Adam's Falcon

Adam has an imaginary friend. He calls it "my falcon". He talks about "my falcon" all the time. He makes up stories involving "my falcon". He will be telling me something and all of a sudden throw in information about "my falcon". "My falcon did this." "My falcon doesn't like that." While in Oceanside we were walking on a bridge back from the harbor and saw a smashed black duck on the road. I showed him the dead bird. He got alarmed and said, "That's my falcon!" I was a little worried and I tried to reassure him it was not his falcon, only a duck. He didn't believe me at first and continued to insist it was "my falcon". After we returned to our condo, he happily told me it wasn't "my falcon". Phew! Even though Adam's falcon is imaginary, I panicked when he believed "my falcon" was smashed on the side of the road. I'm glad "my falcon" is still safe in his imagination. 

Love's is for Girls

We stopped at Love's gas station on the way home from California. Adam said, mommy this is a girls gas station!!"

Because of the hearts. 

Ocean Battle Wounds

I'm pretty sure Hunter has had an injury on this very eye multiple times in his short 7 years. He & Jacob were out boogie boarding when they took a tumble in a rough wave. Jacob bumped his head on the ocean floor and Hunter must've hit the ground with his eye. He came out of the ocean crying & holding his eye. I saw a little blood and brought him up to Trevor who was under the umbrella with Ashlyn. He whisked Hunter away to get it rinsed and assess the damage. He was gone for a while and I was starting to get nervous. After what seemed like an hour, Trevor returned. Hunter was fine but had some bruising around his eye. We were very lucky something worse didn't happen. Both the boys were done with the ocean after that. 

7 months

Ashlyn got to celebrate her 7 month mark at the beach. I have never seen a cuter beach bum. 

Here are some attributes about Ashlyn at 7 months. 

She has the brightest, most beautiful blue eyes and the chubbiest chunky thighs. She has almost no hair. What little hair she has, it's light blonde so she basically looks bald. Her arms are as rolly as the Michelin man arms. 

She has been referred to as the Michelin baby by more than one person. She is rolling over a ton and staying sitting up when we put her that way. She topples over sometimes but it is getting less and less frequent. She is very bashful and has been nervous around strangers since 4 months old. She will hide on my shoulder when people try to talk to her, even occasionally when that someone is her dad (although, this week in Oceanside they have become pals). She cries when other people try to hold her. She will be brave for about a minute before she starts crying and looking for me. She is just starting to reach for people (me) and extended her reach to Trevor this week. She normally sleeps from 8 pm to 5 am. Her schedule has been a bit interrupted during our trip and has been all over the place. We are planning on getting back on track once we return home. She is starting to accept baby food as part of her diet. She did not care for it at first. She loves french fries and her sippy cup. She is the sweetest, happiest, most content baby I've ever met.  She is the most happy in her mom's arms. She is battling her first little cold right now but is pushing through like a champ. I never thought I would enjoy having a girl this much. She makes it so easy!! I couldn't ask for a better baby! We are smitten by this beauty!

A 7 Year Old's Testimony

We got to Oceanside last night. The kids did excellent in the car and besides some heavy traffic in a few areas, the trip went smoothly. After we got here, we dropped everything and headed to the beach. We let the boys play for about a half hour. Then it was getting dark and hard to see the water so we called them in and went back to our condo. Trevor went to unlock the door and wasn't able to get the bottom lock open. He tried for a while. It didn't make sense cause when we arrived the first time, I unlocked it and didn't have a problem. I remember I checked the bottom lock before I attempted to unlock it so I didn't waste time trying to unlock it if it was already unlocked. I remember it was locked so I unlocked it without any problem. Now it wouldn't unlock. After about 5 minutes of attempting, Trevor finally went to the security office to get help. He took Jacob & Hunter with him. I had Adam & Ashlyn. When they returned, they brought a security guard with them. She had a couple sets of keys but they didn't work either. During this time Hunter said he would be right back. He went just outside the building and sat on a planter wall. He came back a few minutes later and told me quietly that he had just said a prayer to help us get the door open. Trevor & the security guard decided to go check the sliding glass door to see if there was a key hole they could try. We had already thought about the glass door but Trevor said he remembered locking it so we hadn't tried. He went over with her while I waited by the front door with the kids. A moment later the front door was opening. I was surprised they got it open and so quickly. Trevor said the sliding door wasn't locked but it was so weird because he remembered pushing the lock down. I said it was a blessing that it was unlocked (even though all of our belongings, including wallets & phones sat right in the open and this condo has easy access for anyone to enter the porch). Hunter exclaimed, "I know what happened!" "What?" I asked. "It was my prayer!" He said excitedly.  I had forgotten about his prayer. In that moment I had the spirit confirm to me that my 7 year old's prayer really had worked and that it was the only logical explanation. It was such a touching experience and such a proud moment to know that my 7 year old thought to ask Heavenly Father for help during our time of need. The eye opener is that he was the only one of us who even thought to ask for help by prayer. What a strong testimony he has! And what an example to me that even a 7 year old has strong enough faith to make miracles happen!