York

I was pretty rubbish at taking lots of pics in York. I liked this one from my phone though. It's not hard to imagine from this picture what it would have been like a long time ago before cars and other modern conveniences. There are lots of streets like this one full of restaurants, shops and cafes. We had a nice time up there. I always like spending as much time as possible with my hubby and to have him off work for two extra days this week was a treat. Well we were there for a conference so we did have to go to that but I still got to be with him. :) I also love staying at hotels, you don't have to cook or clean and you cant even feel like you should be doing those things because you can't! If you ever get a chance to go to York take it! You won't be disappointed. It is beautiful, quirky and quintessentially English.  

And now my brother and sister in laws are coming in a week from today!!! Oh I should probably start getting ready for that. ;)

Happiness is marrying your best friend!

Six incredible, crazy, fun, memorable, wonderful years! 

Yep yep yep it's an anniversary post. :) I could not have dreamed six years ago how much I would grow to love my husband! So if you aren't in the mood for that mushy love stuff stop reading now it's only going to get worse. xxx 

Six Things Alan and Anna Agree on:

1) That every year has only brought us closer to the Lord and each other.

2) God really does have it under control! He's always way too good to us and has provided our every need and lots of our wants too. 

3)There is no one either of us would rather hang out with, every thing is always better together.

4) We love our Monday Starbucks and Bible Study.

5) Our lives should be in the service of our Lord and His Church.

6) That Chipotle is and always will be our favourite. It could be that our first date was there but it also tastes like utopia exploding in your mouth. ;)

Six Reasons Why He's So Good For Me

1) I could not imagine the Lord blessing me with the kind of love Alan shows me each and every day. I am consistently overwhelmed with not only God's love but Alan's too. 

2) Alan truly cares about my spiritual life and loving me like Christ loves the church. He's the best accountability.

3) He is so responsible! Where I can sometimes procrastinate and be a tad careless he's got it all covered. I always feel like he knows what he's doing and trust him totally. (And so thankful he is good with money!)

4) Oh man that man is patient. God knew I would need that. 

5) I always smile more when he's around. 

6) He is super smart, and knows God's Word really well. He is always blessing me with that knowledge. When someone talks about the Bible as much as he does it rubs off. So thankful that he's going to be the father of my children, so it can rub off on all of us. 

Six Reasons Why She's So Good For Me (I had to defer to him for this one!)

1) She's a prayer warrior.  When I'm on the go, go, go she's on her knees.

2) When I worry, she doesn't stress.  Her great faith and trust in the Lord is inspiring and refreshing.

3) Not a day goes by without an encouraging word from my wife.

4) The Kitchen is her creative studio and my culinary wonderland.  Never has a guinea pig been such an eager participant.  

5) We love all the same things!  Talk about M.F.E.O. (see Sleepless in Seattle)

6) She's going to be the best mother.  God has so well prepared her and I am consistently stunned at her wealth of baby knowledge.  Never heard of colic?  Anna has.  How long until they eat solid food?  Anna knows. What's the second verse of that obscure children's song?  Never fear, Anna's here.

Six Things We Are Looking Forward To

1) Silas, Silas, Silas! We cannot wait to meet this little dude! 

2) What the Lord is going to do in us, our lives, and in our little family.

3) Growing old together. 

4) The day after our 22nd Anniversary, we'll have lived longer together than apart.

5) Taking our kids to Disneyland for the first time.

6) Teaching God's Word to our children.

Six Things We Did On Our Sixth Anniversary

1) Went shopping for Silas! 

2) Went to Starbucks and had a Bible study. :) 

3) Drove through the beautiful blooming countryside. 

4) Saw a movie. (Great Gatsby) 

5) Had some amazing Chinese food! 

6) Talked about the last six years and how thankful we are for each and every day. 

Baby Boy

So… I guess it's been a while since I blogged! O.o 

Oh well, I thought I'd come on here and say…we're having a baby boy!!! I know everyone who reads this already knows but I wanted to record this for posterity's sake. 

This is the little skittle at our 8 week ultra sound! 

This was him at our 12 week ultra sound. 

This was him at 20 weeks where we found out he was a HE! (Even though I knew it all along ;)

Here's just one more from the 20 week scan. We had an amazingly wonderful ultra sound tech at this scan and I was sooo thankful because our 12 week guy was lame and not very helpful. Everything looks great and he's pretty much straight down the line average size and length. All except his tummy which is more on the robust side, I think the ultra sound tech called it cuddly. Now we don't have anymore scans  (well unless something goes wrong so hopefully no more) and the next time I get to see my little guy is when he's be born!!! :-0

Let's see. What to remember for later? 

I first felt him move on April 19th at just over 16 weeks. 

Alan felt him give some good strong kicks today! May 31st (just over 22 weeks) in fact we could see my whole stomach move today. 

Whenever Alan talks to him he goes nuts!  He can hear his dad's voice and at church when Alan's teaching or doing worship the little guy starts moving.  It's pretty cute.  

He also acts up sometimes when Alan's not talking to him.  He's a wiggler and a kicker, that's for sure. I feel like this week he's awake a lot more. He always seems to be moving. Which of course I love! (Except for when he kicks me in the bladder, that's not so cute.)

I'm feeling really good but time is dragging on so slowly! Hopefully as summer starts it picks up the pace a little. 

He seems to like spicy food because that's all I want to eat (that and an In & Out cheeseburger. Maybe it's a good thing there aren't any here.) 

He goes absolutely bonkers if I have any caffeine. 

I'm sure I'll think of loads later but right now I'm hungry! Hopefully I'll post more about our little guy but knowing me, who knows! 

:)

My husband has skills.

Never mind that he's smart, funny, a great preacher... Homeboy can carve pumpkins!

Butterfly Farm

We got to spend our nieces birthday :-) It was the first time in years that we got to celebrate her birthday with her. We loved every minute of it! She is such a sweet little blessing to everyone. She wanted to go to butterfly farm, how cute is that? Here are some pictures of the day. As you can see they were pretty friendly butterflies!
That last picture I threw in because on the way home we went through a Starbucks drive thru. Can you believe it was the first drive thru we have been to in the UK! They haven't caught on here like they have in the America. The things you find funny while living over sea's. :-)

So fun!

I was super blessed to have a group of awesome friends from CA visit me in October. Here are just a few pictures from their trip. Thanks Hallie, Cari and Rachel for coming and encouraging and blessing me so much! You guys are so much fun to be around!

Kira's pics are long over due!

I was looking through this blog and noticed that last summer I said I would post pictures of Kira and I at Blenheim palace. Well, here they are long over due. 

One of the things I love about Blenheim are the grounds there is a big lake, a small waterfall, gardens upon gardens, and a maze. Kira and I sat by the lake for a while and just got to talk and take in the beautiful scenery. 

Converse girls :)

I think it's a man made waterfall but it's still pretty. 

So Kira bought an Oxford hoodie, she had been wearing it for a few days when we went to Blenheim. As she walked in front of me I noticed something. What are big sisters for if not to remind you of funny moments like these. Love you munchkin! 

 Really not the best picture but I put it up so you could feel the scale of it a bit better. I don't think you can fully appreciate it unless you see it in person, it's enormous. To think that one family lived here! Well actually one family still lives here but in order to pay for keeping this place up they charge people to come and see it.

(Oh man Kira I have been missing you like crazy! I miss how easy you are to talk and laugh with. I miss your cute face. I miss how compassionate you are. I miss taking you to starbucks! I miss having you within driving distance. So I propose this! Why don't you just transfer to Brooks University? It's literally up the road from me, I have a membership to their gym. Huge plus…they don't require gen ed at English Universities! So it usually only takes someone three years to get a degree…sounding better by the minute? At least I can suggest it right? I love you lots and am so excited to see where God leads you no matter where it is. But I'll be praying it's here ;)