Fun at Nojoqui Falls

We had some rain recently, so we decided to go to Nojoqui Falls to see the waterfall.  We took the boys, and our nieces, Taylor and Madison.  We also invited our friends, the Barnards to go along with us.

It was a beautiful day to go out there.  We decided to try carrying Caleb in our backpack carrier.  We haven’t used it since we went to New York when Micah was little.  Caleb was not a fan.  I think he just wanted to be able to run around. 

It was a nice hike up to the falls.  There weren’t as many people there as I thought there would be. 

Here’s a picture of Makayla, Daniel, and Taylor playing on the rocks.  The next picture is of Taylor and Makayla.

 

And here are some pictures of our beautiful nieces, Madison and Taylor.

Caleb found a stick and thought he was pretty big stuff.  Until he stepped into the water, that is.  And my boys took a break to take a look at how tall the waterfall was.

Caleb climbed a big rock next to the waterfall, with a little help from Dad.

Micah didn’t want to be left out of climbing onto the big rock.

Isn’t this boy pretty?

And here are some other pictures from our day.

 

Once we were done playing at the falls, we went to the picnic area to have lunch.  The kids enjoyed playing on the playground after they ate. 

We had a really good day, and I’m sure that everyone will sleep good tonight!

My favorite superheroes!

So a few weeks ago I entered a giveaway online.  It was sponsored by a site called Leelou Blogs.   They were having multiple giveaways and I entered some of them.  AND I actually won something.  Actually, I won my favorite giveaway!  It is a little superhero cape made by Jaime at The Dress Up Drawer. 

You should really go over and check out her site.  She has other handmade items in addition to the superhero capes.  Everything is really cute. 

But now for the moment I’m sure you have all been waiting for…drumroll please…Here are some pictures of my favorite superheroes. 

I love it!  Micah has a Batman cape, and he and Caleb used to take turns wearing it.  Now they don’t have to!  And Jaime was so great because she said she could do any fabric we wanted and any logo on the back.  Or we could have an initial.  I told her to just surprise me, and she got an A+!!!  What a great job! 

Update on John Ruckman

I received word yesterday that both John and his donor came through surgery just fine.  I don’t have much to report except for that.  Thank you for praying for them as they went through the surgery.  Now I would ask you to pray for a speedy recovery for both of them and that John’s body will accept the kidney.  I’ve heard that this is always a worry for the doctors after a transplant.  Thanks for praying.

Praying for John Ruckman

Our friend John Ruckman is having his kidney transplant today down at UCLA.  John has a disease called Polycystic Kidneys.  It’s a hereditary condition passed to males in his family.  John has suffered the effects of this for a very long time. 

He and his wife Carrie started the search for a new kidney for John quite a while ago.  By God’s grace, they were able to find a kidney donor.  The donor is actually a very good friend of theirs.  While waiting to get the transplant, John has been on dialysis three days a week.

He was originally scheduled to have the transplant last month, but they had to postpone due to some lab results that they didn’t like. 

They headed down yesterday.  I’m not really sure of what time the surgery was scheduled for.  So I’m just trying to pray continually for all of the doctors’ wisdom, and that the surgery goes well for both John and his donor. 

I would really appreciate it, and I know John and Carrie would appreciate it too, if you wouldn’t mind taking a moment to pray for a successful transplant and quick recovery for both of them.

Thank you.

Our romantic getaway weekend

John and I just got back from a very romantic getaway weekend.  My parents had flown in to watch the boys.  Their visit also coincided with a visit from my cousin Josh and his wife Julia.  Josh is in the Air Force stationed in Italy and they brought their adorable baby, Veronika.  So my parents were able to spend time with Micah and Caleb as well as with Josh, Julia, and Veronika. 

I say it was a weekend, but really we were just gone overnight.  But it felt longer.  We left Saturday afternoon and had lunch at Red Lobster….mmmm…..Red Lobster.  We made our way north, but on the way stopped at the outlets in Pismo.  John was itching to visit the grand opening of the new Nike outlet.  It was nice, because we just walked around the outlet mall for as long as we wanted with no kids in tow.  You know how it is with kids…their behavior dictates your plans sometimes. 

We checked in to the Dolphin Bay Resort in Shell Beach.  We were WAY out of our league here.  The place was so nice, and our poor little car was surrounded by Porsches, BMWs and Corvettes.  I should mention that we were going to be staying there FREE!!!  John had won a night’s stay at work, and we decided to save it so we could celebrate our anniversary.  Our anniversary was actually last weekend, but my parents weren’t able to be here until this weekend.  But that was entirely ok because that meant we got to celebrate on Valentine’s Day.

Here are pictures of our hotel room, which was pretty much like a one bedroom apartment, since it was fully loaded:

This is the view from our front door.

Here is our kitchen.

This is the living room.  John was focused on the TV, of course.

 

This is the view from our deck.  There was a couple getting married that day.  They are in between the palm trees.

Our room overlooked the pool, but it was so cold we didn’t go swimming.

Our bathroom. 

John’s a goober, so when he took this picture he said, “This is where the magic happens.”  I felt like we were watching an episode of MTV’s Cribs.

John took this picture of the complimentary water.  He kept telling me that the water bottles told him he had nice hair….get it?  Complimentary?  Ha ha.

View of the sunset from our deck.  It was simply beautiful.

We had reservations at the Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe, so we headed out.  I should mention that he was given a gift certificate at work, so this was also FREE!!!  Free is my favorite word!  Some girls may want all the frills and everything that money can buy, but I love it when we get a deal!

I had the Far Western Ravioli, and John had the peppercorn crusted steak.  He said it was the best steak he had ever had.  We really enjoyed our meals. 

After dinner, we decided to go see a movie.  We had heard a lot of buzz about Slumdog Millionaire, so we saw that.  It was a pretty good movie.

After the movie, we went over to get ice cream.  We headed back to the hotel.  We let ourselves in to a nice surprise.  The fireplace was going and the covers were turned down.  There were even chocolates on our pillows!  I have never been in a hotel with turndown service.

It was a wonderful thing getting to sleep in.  The boys have been waking up extra early lately, so we enjoyed getting a little extra sleep.

We had breakfast at the Spyglass Inn, which was located next to our hotel.  And we had gift certificates that John had won at work, so once again, our meal was free!  Hooray!  I don’t know, but the meals may have tasted better because we didn’t pay for them.

We took our time heading back home.  We stopped at a few stores along the way.  We could have stayed away a little longer, but we were missing our boys.

Overall, I had a great weekend!  I got to spend time alone with the love of my life.  Happy 5th anniversary to us!

Five years of wedded bliss

John and I celebrated 5 years of marriage today.  I really can’t believe how fast time has passed.  It seems like only yesterday that I was hyperventilating as I walked into the foyer of the church.  It seems like only yesterday that I was so flustered that I completely forgot the vows I had written, and I ended up just saying, “I just love you.”  It seems like only yesterday that I was awestruck at the handsome man who actually wanted to be with me as long as we both shall live.

And the love I feel for that man that I married has grown every day.  That’s not to say we haven’t had our share of rough patches or disagreements, but I think we have both grown closer to each other as we have navigated the business of everyday life and parenthood.

I fell in love with John for many reasons.  His love for God was above all the most important reason.  But I love him for his sense of humor…even when it’s pointed at me.  I love him for his compassion, his level-headedness, and his intelligence.  And once we became parents, I loved him for the great father he was learning to be.  One only has to look at how our two boys adore their father to see how good a father he really is.

I thank God for moving my life in a direction where I would be able to meet the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.  I never dreamed when I moved out to California that I was headed towards John.  But I’m glad I did. 

I love you, John. 

Just because…

I just found this as I was playing around on the computer.  I liked it so I wanted to post it.  That’s all.