Clayton's Motorcycle Party

(I used the above picture for the invitations. We borrowed our neighbors little motorcycle to take the picture on.)

We celebrated Clayton's 2nd birthday at the park across the street from our house last Saturday. (His actual birthday is this Saturday the 19th and we will be camping for the weekend with friend.) "Practice makes perfect" paid off this year. Last year we had lots of people at our house with dinner and Clayton histarically cried and missed half of the party. I wasn't sure what to expect this year; I just knew I wanted to have it somewhere other than our house and to go simple with just cake. Clayton ended up having a blast and so did all the other kids!

When I decided what to do for the cake I realized it decribes him perfectly at 2 years old: motorcycles, dirt, and rocks. He loves to watch motorcycles and points them out when he hears them "cycle" "vroom, vroom" He loves playing in the dirt in our garden box and loves picking up rocks and throwing them in water.

I started with a 9x13 sheet cake and then also made to round cakes to make jumps for the motorcycles on the cake. I used chocolate graham crackers for the dirt and found rock candy to add to the cake. Clayton was so excited when he saw his cake; too bad I didn't get it on video.

Clayton and his friends waiting patiently for cake.

I found a motorcycle pinata at WINCO. The kids had so much fun trying to break it open. Clayton thought it was so funny to hit it. He looked at everyone and giggled.

My months of planning this party felt much rewarded with the joy my little man expressed on this day. We all had such a fun time!

Beating the Heat

It has been in the 100s for weeks now and we were lucky enough to escape the Chico heat two weekends in a row. 4th of July weekend we camped at Buck's lake with our friends. It was nice and cool there!! We rented a boat for a day. The guys tried their luck with the kids' fishing poles and left behind bait and a princess pole in the lake. We ate and ate, sat around the campfire and had smores, took walks, and played in the water. Jenna and I tried some crafting, but was short lived with toddlers. We were up at sunrise and exhausted by dark!

Elliana, Tucker and Clayton had fun helping drive the boat.

The boys decided to try a sand-mud mask for their hair. They were one big ball of dirt by the time we left. They were right in their element just like their dads, the outdoors. It will be fun when they can go hunting with them and we can have a girls weekend! How many years do you think we have Jenna? Two days is about all I can handle without a shower.

Brody's dad and stepmom came for a visit and we took them to San Fransisco to watch a Giants game. The weather was perfect, in the low 70s. The game was awesome, with the Giant's playing a no hitter game. Clayton had a great time at his first baseball game. He was so fun to watch!

Clayton loved having his "papa" and "ma" visit. He would get so excited in the morning to see them and we all had to gather in the bedroom at bedtime to read books.

8 years

Today Brody and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary. Every year on our anniversary he has gotten me a dozen red roses with a white rose for each year that we have been married. It seems only like yesterday that the red roses over powered the whites. Today as I reflect on those years, the white roses symbolize God's strength and love in our marriage. We were young, 20 and 21. I owe the success of our marriage to my Lord and Savior and am so thankful we found him to be the "Rock" of our marriage. We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday with dinner downtown and a movie to follow. For 2 hours we talked over dinner, we laughed, and enjoyed every bite of our dinner unintterupted by little man. I don't remember the last time we got to have dinner just the two of us. It was an absolutely wonderful evening!
I found this poem a while back and have wanted to frame it with a picture in our room. I haven't found the picture to go with it yet, but I decided to make Brody a card this year and put the poem on the front. Then this evening I found our wedding handouts, with this poem in it. Wow, no wonder I like it so much!

The Promise

Across the years I will walk with you

in deep green forests, on shores of sand,

and when our time on earth is through,

in heaven, too, you will have my hand.

Like father, like son

There is nothing more amazing than watching the man I love be a wonderful father to our "little man". He loves his daddy and loves doing everything he does.

For Father's day, we took a hike in Upper Bidwell Park and the boys played in the creek with Farrah.

A New Hobby

In February I decided I was going to start running with the intentions of training for a 1/2 marathon this fall. I bought my first pair of running shoes and found a Couch to 5K training program to get me going and I started my 10 week training program in March. Little did I know of what this new hobby would sprout. I have found so much joy in running the last 3 months, it has been a time for me to thought process, pray, and just simply have "me time". I have also found wonderful running partners, my family! Brody decided to start running as well and we take turns running with Clayton and Farrah.
I ran my first timed 5K race with Clayton the first part of May and then my official 5K race at the end of my training program a couple weeks later.

Brody and I ran our first race together May 17 in San Fransisco called "Bay to Breakers", a 12K. It was quite an experience to run with more than 30,000 people, some completely naked! It was a crazy first race, but so much fun and such a memorable event for us. I am so thankful to have ran my first race with my best friend.

There is something about having a finish that brings such an amount of accomplishment, joy, victory, and perseverance, knowing the end is near. Persevere, Brody brought this word up one day on a run and I have thought a lot about it lately. Perseverance is how I would describe overcoming the 1 mile hill in the bay to breaker race, overcoming the intense side aches without stopping, or the feeling of just wanting to collapse and quit at mile 5. I came across Everyday Becky and was inspired by her post on perseverance and her beginning journey with running. She had also posted this verse from Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." I love to find scripture that speaks to me. I have also found inspiration in a book that a friend gave me to read, Sole Sisters, stories of women and running. Next to being a wife and mother, I have found a love for running.

I look forward to our next race July 26th in Santa Cruz, the "Wharf to Wharf" 10K !!!

Roughin it

Last minute, we decided to go camping with the other thousands of people memorial weekend. This was our first camping trip with Clayton. We didn't know where we were going to camp or if we would even find a spot. We just took a chance (I prayed real hard that I wouldn't get upset if we drove around all day and found nothing). My prayers were answered, we found the last camping spot at buck's lake and this is the view we got to enjoy. Too bad I couldn't have been in the picture, this would have made a great Christmas card (maybe I will have to photo shop myself in). We had so much fun! It was so nice to thoroughly enjoy my family and not let my mind wander with what needed to be done around the house or what we were doing for dinner. Brody tried fishing a little, Farrah enjoyed swimming and Clayton had fun playing with sticks, building a sand castle with daddy, and walking in the water. I enjoyed the beauty of it all and of course keeping Clayton from getting hurt. He managed to burn his hand on the firepit, hit his head a couple of times and came home full of slivers in his hands and feet. I am suprised we haven't had an ER visit yet with this boy!

Clayton enjoyed his first smore! He says it was "num,num"!

Our two children hanging out in the sticks. These two are equal work, the only difference is we can put Farrah in her kennel or chain her up when she is causing trouble. Three days of camping was about enough for me without a shower!

Motherhood

God created me to be a mother, he gave me the gift to love and nuture his child, but he forgot to leave me any instructions on discipline. Clayton went from a baby one day to a toddler the next and now I feel like all I ever say is "No Clayton", "Get out of there Clayton". You can guess what his new favorite word is, "No"! He says no to everything even when he means yes. If you ask him if he wants to go outside, he will say "no" and run to the front door with a smile on his face.
There is a sweet side of Clayton that he must have got from his mother, right? He loves to give kisses and say "hi" and "bye" to everyone. This last weekend we left him with my Aunt Rose and Uncle Don and they said he was a very good boy. I am thankful for these times where I know I must be doing something right as a mother.

We spent Mother's Day at the Sacramento Zoo with our friend's Jenna, Justin, Elliana and Tucker, her sister, niece, and parents. Thanks Jenna for the nice family photo you took of us! This was Clayton's first trip to the zoo and he loved all the animals.

Here is a picture of the boys, Tucker and Clayton, with their daddy's. They were staying out of trouble on their shoulders. Tucker is Clayton's best buddy. They are two months apart and keep their momma's busy!