It has been a while since my last post. 8 months to be exact. I feel like a lot has happened since then! Our year started off great with a trip to Disneyland with our dear friends the Smiths. It was Isaiah's first visit and he LOVED every minute of it!!
In February, we seriously started looking into buying a house and made an offer in March. They started building the week after they accepted our offer and we moved in on June 11th:) It was an exciting process for us, especially since we were able to pick out just about everything. We were really able to make it our own! We had to landscape the backyard ourselves. Sprinklers, sod, rock, all of the above!(btw...that kind of work is no joke!) But we were able to get the whole thing done in 5 days, with a big shout out to my cousin Steve!!
Going back to May, Jeff had to go to LA for 3 weeks for work, which I was not a fan of b/c I HATE staying by myself.(technically Isaiah was there so not truly "by myself") I did it though and stayed all 21 nights by "ourselves" which is huge for me b/c I am a scaredy cat! We were so glad to have him back home at the end of May!
So, shortly after we moved in my Grandpa Charles passed away. He was 91 years old and lived a long, good life and is missed dearly! It has not been an easy adjustment for my family, but God's mercies are new everyday!
Jeff and I celebrated our 6th anniversary at the end of July. It is hard to believe it has been 6 years since we said "I Do." The time is flying by!!
We also booked a trip to Maui at the end of July to celebrate my brother graduating with his PhD in January. We are soooo excited to go back there. It will be a nice reprieve from the dreary January weather! On the other hand not looking forward to the 5 hour flight with a 3.5 year old;)
Speaking of that 3 year old....Isaiah is growing like a weed. He is still very busy and very strong-willed! He continues to amaze me daily. He loves anything with wheels, a ball or anything he can digest(he is a mini garbage disposal!) He is 100% boy all the time! He is also in a big boy bed now:) Something which we have dreaded doing for a long time! For one b/c of how busy he is we weren't sure he would stay in it and two...as noted above very strong willed!! But to our astonishment he has not gotten up out of his bed once. He even waits in there in the morning for me to come get him up.....truly a miracle:) I am however realizing how fast time is going by with him. He will be 3 next month and is no longer my "baby"(he always will be in a proverbial sense of course). It won't be long before he is off to school and not here with me during the day. So I must cherish this time with him and continue to cultivate his little heart and mind.
We are truly so blessed and thankful for everything we have.

Tis' the Season!

I love Christmas time! I love the music, the decorations, the goodies, the traditions and spending time with those who come from out of town! Maybe it is my memories from Christmas' past. When your a child everything about the Season feels so magical!!

It is a whole different experience as a parent. Isaiah doesn't comprehend the whole idea of Christmas yet, but he loves looking at the tree and the "ornmens". He likes reading his special Christmas books and I love teaching him that it is Jesus' Birthday. He has been singing "Appy Birday Esus" everyday for the last week:) It is so sweet to experience it through his eyes!

On another note...we are also very excited to not have to travel from Sacramento to Cottonwood for the first time since we have been married! It will be wonderful to wake up in our own beds Christmas morning:)

Have a wonderful Christmas!!
love, Steph

A new Season!

As I write this it is the first day of Fall and 100 degrees outside?!? How does that happen!?!? It is suppose to be in the 80's by next week! Hallelujah! I love summer, but I am ready for Fall!
I LOVE the Fall! I love all the colors, the crisp, cool mornings, pumpkin everything, anticipation of the holidays coming, my favorite shows premiering, getting out the jeans, sweaters and boots!
It is a great time of year!!
On another note...Isaiah turned 2 last weekend! Where has the time gone! I can't believe 2 years have passed since he first entered our lives!!! He still is a blessing to us everyday! Not to say he doesn't act like a typical 2 year old! We have our work cut out for us as he has a strong will and temper! He has changed our lives in such an amazing way! Happy Birthday My Boy! I love you!

5 wonderful years!

We reached the 5 year mark in marriage last week!! The time has flown by. We have been so blessed these last five years! It seems like we have accomplished much in these 5 short years! As soon as we got back from our honeymoon we moved to Sacramento to finish school. Just the two of us in this new city, with new jobs,a new school, and a whole different life!! It was a lot of changes all at once, but we did it! That first year was hard, not knowing anyone and not having made any friends yet. It was a huge challenge! Going into our second year, we made some great friends and got connected into a great church! Going into our third year we graduated Sac State and shortly after that found out we were expecting our first child! A bit of a surprise!! We had been married just a little over 3 years when Isaiah joined our family:) I can't believe he is almost 2 years old?! The last two years have been full of change. Jeff left the Credit Union he was with for an Injury Adjuster position with Farmer's Insurance which he soon found out was not all what he thought it would be! After a long, hard year God opened the door for a transfer to a different department within Farmers and it also happened to be in Redding! Home Sweet Home! We left our life in Sacramento back in February. It has been yet another transition, but it is wonderful to be back near family and old friends!
Anyways.....We decided to celebrate our Anniversary by getting away just the 2 of us! This would be our first trip without Isaiah. Since he is almost 2 it was well over-due! We went to LA for a long weekend. Spent most of the time hanging out at the beach and did some touristy things that we had never done before! It was great to getaway just the 2 of us! Need to make it more of a regular occurrence!
Jeff-
Thanks for being a wonderful husband and father! I love you:) Can't wait to see what God has in store for the next 5 years!!

We're Home!

So, we're home, for anyone who doesn't know. We have been home for almost 2 months now. It has been nice. We got unpacked rather quickly as Jeff was leaving for LA in less than 48 hours after we got home:( He was gone for the first 4 weeks off and on. It has been so nice to have him back! Isaiah had a rough few days in his new room, but all is well now! We have immensely enjoyed having much more space and grandparents nearby to babysit!
Isaiah's vocab has sprouted up overnight!! He will try to say anything you ask!! He is growing up so quickly! His personality is really shining through!! Jeff and I find ourselves just sitting and watching him! He is so funny and is constantly keeping us on our toes!

We are having to readjust our city driving habits to a much slower pace especially since Steph got a speeding ticket our 2nd day here:(

It has been neat running into people we haven't seen in a long time here and there, but we do miss our friends in Sac and hope to get back there to visit soon!

We really do feel truly blessed!
til' next time:)

San Fran

So we decided to take one last trip to San Fran as Sacramentoians(sp???). It is such an easy hour drive from Sacramento compared to four hours from Redding. We love San Fran. Jeff and I have been there countless times since we have lived in Sac. We love getting some lunch and heading to the beach, or going to the Peir to watch the Sea Lions, Union Square or just driving around. We have also enjoyed taking Isaiah a few times over this last year. It is really fun to see him run along the beach and touch the sand. It was freezing when we were there yesterday, but we still enjoyed the craziness of it all! We will miss our spur of the moment trips!!

Livin' for Today!

Today while Isaiah and I were eating lunch I noticed he was actually taking his time! It is usually gone before I have even sat down. But today he was eating one black bean, corn and pea at a time(as opposed to handfuls.) It was so funny to watch him, he would pick one up, examine it talk to it, then eat it and laugh. He did this with almost every single one. I was reminded that I too need to slow down sometimes! I often am consumed with what I have to do next or what I am doing tomorrow or next week. I never just enjoy the moment. I need to slow down and store these special moments somewhere because these are things I don't want to forget! He continues to amaze me as he grows and learns new things! After lunch we go outside for a short walk to get some fresh air. The walk usually consists of me not letting him put rocks in his mouth, trying to hold his squirming hand and him trying to go to fast and tripping over his feet. But not today, as we were walking it dawned on me that he was holding my hand, just walking along side me like an old pro. I thought to myself, Steph, you better enjoy this because there will come a day when he won't need to hold your hand anymore.(tear, tear!)
Ok enough of the sappy stuff! Point being, I need to relish in the now more often!

Matthew 6:34 says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."