My Old Man

Mark "the bullet" Saukkola enjoyed a "Grumpy Old Man Day" with the fellas on Saturday complete with golf....

...and cigars

...ridiculous old man clothing

...bbqing

...Newspapers

...Whiskey and Scotch cocktails

...cake

... and shenanigans.

So good to be with good friends. Old friends.

Owen lounging in his lawn chair... this little boy wants to be an old man too.

Happy Birthday Bub.. I love my old man.

Not your average Tuesday...

Spent last night celebrating my man's Birthday. I love going to dinner with him, its one of my favorite things... We ate at The Cannery, our favorite restaurant, and seriously had one of the most amazing meals both of us had ever had. EVERYTHING we ordered was magic. I love sitting across the table from Mark and having an hour (or two!) of face-to-face, no interruptions, talking.

Every year this man gets better and better.

Here we are on the bay, full and relaxed.

Winding up the evening at Landmark with some wine and blow-your-mind Mud Pie.

PS... I think this is my first belly pic.

31 weeks preggo. Baby girl is coming soon. I cant believe it.

Celebrating Owen!

This two year old had all of his friends over to celebrate his birthday.

Here is (most of) the crew...

What do you get when you put 14 little nugs in the same place and mix in some cupcakes??

So much fun!! Yeah!

LOVING these sweet cupcake faces...

Oh yeah...

What a chaotic, I mean, fun day.

Happy Birthday Owen!

My little man is 2... and so excited about his birthday this year. He has learned from his books (and other kid parties we have been to recently) that having a birthday means that you get CAKE. Even though Im pretty sure he has never really tasted cake (other than a couple of bites of his first birthday cupcake a year ago), he knows cake is something amazing and he was so excited to get to blow out the candles.

Yep... He likes it!

We had a little family party with the Burtons and the Saukkolas... so much fun to have both families together. Its so funny, but somehow Owen really understood the concept that this party was for him, and he was in full form all night, SO happy.

Here is a pic of all of us smiling, amazing. (ps. Im 26 weeks now)

Owen and his cuz Eli.

These days Owen's obsessions are dancing and listening to music, any sport with balls, talking and talking and talking, trains, wrestling, and bboarding (surfing), tools, and reading from his monster (little critter) book. Here is Owen enjoying one of his favorite presents...he wants to be just like daddy.

Burton girls.

Owen and Bella.

Owen and Gramps. This boy LOVES his grandparents. We love them too.

Its crazy watching Owen at 2, it seems like most traces of baby are gone and he is growing so fast. I made him a slide show from this past year, and as I was putting all of the pictures together, I realized how amazing this year was.... so many perfect days together. Although I am so sad that I can not relive that time of him being so cute and so little, I love this boy more and more (if that is possible) as he grows and continues to form into the man that God made him to be. Im so thankful that I get to be his mom... You are my joy little man.

Getaway

Mark and I had some time away.... so amazing to be alone, relax, and just enjoy each other. Definitely a much needed time to recharge and so good for our marriage. I really just love being with my man.  We started our trip with a drive up the coast to SLO, I love everything about that place.  My favorite thing about SLO is farmers market, its the best way to really experience the town. We kept talking about how we wish our town had a farmers market at night so we could meet up with all of our friends, and eat bbq on the street, enjoying music and being together outside.

The next morning we went to one of our favorite places, Montano de Oro. Its a rugged coastal hike full of the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen. We both experience God in such a unique way here and always leave feeling full of life.

After warming up and reading at my favorite coffee shop in SLO, we headed down to Santa Barbara for the night. Here I am resting and reading while it was raining outside.... We stayed at the Canary Hotel, Loved this place.

That evening we enjoyed an amazing dinner and walking around state street in SB. We must have really started to relax because I have no more footage of our trip until two days later in Ojai. We met up with our friends at the Ojai Valley Inn, gorgeous. The boys got in some golfing while the girls hit the spa and vegged out with our books by the pool. Heaven. Mark has a new obsession with golf these days. All of this rain has made surfing a little tough, so golf is the new love. Here he is swinging away on that beautiful course.

Thank you Bella, Poppa, and Gramps for keeping Owen so happy while we were gone!  It was so much fun to come home to him and see him so happy and saying so many new words and phrases.

Our Day to Day

A little peak into our everyday. Owen is growing so fast, too fast, I want to freeze time.

Owen loves to help us around the house these days. He loves to "sweep", "clean", and (I think this is the cutest thing ever) whenever Mark is working on a project Owen will go into his room and bring out his toolbox to join in.

We love getting the chance to see friends and family during the week. As the kids get older, I love watching Owen grow in his friendships with his different friends.

Here we are with Tay-Tay, Owen and Taylor sittin in a tree...

Building a fort at Crystal Cove with Dad... this boy LOVES the beach these days. He loves running on the sand, along the way gathering the rocks and sticks that have been washing up in these storms.

Hard at work...

Enjoying the finished product. As you could imagine, we had a little melt down leaving this fort.

Our mornings on the bluff... The deal these days is, if I get to walk (instead of running) I have to stop half way at the bluff with Owen so he can explore and scope out the land. I dont mind, I love this place.

Henry came along this day... notice we are still in our jammies!

Owen's favorite dates with Mom, coffee (for me) and a scone (for Owen). I am so in love with this boy.

Rock the Cradle

Our circle of friends is doubling FAST... we are adding so many new precious little ones this year, its such a blessing. Today we hosted Teri's shower for her second baby, and this time its a boy! So fun to get all of the girls together to celebrate our friendship and shower her with love and support as she prepares for little Vincent. Her nursery is guitar theme, so we decided to match it with a rock n roll shower.

The mama-to-be with her mama... arent they gorgeous?

So many beautiful women..

Watching the gifts.

We love you T!!! Cant wait to meet baby boy Vincent.