Happy Birthday Lydia!

We recently celebrated Lydia's first birthday!  We had a small family celebration, had some yummy cupcakes, and had a few sweet gifts.  It was the first time we have not had a HUGE first birthday party for one of our children.  At first I felt guilty, like I was depriving Lydia of what the other children had, but then I was reminded by my husband, that just because I give her something different doesn't mean I am giving her any less.  And that she's ONE, so she doesn't really care what kind of party she has or if she has one at all!  I love having a practical husband.:)

Here are some pictures of our meek celebration...






I managed to get a couple decent photos, but Lydia was being especially uncooperative, so most of them looked more like this...




And now for the actual celebration.:)





We had another first birthday first with Lydia as well....she actually got to eat cake! With the other kids we always did cake once they were in bed (because by the time we made it to cake, they were exhausted by all the other festivities).
So yes, the baby got spoiled.:)
And to state the obvious, this picture was taken pre-cupcake.





She was a little unsure at first...





...but she got over that pretty quickly.:)






After bath time, we opened presents!





We had church the next day (a.k.a another reason to dress up in a birthday outfit!).  This is the same tutu and bow that Kylie wore for her first birthday!





Here's both of them on their first birthdays!


We are so grateful to have our sweet Lydia.  She brings us so much joy, and is absolutely adored by her older siblings.  She has a great sense of humor, loves to cuddle, and is quite strong-willed.  She is such a great addition to our family, and we are looking forward to many more years of watching her grow!

A Sweet Season

In case you aren't aware, fall is my absolute favorite season.  It has the best food, the best weather, the best sport...need I go on?

You know what else I love?  Events.  Festivals, parades, concerts in the park...you name it. I want to go, and I want to take a gazillion pictures while we are there.  My sweet husband actually despises these sort of things, but he loves me, so he not only goes, but is somehow able to fool me into thinking that he is enjoying himself (I think he secretly does enjoy them...I mean, how could he not?).

Enter one of my most beloved fall places...the pumpkin patch!  Okay, so it wasn't really a pumpkin patch, but more of a pumpkin-y event put on by a local farm that we have come to know and love...Suzie's Farm.

Last year, when we did our pumpkin event of the year, it was hot, and I was enormously pregnant, which made for a less than ideal experience.  This year, God brought us an amazingly cool, overcast day, and I'm not enormously pregnant (or pregnant at all...as far as I know).

Here are some pictures of us celebrating the best season of all!




Don't you just love it when someone (after watching you awkwardly try to get a photo of everyone in your family) stops you and asks if they can take a picture of all of you?  It's not perfect, but let's face it, the more kids you have, the harder it is to get them all to smile look in the direction of the camera at the same time.

We recently bought an Ergo carrier, and Lydia loves it!  It's really convenient in not-so-stroller-friendly places like this, and still allows us to have our hands free for the older children.

Being less than cooperative while I try to take pictures...Kylie has mastered the ability to say "cheese" while looking completely miserable....sigh.




Picking out the perfect pumpkins...it's quite a meticulous process!




My sweet Lydia being so cooperative while I got a little overzealous with the camera...I couldn't help myself!




Apparently, photogenic energy is contagious.:)


We had a great time and came home with some cute pumpkins.  It was a fun way to celebrate fall and the beginning of a season when Nathan should be home a little more.

For those of you who don't know, it has been a very rough summer for our family. Nathan has been home about two weeks of the last four months, we had to miss a wedding that we were so excited about being a part of, and we started school with Zach this year (which is actually going really well).

We have a tendency to look at our less than ideal circumstances and forget all of our undeserved blessings (and more importantly, the One from whom all blessings flow). As I looked through these pictures when we got home Saturday afternoon, I was reminded of how blessed we are. And I was reminded that seasons don't last forever. This summer seemed endless, like the heat would never give way to cool, like rain would never come. But like it always does, autumn came, bringing with it much needed relief. Our amazing Savior is so faithful to carry us through these times that seem impossible to get through, to forgive us when we doubt, and to continue to work all things for His glory and our good.

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6-7

San Diego Zoo and Safari Park

One thing we (especially the kids) have really enjoyed while living here in San Diego is the zoo.  And the season passes are so reasonable, and so many people we know have them, that it seemed like a no-brainer to get them.  I didn't realize how much we would end up going to and enjoying it.  There is also a Safari Park associated with the zoo that is a little ways out of town.  I love that on any random day (especially one when we've been without daddy for a while) I can take the kids on a really fun, already paid for outing.
The first thing Zach wants to do when we get home from either park is to see the pictures we've taken.  This year I'm considering getting him a little camera of his own to take his very own pictures (which I'll be sure to post:)).  I love that we can do things like this that they love, and call it "school".

All that being said, here are a few bunch of our favorite zoo pictures!

The koalas are almost always our first stop.  Since they are nocturnal, they are hardly ever awake when we go, but they are adorable either way.



In addition to the caged animals, there are a lot of native animals that hang out at the zoo...like this peacock.



I think one of our favorite animals as a family is the giraffe.  In fact, I have so many giraffe pictures, I'm pretty sure I could make an entire post out of them...but I won't...well, not right now at least.:)



Flamingos are usually pretty boring (and stinky) in my opinion, but this particular day they were putting on a show.




Can't you just hear him saying "cheese"?  Pandas are one of the main attractions at the San Diego Zoo, and we can understand why, they are so cute!  The lines to see them can be pretty long, but when they aren't we stop in to see them.




One of the wolves that lives at the zoo out for a stroll.




The flowers here are pretty awesome, as well.




In the small bird exhibit, you can go in the cage an actually hang out with the birds!  The one on the bottom left was actually a random bird that was perched on a tree (not in an exhibit), and the one on the bottom-right is a hummingbird that landed...which I had never seen happen before, so I thought it was pretty exciting.  Moving on to the Safari Park...




As you can tell, the set up here is a lot different, the spaces the animals live in are huge, and although there are fewer species living here, I think it's a better experience overall.  It's far less crowded (for humans and animals), and it's far enough out of the city that you feel like you're really going somewhere special.  By the way, I have no idea what this animal is...I'm sure you can google it if you really need to know.:)



Did you know that lions sleep an average of 20 hours a day?  Well, if this guy is any indication, I believe it, he's been asleep, in relatively that same spot every time we've visited.



The Safari Park is also home to lots of native animals...this deer was hanging out along the side of the road (imagine that) that the tram tour follows.



Cheetahs are really fast.  No, I mean REALLY fast.  One of the daily events here is the Cheetah Run (a.k.a put a piece of meat on a line that gets reeled in by machine and watch the cheetah sprint after it)...very impressive.



One of the things we are able to point out at either park is the amazing creativity of our Creator.  There are a huge variety of hoofed animals on the plains here, but each one is so unique.



This is the baby rhino...and people think I have big babies.:)










Did I mention that we really like giraffes?




I absolutely love this picture of Zach taking it all in.


I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God." Psalm 90:2