blessed beyond measure.

God has been so good to our family. I love that He is always teaching me, always challenging me, and always patient with me. One of my greatest blessings He has given me is my sweet husband Billy.

With Isaac running a nonstop fever and being sick the past week, by the time my birthday rolled around we were all exhausted. Billy had told me about the week before my birthday that he had planned a surprise getaway to San Francisco where he had a "surprise" waiting for me.

However, I woke up Wednesday with a mild headache and I really just wanted to stay in bed and sleep. Billy left early and took the little ones over to my mom's house, who was kind enough to agree to watch all 3 of our boys for the whole day!

I dawdled around till almost 11 am before agreeing to go to SF. And I am so glad I agreed to go.



We started our day with lunch in Union Square at Boudin's. After we headed clear to the other side of SF to the coast to see the Giant Camera. Seeing the ocean made me so happy and the camera was pretty neat too.

Afterwards we headed back to Union Square where Billy grabbed my hand and lead me into the Louis Vuitton store. He walked me up to the counter and told me to pick out a purse. It was one of the best birthday surprises ever. Two years prior, after completing my first full time semester back in school with 2 children and getting straight A's, I awarded myself by buying a Louis Vuitton at that very store in Union Square. Almost one year later we were robbed and my purse was stolen (and also my wedding ring).

I am so blessed that I had a husband who worked SO hard to replace my wedding ring and now to have replaced (and upgraded) my Louis Vuitton bag.

If you know me then you know I love all things classic and so I went with the classic monogram in the speedy 30. Billy included a little gift note that read: You can't spell LOVE without LV. Happy 27th Birthday. I love you. (card is in the center photo featuring a vintage LV ad for Vogue).

He really is an amazing and selfless husband. After leaving Louis Vuitton we stopped by the swanky Hillstone for dinner before retiring back to good ol' Yuba City.

Thanks for making my birthday so special Billy. I love you.

birthday wishes

I like that when Micah draws candles he calls them "wishes". Love his sweet little way of thinking!

Well...today we celebrated my nephew Ezra's birthday with ONE wish on top of the cake! That's right! This little 2 pound 9 ounce when born baby is now a thriving one year old!










He had a little costume party..Keaston is not wearing all of his costume, because he had the best wig and sparkly glove to complete his Michael Jackson look!

a happy birthday :D

When I had my cancer scare a couple months ago, something became very clear to me. It wasn't just a passing thought or a cliche thing to say. The words have become written on my heart: Life is Precious.

It truly, truly is. And because this has never rang more clear to me I feel extra blessed to have celebrated another year of life here on this Earth. Tomorrow is not promised to us and only He knows the number of our days, but I am so thankful for every breathe I take.

My husband (who is normally not a big 'birthday' person) and our boys went above and beyond to make this day extra special.

Thank you Billy, Colby, Micah...and even you Isaac :) And thank you to all who wrote and wished me a happy birthday! Every comment was so sweet, I appreciate you all!


Billy let me sleep in (yeah) and when I woke up he had decorated the table: setting out a table cloth, he had bought party plates/napkins/forks, tied balloons to all the chairs, bought a chocolate buttercream cake infused with bailey's irish cream and caramel temptation (yum!). He also had these cute little mexican paper flag banners hanging from the ceiling that he had hand cut himself! Did I marry a good man or what?

He and the boys made me birthday cards and he stocked our fridge with Mexican coke in the glass bottles, my favorite. My mom kept the boys for us so we could have dinner alone and thanks to my sweet men, I am now am the proud owner of this. I have wanted it ever since Isaac was born...my 3 boys are my 3 rocks so it has special meaning to me.

Now I'm off to watch Slumdog Millionaire. I have wanted to see it forever, just never got around to it! What a great day!

Growing Young...

Last week Billy asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I had to stop and think. God has given me life, a loving husband, and healthy children. I truly feel so incredibly blessed.

So here I am going to be turning 26 and you know what? It feels pretty darn good to just be alive and being able to have my husband by my side and the honor of watching our children grow.

But... if the man of the house wants to get me something to commemorate 26 years of living, well who am I to stand in his way?...Let's just say I wouldn't mind if one of these made its way into our home. :)



Or I would really love to finally have Isaac's newborn pictures (the lady that was training the girl who took them in the hospital was extremely rude and so I didn't want to order from her, but you can order them online for up to a year after the birth of your baby). Hope you got an idea or two husband! :)

a super silly seventh birthday party...

I hate that Colby was born in the winter. I was born in February and so I know firsthand how lame winter birthdays are. Because our families are so large and our house is so not, we have been having Colby and Micah's birthday parties at Mountain Mikes for the last 3 years...

The pizza is good and I don't have to pick up my whole house afterwards, so I really shouldn't complain...but I will say that I absolutely love that Isaac was born in the summer. Okay, so he will never have a school party, but I can't wait to have an outdoor birthday in the sunshine for a change!

Colby's 1 request for his birthday was silly string, so we decided to have a super silly party :)

the little man of honor


silly string cupcakes


little party pooper


getting ready for a silly string war


am I really old enough to be his mom?


party animals



And lastly, thank you to everyone who wrote me on my blog and facebook about my last post. I truly cherish each and everyone of your uplifting words! You brought tears to my eyes. I am so appreciative of you all!

Few More...

Can you believe the fire truck was a thrift store find?

Boo's Party...

So. I have sort of been missing in action lately since my Grandma had her surgery and I've been at the hospital, but we finally got to have Micah's birthday party!

We had it at Mountain Mike's (yum) and just decided to keep it low key and family only :) Boo's invitations were inspired by his favorite little fern animal.

I made the party favors out of the same fabric I had his custom fern animal (and Colb'ys too) made from and then I had a bib made to match from here.

Ashley, the fern animal designer, was kind enough to set up a listing for me to buy fern animal pins to close all the fabric goody bags up with.

We had a lot of fun visiting with our family and getting to see our lil' cousin Averie who lives in Redding!

Thank you everyone for coming!

Happy Birthday Boo Boo.

Today Micah is turning 2 years-old!

This day has always been bittersweet as I remember not only the horrible things Dr. Hoffer said to me but also the horrible and rushed c-section he performed that has left me in much physical pain even now 2 years later. I know he apologized, and every day I try to leave it all behind me, but it is sincerely one of my worst memories.

On the other hand, despite Dr. Hoffer's negligence and unethical comments to me and my family, I did get to finally meet the little boy I carried around for 9 months!!!! I have to try very hard to separate the pain of this moment from the joyous occasion of Micah "entering" our family!

He is such a little lover though I think the terrible 2's may just be fast approaching!

Happy Birthday Micah! And as Colby always puts it, "Everyone loves you Micah!"

Getting Ready for Micah's 2nd Birthday...

...I can hardly believe that our little "mew" will be turning 2! Since wedding planning is (thank God) over I have been working on Micah's birthday party.

Ideally I would like to hold a small party-unfortunately neither Billy or I have "small" families!

Being the little animal lover that he is, we decided to have an "animal" party so here are just a few things I'm putting in his gift basket!

*Charley Harper illustrated ABCs book from Amazon

*Vintage hand painted artist smock

*Wooden tree stacker by Plan Toys