The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His deeds.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desires of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.
Psalm 145:17-19
February has absolutely flown by for this little family! Before March gets here, I wanted to share a few highlights of this month…
We found a new favorite ride at Disney’s California Adventure…Toy Story Mania!! Earlier this month, Ryan took a day off and we had a great Disney Day together…we got to meet up with our dear friends Chad, Mindy, and Danny, and then my mom joined us as well. Jack had fun with the 3D glasses, as you can see. 
We’ve had some interesting weather (for California, at least) this month, with some deliciously cold and rainy days. Jack loved the chance to break in his new rain boots from Grandma and Grandpa!
A special treat for Jack was Dad’s Day at Master’s Kids! I loved watching my boys hang out together and make crafts (one of which was a sweet heart pin for me!), paint with snails, and race their very own paper airplane. Ryan is wearing a shirt that Jack and I decorated just for this day.
One of my sweethearts
Making Valentine “people”
Last but not least, I couldn’t resist sharing a few of my favorite tastes this month…a Raspberry Vanilla Cupcake from Crumbs (I think it became my favorite cupcake EVER after just one bite), and Chocolate Souffle from the Tam ‘O Shanter (our Valentine tradition)
On Christmas night, we left California for snowy Michigan! We had a wonderful and relaxing time with the Anthonys. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for all your help, generosity, and love!
Jack loved playing with his Gramma!
Jack’s feelings about going inside
Ice skating in an outdoor arena…so much fun!
This is a view of sunset over Lake Michigan…I was obsessed with these trees and their haunting beauty
Ryan and his sister Jennifer…looking for baby names! Jennifer is due with their 1st (and Jack’s 1st cousin!) in May.
Here’s the snow story: After one day of getting to play in the snow, the weather warmed up and it rained, which melted all the snow away. Sad! So, naturally, I started to pray for snow. And God gave me some! Although it started late on the evening before we left, it was magical all the same.
This one reminded me of someplace like Narnia…maybe it’s just the lamp-posts
Bagdanov cousins (on my mom’s side)
The newest cousin! Don’t you love her cheeks?
My boys and I
Sisters!
Jack and his Nana
My family
Melissa, Laura, Me, Aunt Lana, Debbee, and Katie
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, dear blog readers!!
Life has still been sweet but not so simple lately, and blogging has been crowded out by more fun (and pressing) things. We’re in Michigan right now, and very much enjoying our time with our Anthony side of the family. When I blog again, it will probably be in 2009!! Hope you have been able to take time to be still, rejoice and wonder at the miracle of Christ’s birth, and the hope His life brings to ours. Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!!
We’re in Dallas this Thanksgiving visiting my uncle, aunt, and sweet 10-month old cousin! My mom, sister and grandparents are here too, and we’ve been having tons of fun together. I’ll blog more about it all later, but for now just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope you have had a wonderful day filled with many reminders of the blessings that come from above. Our good God has given us so much to thank him for! My heart is full. The pic above is of Hope and Jackson, two little ones I am DEFINITELY thankful for.
Last Saturday, my little boy turned 4 years old!! Ryan and I are so incredibly thankful for Jackson Moses Dean (’Jack-Jack,” “JMoses,” “Jackster,” “Punky”) and for the way that God is shaping his life. He makes us laugh daily, and sometimes we have to shake our heads at his questions, advanced vocabulary, and surprisingly accurate observations about life. He loves music, superheroes, going to Master’s Kids, and candy. He can say and identify all the letters of the alphabet (I had to add that b/c I was a Kindergarten teacher. :) We are praying for his understanding of the Gospel and his sin to deepen, and that he would repent and accept God’s free gift of salvation. We love our Jackson Boy!
Chuck E Cheese for birthday fun with friends
Some of Jack’s favorite friends (from left: David, Jack, Isaac, and Sam)
Here are the same boys a week earlier at David’s superhero birthday party, and Jack in his superhero pose
After Chuck E Cheese, we were so happy to get to meet up with more favorite friends, the Bohrs, who were on their way home to Fresno. Jack loves Ethan and Ellie!!
the morning of his birthday with his decorated door!
This collage needs some explanation…we had planned to have a family party on Saturday at my parents’, but that was the day that fires were threatening numerous parts of Sothern California, which closed the freeways directly in our path. Sooooo…after much discussion, we decided that although we would cancel the party, we still would try to get to my parents’ house. We knew it would take a lot longer than normal to go all the way around (if you look closely in the top left pic, you’ll see the line of cars stretching endlessly in front of us as we drove between 1 and 2 mph), but we agreed that it was better than sitting at home being sad. The other top row pics are of some cool scenery we passed as we went over the hill to Moorpark. When we got on the 101 (finally), we stopped to get McDonald’s Mc Flurrys, since Jack was being a trooper. I got really sad when he asked at one point, “Is my party over already?” The rest of the shots are of the smoky scenes we passed. After 5 HOURS of driving, we made it!!
My sweet mom and sister did a lot to make sure Jack still had a fun “mini” party, complete with extra presents and balloons.
The wonderful family members who were able to be there: Debbee, Aunt Melissa (”Mimi”), Baba and Deda (who almost got evacuated themselves), and of course, the wonderful Papa and Nana! We had a great evening together.`
The 4 year old!!
fhgfugfgjg hfhvgjg;;;;;;;;;gbtgjbngnnhnbkghjkhghkhkhyhuygutyuthhhh .j
jackson
(this is because Jack wanted to type…)
This is my Father’s world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world,
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
he shines in all that’s fair;
in the rustling grass I hear him pass;
he speaks to me everywhere.
This is my Father’s world.
O let me ne’er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!
This was our first year to really get into creating a Halloween costume. What made it exciting was that Jack totally thought of who he wanted to be (Larry Boy…Veggie Tales’ Larry the Cucumber’s secret superhero identity), and stuck with it, leaving Ryan and I to come up with a way to make it happen! Fortunately, I am blessed with a ninja for a husband, hence the amazing plunger helmet. Someday, I will own a sewing machine AND become at least somewhat proficient in using it. But until then, I did what I could with…a glue gun. And, my amazingly proficient mom made the cape. We had so much fun working together to create this costume.
My little Larry Boy in his superhero pose
The “real” Larry Boy
This picture is so you can fully appreciate the glory of the helmet
And of course, a serious pose…complete with the mask. “Bumblyburg needs a hero…I…AM…THAT…HERO!!!!”
Because I know you are all wondering, yes…the helmet WAS heavy…and no, he did not wear it for very long. But Jack loved his Larry Boy costume tonight. And that made it all worth it.
This week at Master’s Kids, we got to dress up as something on the farm. Jack’s idea was for us to be a sunflower and a bee…so here we are!!
My favorite sunflower pic from Sunflower Alley
Lombardi Ranch–Our October tradition since Jack was in my tummy. I can’t believe he’ll be 4 in a few weeks!
So thankful for my family!
Here are our Jack-o-lanterns to say “Happy Halloween!”
When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Your consolations delight my soul.
Psalm 94:19
