Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a lot of fun. We did our best to make mom feel real special the whole day. First dad got up early and made mom breakfast in bed. (waffles and eggs) He even went out side and picked and arranged his own boquet of flowers for mom. Then we went to church and then went out to lunch on the capitola wharf. We took a little walk through capitola village. It was beautiful outside. Then we went to the Boardwalk where we rode some fun rides. I went on my first rides. I could not have been happier, grinning from ear to ear, when I got to go on the airplane ride all by myself way up in the air. After that we went to OSH where mom got to pick out her Mother's Day present: a nice lawn chair. (cuz we all know now much she worships the sun) Then we got Chinese takeout for dinner and came home and watched a movie and went to bed. It was a fun full day. Happy Mother's Day to all you hard working mother's out there!

Dad had fun on the kitty rides ;)

My Birthday

I am 2 whole years old! The day started by me crawling in bed with mom and snuggling her in the morning. She loves that. I was so comfy sleeping on her pillows that she let me sleep in till almost 10am! Then she made us macadamia nut pancakes. Then we packed a picnic and went to the park. It's a really pretty park just down the road from our new house called Royal Oaks Park that we bought a year pass to. Then after naptime and when dad got home we went out to Chuck-E-Cheez for dinner. I really enjoyed my pizza and orange soda. I had a blast playing every single game in the joint. My favorite was this silly Barny Game. I won 50 tickets and traded them in for a bag of Pop Rocks. Whoa, those were crazy! It feels good being 2! I've been talking so much and people can actually understand what I'm saying. I love to give long explanations about everything. Whenever somthing happens to me I go running to mommy or daddy and jabber out several sentences and almost everything has to do with the doggie or Mas (Magnus). Whenever I get a booboo I have to have someone kiss it to make it better. Sometimes I pretend like I hurt myself just so I can get a kiss. ;) After I do something I know is wrong I say with a solomn voice, "I sorry, mama". When someone sneezes I say, "Bless You!" Oh, and I can also count to 10! Click on the video me counting:

Here's some Chuck-E-Cheez pics

Picnic at the parkSleeping in on my Bday My sister is growing a lot too. She will be 1 year old in just a few days. She has sooo many new tricks. Let me just brag about her for a minute: She can clap, she gives you an open mouth kiss if you ask for it, she can stand on her own for about 20 seconds, then plops down, she can take a couple steps, SHE SAID HER FIRST WORD!!!!!, it was "Doggie!". Now she says it all the time. She stands at the sliding glass door and screams at the dog outside saying, "Doggie, Doggie, Doggie!" See video. She now also says, "thank you" and "hi". She also waves hello and goodbye. It's just too cute when she waves. She's very bashful and has the most beautiful smile. She gives a little wiggle dance when you turn the music on. She's not quite as musically inclined as I am though. Faylen now has 8 teeth and LOVES to eat. In fact, mom and dad call her a garbage disposal. She ate 2 whole pieces of pizza at Chuck-E-Cheez! She eats about twice as much as I do and she's NOT at all picky. Hopefully she gets her dad's metabolism. She likes to hide her face and play peek-a-boo. And she finally figured out how to use a sippy cup.

We are settling into our new home. We absolutely love it! It's so fun and nice. Mom and dad seem really happy. After several nights of staying up till three in the morning they are finally done with most of the painting and major jobs. Now it's just hanging up stuff and decorating, which is mom's favorite. My sister and I have a really fun room. It's blue! Dad put up really nice Waisnscot wood paneling on the lower half of the room. It looks really nice. I like to shoot hoops with dad in the driveway and go in the backyard and climb on the hill with the Magnus.

Uncle Josh came to visit for a few days before he flew off to Israel to be with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Shosh. It was fun to see him. He helped a lot on moving day. Actually lots of people helped us a lot. Thank you to everyone who helped. Everyone in Israel is having an amazing time. Mom, the traveler, is soooo jealous of her family and wishes she could be there with them. They have been going to amazing places traveling all around the country. They have seen Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Cesaria, the Wailing Wall, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea and so much more. They all say that it's really beautiful and that it's amazing how they feel God's presence in the Promise Land. I bet that's inevitable when you are walking where Jesus walked.

We went to my friend Sammie's pool party and daddy dunked me in the water 100 times. Faylen went swimming in a pool for the first time and loved it. The cold water didn't faze her at all. She woulda stayed in the water all day. Thanks for the fun birthday party Sammie!

Can't wait to see you all at our birthday party!

Love, Li'l John

Our First Home

We are officially homeowners and sooooo excited! We got the keys on Thursday and already got to work the other day removing popcorn from the ceilings and painting. Well, I can say with complete confidence that it wasn't chance, luck, stars alligning, coincidence or any other powers at work other than those of our Lord Jesus Christ who allowed for this blessing to happen to our family. Through the ups and downs, times of faith, doubt and questioning, we knew deep down that God would allow this house to be ours if he wanted it to. The devil certainly tried to get in the way more often than not to sabatage the whole deal, but God had appointed this house for us and nothing could change that! We are so excited to move in and start making memories in our own home! It still feels weird that it's actually OURS! Thank you God!

The first night we got the keys we bought fondue, champagne, and a duraflame log and had our first dinner in our house by firelight (we didn't have any lamps yet). :) We watched our kids crawl around and play on the empty living room floor as we looked out our picture perfect view from the living room window at the sun setting on a chapter closed in our lives: renting.

Thanks Grandpa Paul for driving all the way up here to help us fix up the house! Ou official move in date is this Sat., 4/25/09.

We would love for you to come and see the place!

Love,

Li'l John

Trip to AZ

Best Friends

The Gang

So mom braved taking my sister and I on a plane ride to Phoenix, Arizona to visit Aunt Prisilla and her family. We did so many fun things. My sister and I behaved so well on the plane while mom stuffed our faces with goldfish and cheerios. I got a window seat and loved looking through the window and shouting, "wing!" and "plane!"

Holding my sister on the plane

When we were there mom stayed up till like 3 am every night having "girltalk" with Prisilla. We went to some fun parks, we fed ducks at the park, we went to the Children's Museum (which was THE COOLEST PLACE I have ever been.....seriously!), and we went to a park where we got to ride on a train! Prisilla cooked up a storm all week and I got to eat yummy treats that mommy doesn't usuallly give me. Prisilla's house is sooooo fun! There is a huge backyard with tons of toys, a swing set and slide, little boys everywhere to play with. I had so much fun getting to know all the huisman boys. It was like chaos with 6 kids under 6 at her house for a week, but sooooo much fun! I already miss them. Prisilla threw a party the first day we got their with all mom's old high school friends. It was fun to meet you all! One of my favorite parts of the trip to AZ was playing outside in the yard in the warmth of the evening. Here is a bunch of fun pictures of our trip. Enjoy!

On the Train

Playing at the park

Mom and Tina

Painting a cardboard house at the Children's Museum

Having breakfast as a family :)

Too many boys in the tub (Malachi, Levi, Josiah, John, and Judah)

Levi reading to the kindergarten teacher. Mom was so impressed!Feeding the ducks at the park 3 blocks from Prisilla's house

Saying goodbye at the airport :(

Happy Easter!

Jesus Lives! I hope you all had a blessed Easter! Here are some pics of the fun Easter Egg hunt we had at our church.

Faylen in her new Easter dress from Gma Jill

Mom and I did some fun Easter crafts too.

Happy Easter,

Love,

Li'l John