camping in san luis

the week before Thanksgiving, we took our trailer to San Luis Obispo to camp with the Watts and the Esajians for five days. we had so much fun, even when it was raining!! we had such a wonderful time as a family, but also with our friends. we can't wait to do it again next year!

buddies when it was raining, Audrey got creative...
...and Madison got into things
we played board games Audrey went bowling for the first time ever and LOVED it! movie night on the morning of Audrey's 4th birthday, we made M&M pancakes for breakfast swinging at the park in Avila Audrey playing in the sand with her bffs on her special day
Avila pier
under the pier, looking for sea life the morning we left to go camping, Nani dropped off a special balloon and a cupcake for the birthday girl. she also left cupcakes for Audrey's friends.
the evening of Audrey's birthday, we went out to dinner to celebrate sisters
friends singing "happy birthday" to Audrey
Audrey's big day ended around the campfire
Morro Bay late night walk

little girl

our sweet little girl, Audrey Elizabeth Love, turned 4 years old on November 21st!
our beautiful little girl who...
loves deeply, laughs often, and can be a bit spicy at times
adores Mommy and Daddy, but can't get enough of her little sister
likes crawling into bed with Mommy and Daddy, preschool, singing songs that she has made up all by herself, popcorn, dancing like a princess in her fancy dress-up clothes, play dough, painting pictures, completing difficult puzzles with just a little bit of help, talking to Jesus, books, taking care of her baby dolls, Hello Kitty band-aids, wearing dresses every day, Disney princesses, scoring a goal when playing soccer, watching cartoons in her jammies, pancakes, baking yummy treats with Mommy just to lick the spoon, her pink blanky, playing anything and everything with her little sister, the colors purple and pink, cupcakes with sprinkles, gymnastics, playing games and winning, smores, riding her bike super fast, putting her toes in the sand at the beach and running through the waves in the ocean.
our precious little girl, we fell in love with you even before the day you were born. you have filled our hearts with overwhelming joy and happiness. each and every day with you is so special and we are forever thankful. we love you the mostest!!

family feast

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving vacation, Audrey was asked to bring her favorite vegetable to contribute to the stone soup that they would be making in class that day. Audrey wanted to bring a cucumber, but because we didn't have a cucumber in our fridge the night before, we decided that a zucchini would be ok. While in class, Audrey cut up the zucchini all by herself and added it to the yummy stone soup. On Thursday afternoon, we were all invited to join Audrey's class for a family feast. We ate the stone soup that the children made, tasted breads from around the world, and had pumpkin cake for dessert. Audrey wasn't feeling well that day, but she did her best to make it through the family feast!

audrey's 4th birthday party

Two weeks ago, we celebrated Audrey's 4th birthday at our house with close family and friends. Audrey is very much into anything having to do with the Disney princesses. One of her favorite princesses is Rapunzel. So, what better way to celebrate Audrey than with a Tangled theme birthday party. She even wanted to dress up as Rapunzel on her special day!!

sign on the front door, greeting Audrey's guests
posing in front of Rapunzel and her long braid of golden hair
balloons, banners, lanterns, and a coloring table snacks served from frying pans Audrey's "tower of yumminess"
playing freeze dance using the soundtrack from Tangled
"pin the pan on Flyn"
ouch! they got him good!
nani made these adorable cupcakes using real flowers and rhinestones birthday girl and her extra special cupcake making a wishthe kiddos enjoying their treats
she's ready to open presents!!
a matching Rapunzel doll from mommy and daddy. she calls it "my very own computer"
nani and papa
grandma and grandpa
sweet, sweet friends
watercolors sent home as the party favor

cinnamon

The day that Audrey walked into her preschool room to meet her teachers for the first time, her eyes quickly found the classroom pet bunny, Cinnamon. Immediately, I saw her body relax and Audrey's look of nervousness was replaced with a hug smile. Audrey quickly made her way to Cinnamon's cage so that she could meet her new friend. When she came home from her first day of school, she was so proud to tell me that she was the one chosen to feed Cinnamon. For the first few weeks of school, one of Audrey's favorite things about her classroom was Cinnamon. Needless to say, when it was her turn to bring Cinnamon home for the weekend, she was ecstatic!!