Camping at New Brighton State Beach

Last week we spent a wonderful five days camping at the beach....
in tents...
with our dear friends the Messers!
The weather was perfect in the Santa Cruz area! It was our third year in a row to do this outing.... and the second time to enjoy it with the Messers! It was a great vacation with very sweet friends!
Above, Emily is sporting a hat that her mom's mom's mom made for her! :)
Emily and dad walking along the bluffs
She can stand up if she holds on!
Elly carrying Emily around at the dog beach.... thank goodness for many helpful hands!

Memorial Day Weekend

Grandma Donna came from Montana to stay with us from Thurs - Tues. We had a great time!
Emily enjoyed her first Memorial Day and wore her red white and blue proudly.
There was plenty of time for playing on the floor....
And trying on the new clothes grandma brought....
and a trip to Leatherby's Family Creamery....
where the ice-cream is larger than life....
and very yummy!
We drove toward the coast for a very cold and breezy coastal hike....
and eventually got to the sand and waves....
Emily enjoyed the beach, and the snuggles as we all tried to stay warm.
Then we trekked a few miles back to the car, and headed for IN N OUT.
Thank heavens for blankets.... and fun times with family!

Playing with our new color select feature of the Canon





Being silly

Reading Daddy's book to him
So I always thought bloomers were just for looks. But when I found her after naptime like this, I learned that when bloomers aren't put on, they can't serve their purpose of keeping diaper tabs out of reach of baby fingers.

Our 2 little fuzzy ones

Doesn't Bridger have a lovely smile?! He's so happy that his little sister likes to talk to him!
And they have so much in common.... especially a love for stuffed animals.
Although Bridger doesn't take her toys, she is very interested in his squeaky squirrel.
He's really glad she can't figure out how to crawl.
Always a careful gentleman, if Emily can wrestle it away from him, he will let her keep it.

I found her like this

She took half a nap, and when I went to see what she was doing I found a very stinky and silly baby behind the bumper pad. She's squirmy wormy these days, and gets into plenty of mischief.

Grampa Buss came to visit!

Emily had a great time when Gramps Buss came up from Bakersfield to see her this weekend!
Gramps reads to her on Saturday morning, and then she 'splained what it was all about! Here she is elaborating on one of the passages.
This is a cute springtime outfit Crystal gave Emily! It's perfect on her! Thanks Crystal!!

Road Trip!

Up north for a dorm-mates reunion!!
We drove to Oregon this past weekend. It was beautiful.... deer, snow, and here's Mt. Shasta.
We stayed at Allison, Chet and Ella Bolen's lovely house. Ella is ten months old, and super sweet! Allison is an amazing chef and treated us to 3 days of wonderful meals!! Chet was a pro on the BBQ as well! I felt like we were being spoiled at a Bed and Breakfast with some of my favorite people!! What a blessing!
Ella can walk and crawl, and wanted to teach Emily how. :)
Crystal (Barber) Lazenby and her husband Jeremy and their girls Lili (14 months) and Maddie (3 months) came from 4 hours away for this fun reunion! Both Allison and Crystal were bridesmaids in our wedding! Crystal's girls are almost as adorable as she is!!
We loved meeting and playing with each others' sweet dollies! Above, none of us are holding our own!
It snowed this day, but then was beautiful, so we went for a nice walk!
The 4 girls together
Scott and I holding Maddie Lazenby... the youngest one there
Ella sharing her toys with Emily. Emily is younger but bigger than Ella. Ella is smaller, but independently mobile. It was funny to see such a little person walking around!
Emily loved Crystal!
Ella could cruise around and visit with anyone she wanted to!
On Sunday the girls enjoyed being in the nursery together.
The Bolens have a very cool dog.... Buster
A family picture Sunday at their house. Thankfully, Scott had Cesar Chavez day off, so we took our time and drove back Monday. The weekend was a refreshing time of sweet fellowship and hilarious FUN!