Happy Birthday, Jake!

Our oldest son, Jake, turns 31 today. How can it be? It seems like just yesterday that he was the same size as his sweet son. Yet somehow the years have slipped by, and now Jake is an amazing husband and father. This is one of my favorite pictures from the day we spent with Jake, Beka, and Ayeresam at the pumpkin patch last fall, when Jake and Ayeresam were having a blast on the hay slide. We love you, Jake. Hope you have a wonderful birthday, full of fun and surprises, and overflowing with God's richest blessings.

More special times in Aspen...

Our visit to Aspen continues, and we are so grateful for the time we've had to enjoy visiting our granddaughter, our son David and daughter-in-law Nikki, as well as two of my (Jo's) brothers and one of my sisters and all their kids.
But what we have been soaking up is time with Adelaide. What a sweetie pie!

Mark and I gave her a bath yesterday, and had such fun watching her play with her tub toys, munch on her wash cloth, and splash to her heart's content.

This afternoon, we took her for a walk in the stroller. We went to a small nearby park, where she enjoyed the swing and the sunshine.

How will we ever leave tomorrow?

A few pictures from Aspen

We are in Basalt, Colorado (near Aspen) for a few precious days, visiting David, Nikki, and our sweet granddaughter Adelaide. Hope to connect with more family in the area as well, but reconnecting with this dear baby is the primary focus of this visit. It took Adelaide a full day to get used to us again, but all is well now.
As you can see, Basalt is still in the grip of winter. It's so beautiful out, and more snow is expected tonight. In fact, when we flew from Portland to Denver on Thursday, we couldn't fly on to Aspen, as the snow storm had necessitated the closure of the Aspen airport. We had to take a bus from Denver to reach our destination - a four-hour jaunt. Adventure time!

I was riding in the back seat with Adelaide - no better seat in the car than that!

Yesterday we went to the Basalt Library, where Adelaide crawled through the tunnel and played with other tiny friends who were also there.

After her morning bath today. Our sweet little flower baby!

Outside the library. We will be here until Tuesday evening, and will soak up every precious minute we can with this little cutie pie!

Happy Birthday, Chris

Today marks the 39th birthday of a very special young man,
our son-in-law Chris.
Happy birthday!
♥ We love you SO much! ♥
"May the Lord bless you... all the days of your life."
Psalm 128:5

My Valentine

Driving home from church yesterday, I casually asked Mark if perhaps we could take a walk in the afternoon, even if it was raining. He said,"Yes, but it won't be around here." Surprise! He had planned an early Valentine's Day outing to the coast for the afternoon, to my very favorite spot: Cape Perpetua. So off we went. The weather got progressively worse as we journeyed west, but we were undeterred. We donned our rain gear at the Cape, and hiked to the lookout point. Bliss!
This little fellow (gal?) didn't let a little rain ruin his day, either!
We enjoyed dinner at Mo's in Florence, concluding our lovely day.
I love, love, love you, Mark. So thankful to God for bringing you into my life, and into my heart. I am so blessed!
Happy Valentines Day. ♥♥