easier to build and dig in. He was able to dig the hole pretty deep.

 Jaden was pretty much contented playing in the dry sand with the dump truck. Ron and I would take turns and sit with him while he played.

 While Jaden learned that he liked playing in the sand he was still very curious about his surroundings. He would often look up and around at what was going on. What other people were doing and the sea birds flying around. The sea birds were all around where we pitched our tent and chairs. I think they were hoping we would leave some snacks for them. Jaden loved the birds.

 Eventually we decided to see if he was ready to go closer to the water. At first he was okay being near the water as long as daddy or mommy was holding him. After that he would watch the waves with wonder.

 Ron loves to tell me that he loves me. This is always one of my favorite ways he does.

 I love the ocean waves. They are beautiful, powerful and yet peaceful. The sound of the waves will always be one of my favorite sounds to hear.

 Kaeryn and Tristan never spend much time playing in the sand. They spend as much time as they can in the ocean. They love the water and playing in the waves.

 I let Kaeryn practice her photography skills with my camera. It was quite fun to go through the pictures she took, many had only half of us in the frame. But these two turned out beautiful. She did fantastic with these ones.

 One of my favorite tools on my camera is the multiple release. Especially when I'm at the ocean. I can set my camera to take multiple photos at a time. It's perfect while watching the waves because you can catch the wave building up and letting go. The following is an example of this.  One.....rising up.......

 two.......reaching it's highest........

 three.......letting go and showing it's power........

 four.........the calm afterwards.

 No matter how many times I watch the waves I am always amazed by them.

 Jaden eventually stood in the water with Ron. I love the look on his here as he is watching the waves. He is amazed by them but a bit unsure of them as well.

 He did manage to smile and take a few steps with daddy.

 But he's still not sure, he did let a wave come up and Ron lifted him up as it came and he did smile at that. I think Jaden is beginning to love the beach as much as we do.

 Jaxen eventually left the sand to play in the water. Running in and out of the waves is so much fun. The kids love to race the waves. I love that we can give them a time when they can have no cares or worries, just fun!

 I'm learning that if I want to be in the picture with my kids I have to do the asking for someone to take it. Ron is always nervous using my camera but I think he did a beautiful job. I love this photo of Jaden and me. I love being able to share moments like this with my little ones. I treasure these memories.

 This is one of the sea birds that stayed around our tent and chairs. The people next to us left their food out and the birds had a hay day with that. They really are not that shy at all and would come within just a few feet of us. They are very entertaining to watch, I think anyway.

 Kaeryn and Tristan rarely left the shore. They would check in with us but continued to walk in the waves, race the waves and walk the shoreline looking for treasures. We do have a beautiful collection of shells and rocks the kids have found. I love that both of them do this together as friends as well as brother and sister.

 After a while both Jaxen and Jaden began to feel tired out. Kaeryn and Tristan still wanted to explore the shore so  Ron, the boys and I came back to the tent to rest for a bit while the older two continued to explore. Jaxen snuggled for a bit but soon fell asleep. Jaden had fun playing in the tent with daddy. There was still too much going on around for him to fall asleep. I went to sit in my chair to watch the waves some more.

 People had started to leave because it seemed like it was going to storm. It was quite overcast that day and so much cooler than in the valley. A lot of people were there in there jackets and here we come in our swim suits shorts. We stayed despite the signs of a storm. It never did rain and there was a break in the clouds a couple times. I'm glad we stayed because during one of the breaks in the clouds light shone through and reflected on the surface of the water. It was so beautiful! Nature never ceases to amaze me. I love being able to be a part of it. We left soon after this because we didn't want to get stuck driving the windy road in the dark. I thought this was the perfect way to end our day at the beach. It really was another perfect day.