While the kids are away...

My sweet Mr. Jones took care of the kidos yesterday so I could get some SERIOUS sewing done. We desperately needed to get Malia going on the whole toddler bed thing and all that we were waiting on was for this Mrs. Jones to make her bedding. I am one determined lady let me tell you!
I needed to incorporate some of the colors already in Gabers room, (she will be sharing with him to make room in the nursery for the baby) but wanted it to be more girly for my little girl. This is what I came up with! Don't look too closely. This is my first rag quilt and I did finish the whole thing (including the sheets and pillow case mind you!) in one day. Ahhh, feels good. One more thing to check off on the list. Now.... on to getting her to sleep in it! Wish me luck!




(sorry for the bad coloring on the pictures. I don't have the time or energy to edit them right now, but you still get the idea!)









And this is how I found Malia when I got out of the shower this morning. Daddy had gotten her all ready for church and she decided to spend the free time reading on her new bed. Good sign I hope! Maybe this means the transition to bed will be easy??? PLEASE... let it be a sign! ;)

Latest Photo Shoot

These cuties were in town from Mississippi and it was so nice to get to photograph their little faces again. I have been doing their family photography since Mommy and Daddy's wedding and have enjoyed every sitting we have. They are just such sweet cute kids and I can't get enough of them!










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Little Surfer Dude

As promised!

Last Wednesday night as we were going through our nigh-nigh routine, Gabe posed a question. "Mommy, if it low tide tomorrow can I go surfing on Daddy's big board?" (Heart melting Mommy replies) "Sure honey!"
Gabe and Daddy must have talked about it earlier that day because upon awakening Thursday morning I caught Mr. Jones checking the surf report. It was low tide at 7:30am, so we packed up the fam and headed to DoHo beach.
Now some of you facebookers may recall Uncle Darren posing the question, " Are there any waves?"
And my reply- "There are ALWAYS waves when you only weigh 30 lbs. and have a 9ft. surfboard!"












Until later surfer dudes!!

WOOO HOOOO!!

We had a little evening at the beach today.... and guess what!? Gabe surfed!! I was jumping around like a cheerleader on the beach. He rode a few on his stomach with Daddy and by himself at first, and then asked if he could go out again and try standing up. Of course Daddy said sure. Daddy pushed him into a wave and he just popped right up and rode it all the way in!! I am telling you the cutest thing ever!! He did it twice more before coming in. You should have seen the smile on this kids face... he was totally "stoked".
Of course I had no idea that such a mile stone would occur this evening so I sadly had no camera :( You can all imagine how much I was kicking myself, but I promise next time I have a post like this there will be pictures for all to enjoy!! YEAH GABE!!

Canada- Take THREE

The Vanderleest Family Reunion, Drayton Valley, Alberta Canada- PART I

This was the reason for the trip. Every summer Mrs. Jones' Mother's Birth Mother's Family (take a minute and read that again... ok, got it? ;) ) has a family reunion in Drayton Valley.
My Mother's birth Mother's (hereafter referred to by name, "Willi") parents migrated from Holland to Drayton valley with their children sometime after the war. Most of the children still live in the area with their families and so they have a big family reunion every year in Drayton Valley.
Kind of fun for us since Mrs. Jones' side of the family is small and has never really had need for a full blown family reunion (Mr. Jones on the other hand is a different story). It is always so neat to get to know these wonderful people better each year.
As an ADOPTIVE Mother myself, I hold a special place in my heart for my Mother's birth family. And likewise as a daughter of an ADOPTED Mother. The wisdom I have learned meeting these people is that family is never ending and comes to us in so many ways- through blood, adoption, and bottom line LOVE. Family is a never ending circle of people that share and show love for one another. I am so grateful for my everlasting and eternally growing family.

The barn (on Willi's sister, Petra's, farm) was the location of the reunion this year. We also got to stay close by so it was nice and easy for us to just walk on over.


Mrs. Jones' Mother, Laurie, visiting with her nephews.

The swing set saw a lot of action this weekend... Malia was ALL OVER the farm. She felt quite secure and comfortable there. It was not unknown for her to randomly be found over by the cows or the horses. Mommy and Daddy had to keep a close eye on her, but she was of course loving it.

The beautiful Grammy Laurie and Malia.

Don't you wish you could hear what they were saying? Something funny! This is Auntie Michelle, Mrs. Jones' sister, and Willi.


Ok, so you remember those little parachuting army men that you used to get off the icecream truck? Or maybe from a toy store? Well, they are still around but are now bigger and better. This is Gabe throwing up his Parachuting Diego toy.
I had to get this sequence because it was just such a great example to me of pure childhood joy. And I remember a long time ago sitting on the curb in front of our house in LA throwing up my own little green parachute man and blowing those little plastic bubbles out of those little plastic colorful straws. Remember those!? So fun... and I could see that same feeling I remembered, in Gabe's face, as he was in his own little world trying to throw Diego higher and higher.

That's the joy I was talking about! Right there on my precious little boy's face.

A photo of Willi's older sister and her husband. We met them for the first time at the reunion this year. They are wonderful people and just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. More photos to come in the next post.

Mike chatting with Nicki. You DO want to be a part of this conversation. Her and her husband have traveled all over the world and always have the neatest stories to tell.

Some family checking out the horses.

Sister gossip...

Willi and her husband Jackson with Malia. Can you see the resemblance between her and my Mom?

Mike enjoying a conversation with James and other family.


The weather is always a surprise in Alberta. It was super HOT most of the time we were there (pleasantly hot though). We were all dressed for the summer weather on the day of the reunion.
Suddenly around mid afternoon the dark clouds came rolling in and the rain started. It was still a warm rain but was coming down pretty hard.
All of a sudden the hail started. And this was no ordinary hail this was CANADIAN hail!! It was HUGE, the biggest hail I had ever seen. Quite a site. Mr. Jones once lived in Texas so he was not so impressed, I guess it is true that everything is bigger in Texas... even the hail.
Anyway, Grammy Laurie and Auntie Petra decided to put all better judgment aside and go OUT in the hail and throw the large ice down each others shirts! Crazy ladies!





Here is a sampling of the different sizes we found.

This one could have hurt someone!

At the end of the hail storm, this is who I caught running back to the barn from the porta potty. That is right, let me set the scene for you.... Gabe had to go to the bathroom. Remember, he is 3 and still fairly new to the bathroom scene. Now most of us avoid using the porta potty even as adults, but Gabe braved it and headed over to the porta potty with Daddy. After a little coaxing, Mr. Jones got Gabe up on the seat to do his business.
Bring on the golf ball hail storm...
Gabe- "Oh no! What is that Daddy?"
Daddy- (peaking out of the porta potty door) "It's hailing!"
(plump plump, bang bang, clink clink)
Meanwhile Gabe bravely continues his business as they "weather the storm"
As soon as it lightened up they B lined it for the barn.... and that brings us once again to this now classic photo.

When the hail lightened up, it also brought another surprise from the direction of the porta potties. A double rainbow!! The weather might be unexpected and crazy up there but it sure does bring some beautiful skies and scenery, and unexpected fun as well!

A bad day just got a LOT better...

So I have had a pretty crumby past two days... don't ask. You really don't want me to get into it. BUT, a miracle just happend and I have a smile from ear to ear right now. Are you ready.... Ok-

THEY JUST RE-OPENED STUFFED PIZZA IN SAN CLEMENTE!!!

Not so exciting for those that don't live here, in fact, you are bummed because it is the BEST pizza ever. It broke my heart when it changed to San Clemente Pizza Co. a few years ago (was good pizza, but did not compare). The closest one was in Dana Point and would not deliver all the way out here.

For those of you that live here, you better be jumping for joy right about now and planning your next stuft pizza night! YIPPEE!!!

A tip for your first order: LOVE their Hawaiian and LOVE their antipasto salad. Enjoy!!

Canada= Take TWO

First day in Drayton Valley- They had the kids at "we got a rock wall water slide." It was a beautiful day to play outside.



Malia and Gabe climbing into the pool. I did not know Malia could climb a ladder... should have figured. She just climbed right up. Daddy has lost a few hairs since this little Mrs. came along!


And here is Mrs. Jones with an updated baby bump photo, 21 weeks or 5 months along.

A close up of our ladder climber.

Say cheese Hannah and Allie! Oh wait, you guys don't look so happy. Maybe it is because they were in time out. Bummer...

All the girls doting over Gabe in the pool. Get used to it Gabe, I don't think that will be ending anytime soon. You are our little "ladies Man" ;)

The kids on the water slide having a blast. Lets count them...

ONE - Allie showing off her backwards sliding skills.

TWO- Gabe enjoying the WARM water coming out of the sprinkler. That is right, they had this puppy hooked up to their warm and cold water and made the temperature just right.

THREE- Bryn's turn. Don't ask what her "official" title is... second cousin, third cousin, second cousin once removed. No one could agree, it was the subject of many conversations. No one could figure it out. :)

And lets finish it off for today with how I found Malia that day during nap time. We put her down and I went in to check on her a few minutes later. She somehow was able to reach my diaper bag and pull out all of the contents before crashing on her newly made "crib clutter". Ahh, gotta love this little mischievous lady. She keeps us on our toes.