Christmas Parade

This was our first time at the downtown Christmas Parade. At the last minute, we grabbed our warmest clothes and braved some very cold weather (for Redding anyway). We tried to find our wonderful friends, but had a hard time getting around the crowed with our stroller. Then some of our wonderful friends from church invited us to their pad. We had such a fun time. Gabe loved watching the parade. We knew that he was cold, because he's never sat so long on daddy's lap all bundled up. I think the high school bands and all the lights were his favorite part. What a fun way to start up the Christmas season! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Harvest Fun

Our church has a fun little Harvest Festival every year. We dressed Gabe as a basketball player. We mostly enjoyed the outside events, where the rocks and sticks are plentiful. Gabe loved the wagon rides, which were pulled by a quad. I also got to bounce Gabe in the bouncy house before all the kids (and adults) came. My favorite part was watching Gabe interact with the other kids (or shall I say stealing their candy). He looks innocent and cute, but don't let the real Gabe fool you.

Feeding or Luring?

This morning my mom and I woke up early to walk the Clover Creek Trail. Once we completed a lap, we pushed Gabe over to feed the ducks. Most of the time Gabe kept pulling his feet closer to himself. I guess he didn't want his toes to get nibbled. We say Gabe was feeding the ducks. My hunting husband thinks he was just luring the ducks closer.

A Much Needed Family Day

On Friday, the three of us decided to head north for a little drive and to enjoy come cooler weather. So we visited the park in Dunsmir and had lunch in Mt. Shasta. Mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed the outdoors. So here are a few pics from our day together.

Gabe was thrilled with this log bench to climb while Dad fished the Mt. Shasta Hatchery.
Dave's goal: catch all these fish!

Oh, man! It got away!

Fat lip and 3 more teeth on the way.

Finally, lots of pictures with mommy & daddy.

A Day with Great Grandpa&ma Wolff

We were blessed with a couple of days to visit with Great Grandma&pa Wolff. Once a year my grandparents come to visit as they journey from Spokeann to Palo Alto. My grandpa is a lifetime heart patient. In the fall of '95, he got his heart transplant. It was my Jr. year of high school, and I can still remember the middle of the night call when his heart arrived. My grandma survived a stroke a couple of weeks before Dave & I were married in 'o3. So here we are enjoying another visit with them. These are a few snaps from the day, and I experimented with a little video clip too:

Gabe actually ran around the room wearing these silly glasses.

My mom trying to fill up a growing boy with graham crackers & milk.

We passed around this little doll.

Somehow I didn't get a picture of Great G&G holding Gabe, but here's last years picture when Gabe was 2 months old.

Lastly, my experimental piece. My grandpa & Gabe were great pals.

Fourteen & Four

These cousins are 14 & 4 months here. Such cute stages. Gabe is very interested in his little cousin Sydney. He's not quite sure how to love on her yet, but he likes watching her move and hearing her make noises. I love that Sydney has blue eyes unlike her mommy & daddy with brown eyes. God is so creative at surprizing us with unique features. :)

My brother Patrick is always loving on his little girl.

Our simple entertainment these days.

Happy, Hot, & Hoping

Not much is going on here, except we're happy~ God provides work, hot~it's been triple digits for most of this month, & hoping~ for cooler days ahead.

Here's Gabe enjoying his toys. He's in the take 3 steps/climbing stage. I'm amazed at how fast kids this age can move. Yesterday, I felt little hands around my neck, when I turned around he was standing on my chair behind me. Little Rascal!



Here's our future Cow Creek player.

Brook is hiding from the heat too! Can we blame her?

Last night, a customer gave daddy a box of boy toys for Gabe. I cleaned them, and set them on a towel to dry. This morning we enjoyed hearing his little hoot, when he discovered the loot.

Sour Cream Banana Bread w/ Chocolate Chips

I wished that I took a picture of the pretty loaves after they cooled. We cut into one loaf and froze the other two before I thought of posting the recipe. :) I love this yummy recipe {from my friend Joy}, because it doesn't get so dark like many banana recipes.

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. I used 3 mini loaf tins greased with a wax paper strip on the bottom. :)

Visiting GG & GG

Last weekend, we took a short road trip to Vallejo to visit my grandparents. After Gabe woke from his nap, we walked the waterfront. The weather was in the low 80's and breezy (unlike the 107 that we're expecting today). My grandparents don't even have an AC~ now that's the place to live.

My favorite part of the visit was listening to the many stories. My grandma shared about the Depression. When my grandma was a little girl, she found a coin on the ground. A man put it tight in her hand and told her to run home quickly and to give it to her parents. The man made sure the other kids would not follow and try to take it from her. Their family was able to buy a huge sack of flour, sugar, and other cooking items. What a blessing during those hard times!

My grandpa was in a submarine during WW2. I always enjoy listening to his war stories and looking a pictures of his brothers, who were also in the war. During our next visit, we would like to take the ferry to SF and tour the WW2 submarine at the pier. We had a wonderful time and look forward to our next visit with them.

Family Camp

Last weekend, we camped at Brookings, OR with some of our church family. Gabe did really well traveling 5 hours each way. He loves that he can now face forward in his carseat. The whole camping experience with a 12 month old was interesting. Gabe got super dirty crawling in the dirt. {Mama hated that part!} He wasn't too fond of the sand or the sound of the ocean. Silly boy! On the last day, we ate wonderful fish tacos. They were so fresh. We actually watched the cook cut up the fish and batter it. If anyone has a good fish taco recipe, I'd love to try it!

Our Little Birthday Boy

Well, it's hard to believe that we officially have a 1 year old now. These past 12 months watching Gabriel grow and change have flown by. We often reflect in our quiet times together how thankful we are for our precious little boy. His simplest acts of love melt our hearts. Gabriel loves to explore- still on his knees! He loves food, and his favorites are "mmm." We love to watch him play in the pantry. We've found red potatoes in the strangest places. On a more serious note, our greatest desire as parents is that Gabe would one day know and delight in our loving Savior Jesus Christ.

Happy 1st Birthday, Gabriel Ryan. We love you bunches!

Love, Your Mommy & Daddy

Playing in the Pool

We're not sure what Gabe's thinking here, but it's a funny picture!

Gabe loves his O-ball. It is his favorite toy. He would toss his ball outside the pool, and we would throw his ball on the otherside of the pool for him to fetch. It was funny listening to his gasps as his belly got into the cold water.

A little exploring!

Gabe took a wonderful nap after playing in all this water! Very refreshing on a hot day!

Evening Walks

In the evenings, David & I like to take Gabe and Brook for walks around the neighborhood. I'm sure the neighbors have a nickname for us by now. We often stop at this old fenced park to throw a few dummies for Brook. Then we circle around the block and get Gabe ready for his bath. I enjoy evenings like this when we can get some exercise and talk about our day.