Abigail is crawling (sort of)

Abigail started crawling yesterday! She's not very fast yet (which is fine by me because it gives me a little more time to get everything baby-proofed), but she's moving alright! Here's a quick video David took during one of her early attempts yesterday (she falls a few times in the video, but is a little more steady now). She's really going to have me on my toes now!

Summer Fun

It's hard to believe the summer is starting to come to an end! It's been so nice to have David at home and we have thoroughly enjoyed our first summer as a family of 3. Here a couple fun outings we've taken as a family...

Aquarium of the Pacific

In July, Keren (David's sister) accompanied us to the aquarium. Abby was probably more interested in all the people than the fish, but it was fun nevertheless.

Yesterday, we ventured out to PV and hiked on the trails surrounding Trump Golf Course... it was beautiful!

Abigail loved the grass, fresh air, and sunshine!
We call this her "Praise the Lord" pose:)

Last week, Abigail turned 8 months. She is moving all over the place but hasn't quite figured out how to crawl yet (at least in the traditional sense). (And no, she doesn't have a bruise on her head... it's just a shadow)

These days, she loves everything that is not a traditional toy...

such as the laundry basket...

or our shoes!

Old Friends, New Friends

Last Saturday, I had my 10-year high school reunion. There was a pretty good turn out and it was fun to see some old friends and marvel at how time has flown by. I was surprised to find out that I am neighbors with two of my old classmates and never knew it:) David was a trooper and made a comment that it was a "sacrifice" and that he "really loved me" for going... yeah... not a lot of opportunities for good conversation with strangers in a loud bar. Sorry, David! (Thanks for being a great side-kick for the night!)

(My two best friends from High School and Maid-of-Honors: The Katies)

(A few people from my core group of classes... Academy 2001)

(Some of the girls)

Abigail also had a chance to meet some new friends (via our old friends) this week. One of my friends from elementary- high school was in town for the reunion and we had a chance to introduce our daughters who are only 3 weeks apart. We called ourselves the "KNE" sisters because we had the same initials in our names and had same middle name (Noel/Noelle). The similarities continue and are even quite scary: our birthdays are 2 weeks apart, we both became elementary school teachers, we both had baby girls in the same month within one week of our own birthdays, AND both of our daughters weighed the exact same amount at birth. CRAZY!

Abigail and Josie

A few days ago, we went to the beach to meet up with David's old youth pastor/mentor who was in town from Missouri with his family. While they caught up, Abigail got acquainted with his nephew Soren in the pack-in-play...

She also took a nose-dive in the sand and came up smiling. (Even though she wasn't smiling later as I tried to remove sand from her mouth, ears, and nose!) What a great week of catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones as well!

Catalina

Last week we ventured to Campus by the Sea, a Christian family camp on Catalina Island. This is a very special place for David and I because we both grew up going there with our families and it is where we met each other while working on summer staff as college students. It is a spiritually significant place to us as well, and we love the way that God always meets us there and grows our hearts for Him through our times there. It was definitely a new adventure this year with a baby, but Abigail was a trooper (despite a few days of illness) and we had a blast.

We spent some time enjoying the wonderful ocean...
Abby just put her feet in... it was a little too cold to go far (and notice the rocky beach)
So... she spent her water time in a baby pool they had on the shore... we had it all to ourselves!

One day, we hiked 5 miles up to the top of the canyon and into Avalon. Abigail did great in the backpack on the hike :)
We also saw several Bison at the top of the ridge
David's parents even came out for a day to spend time with us
Abigail caught some shoulder naps throughout the week too :)
We already look forward to next year!