Yosemite

Over Thanksgiving weekend we decided to take a short trip up to Yosemite. It was amazingly beautiful (as always) and we had a great time, even though it was FREEZING! This photo is of Ducey's at the Pines Resort, we had dinner here the first night. Ahhhhh, memories. =)

This is Bass Lake in the winter when it's drained, usually this whole beach is under water.
Beautiful Yosemite
Beautiful, cold Half Dome
Cozy by the fire in Curry Village, trying to warm up a bit =)

Yosemite

What a cutie, so happy exploring everywhere

Sage getting rather cold at this point
A much smaller wintery version of Lower Yosemite Falls
Sage very happy now that he found a stick to play with, although, hands going numb...
Boy does he love his sticks and "sword-fighting". It was fun to watch him have so much fun playing in the woods, but once he registered his frozen hands, it wasn't much fun anymore. Any tips on how to keep mittens on a kid who REFUSES to keep them on???

Our lil' drummer boy

Sage is really into playing my drum these days, here he is showing off his "rhythm".

Oh how I love fall!

I finally got a chance to put up some great fall pictures of our time at Avila Valley Barn up in San Luis Obispo. The farm is one of my favorite places in all of California, I actually feel like I'm back in the midwest when I'm there =) Here's Sage devouring an apple his dad picked for him.

Doesn't Sage look so grown up in this picture? Cute, but sad - it's all going so fast!
Sage tromping through the apple orchard
Sage picking out which pumpkin he wanted
An attempt at a family pumpkin photo, Sage just wanted to go check out the goats more.
Here's a video of Sage feeding the goats, awwwwww, makes my heart sing that he loves his farm animals =)

My lil' buckaroo

I have looked forward to this day for many, many years. Dan took the morning off and we decided to go hang out at the ranch for a few hours. All three of us rode, most exciting of course was getting Sage on a horse for the first time. He rode good ole' Sierra and LOVED it. I am one proud mama! =)

Here's a video of his first ride. He didn't have any hint of fear, just big smiles the whole time. He's a natural cowboy =)

A Sage-asaurus!

We took Sage trick-or-treating with our friends the Ficsors. Last Halloween we were with them as well and it was only a few weeks later that their home burnt down in the Tea Fire. It was a great Halloween this year not only because it was, well, Halloween, but it was also the Ficsors first night in their newly built home! Sage was a dinosaur and Sammy was the Flash. I must say I'm pretty proud of my first homemade Halloween costume as a mom. =)

Check out that tail!

Sage looking up to Sammy as The Flash
It didn't take long for Sage to figure out that Halloween meant candy
Sage very proud of his lollipop

Heartbreaking news...

My heart is so very sad, my dear friend Lamon passed away this past Thursday. He and Margrett were leading a mission trip to Ghana and Lamon had a heart attack right after he finished putting in the cornerstone of the building he had built. There are no words to express the sadness and devestation felt by all, he was one of the most amazing men I have ever known. He lived an incredible life dedicated to serving the Lord, what a faithful servant. I consider it a treasured, Godly gift to be able to say that I was loved by this man and able to witness his love to Margrett, his boys, and everyone he knew. I love you Lamon, I miss you.

Random videos from the weekend

We took these videos while playing at Torro Canyon Park on Sunday night. It was our first chilly night and it's finally starting to feel like fall, yipppeee =) We had a great time.

Carpinteria Avocado Festival

Here's a photo that the fireman took of Sage at Carp's Avocado Festival. They had all the gear to dress him up, can you tell he's a bit sleepy? (sorry, I don't know how to rotate it...)

Hanging out at Hearts

Sage and I went to go visit our friends out at Hearts today. Sage always enjoys the horses as long as someone is holding him nice and tight =) Maybe soon we'll try and get him on one, a new helmet his size is just about to come in, yeeeehaw!

Sage loooved hanging out with Emily, she took him to see Calypso and let him sit at my old desk and play with the keyboard.
Although, Sage seemed most impressed with the water cooler and that he figured out how to fill his own glass.

Here's a video of Sage feeling a bit hesitant around Wilson.

Go Dodgers!

We took Sage to his first Dodgers game with Margrett and Lamon. Sage loved it, he even was able to sneak in a quick nap right after we all sang during the seventh inning stretch. Dodgers won 12-1, a great game filled with tons of home run hits and even a grand slam!

I love this kid!

Here's some pics of our beautiful boy. My dad took these when we were back in Chicago in early August, I think my favorite is the one with the sprinkler, or the close up of his face, or the one where he's giggling hysterically, or...my goodness, he's just too cute =)

Waking Sage

Here's Sage waking up from his afternoon nap, soooooo cute and cuddly =) Having trouble with video...hopefully it'll come soon.

Santa Barbara Mission

We decided to play tourist and visit the Santa Barbara Mission on Sunday, we have been to it many times but never actually gone inside.  We had a great time but I must say that our favorite part was watching Sage strut around on the grass lawn out front, and then, as he always does...finds the sprinkler and gets drenched.

Playing in the leaves

Okay, so I know it's been FOREVER since I have posted any new pictures - sorry!  In August we spent a wonderful time visiting family in Michigan and going to family camp at Cedar.  I would love to show you photos from the trip but there are just so many and trying to find time to sort through them all is what's been keeping me from getting a new post up.  So, I decided to skip the vacation photos and just get some recent pics up. =)  Today Dan took some time off work in the afternoon and we ended up going to the beach and then the park...oh what a marvelous day =)