Father's Day pictures and new video

Well, we are HOT here in LA. Temps have been in the mid to upper 90s the past 2 days and we have no AC! Thank goodness we have a unit for Liam's room - he definitely sleeps nice and comfortably! Today we are having a going away sort of party with some of Brian's old coworkers and people from our little small group here at USC. It should be fun - kind of hot, but fun. I wanted to be sure to post some adorable pictures of Liam and Daddy from Father's Day! We had a great day! We had a nice breakfast at home and leisurely morning, and then we went to a place called The Americana which is a big outdoor shopping area. We didn't do any shopping, just enjoyed the huge fountain, people watching and some yummy Pinkberry "yogurt" to keep us cool. Then we went to this place called "Forest Lawn." Yep, it's a huge graveyard, but has so much greenery and interesting statues and displays. We have gone there many times before for times of quiet and so Brian wanted to stop by before church. It was a great day to celebrate Brian and his role as a dad! He is a great dad and I love watching him with Liam. In fact, I hear the two downstairs laughing away!!

Liam has been babbling recently lots - mostly "ga ga ga" and also, and to Brian's enjoyment, "dada" He tends to wake us up in the morning "talking" like this and his voice is just so sweet on the monitor. He loves rolling around his crib and I think is enjoying the freedom of movement a bit more. We are just absolutely adoring him these days - we just can't get enough and he is just so cute!!! I know, we are his parents, but that is how we are supposed to feel!

So, we are down to the wire. Just a few days before we are off! I am getting excited in lots of ways and scared in lots of ways - it will be some times of transition and growth for sure, but I am looking forward to this adventure! We leave on Wednesday, so there is a tremendous amount of work to do before then. But, we are getting it done, and Brian is just such a hard worker. Hopefully I'll get one more post in before we leave and post from the road!!!

Enjoy the pictures!

Our Stay at Home Vacation!

Out at dinner at Yamashiro

This was an awesome sushi place that is in the hills above Hollywood. Very fun place and peaceful where we ate in the garden.

After the show Wicked. We were blessed with amazing 3rd row center tickets - we could see every expression and all the details. It was so much fun! This was also our first time out without Liam for 8 1/2 months! What a blessing. I was nervous leaving him with a friend because I didn't know how he would do going to sleep, but he did great and fell right asleep. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with our friends that night too.
Greg and Julie at the Huntington Gardens. This was a beautiful garden area in Pasadena. There were so many different gardens (Japanese Gardens with Bonsai trees, Chinese, Desert, Australian, etc). It was a little chilly that day, but we still enjoyed the beauty of this place.

Liam loves hands and is thoroughly entertained by them.

Greg and Brian contemplating the map....

I think this picture is funny - Liam and Greg seem to be making the same face!

Compliments of Greg, this is a fun picture. There were lots of surfers there, but according to him, nothing like a weekend day. The surf was pretty decent for the guys.
We had lots of space there and got a fire ring to enjoy once the sun went down. It does still get chilly in Southern Cali!

So, last week was a great and fun week here in Los Angeles! We spent a "stay-at-home" few days of vacation with our friends Greg and Julie. We did some really fun things in the area and had great time to just hang out. It started out with a night on the town - to see the show Wicked (which was fabulous!) and to eat some sushi. Yummm. On Wednesday we went to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena and then had dinner at the oldest winery in California - the San Antonio Winery downtown. They don't grow grapes there anymore, but still bottle the wine there. It was fun. Then Thursday we ventured down to San Onofre state beach where Julie, Liam and I chilled out and the guys did lots of surfing. And then Friday we grilled out at Greg and Julie's apartment. It was a great week and was fun to take a moment to not think about all we have to do.

So, on to what we are doing. Well, Brian got home from his staff training in Orlando and has been busy meeting with people and connecting with others about our ministry. We have had lots of positive times with people and I have enjoyed getting to know new friends. We are gearing up for a big cross country trip in about 2 weeks that will take us back east to connect with people there as well. God is really blessing this time and we are excited to see how He works in our relationship and how He will provide for our needs. I am sure I will be sharing lots about this in the coming weeks and months.

And now about Liam. Well, he now has 3 teeth poking through - one on top is now coming in, hopefully the other top one won't be far behind! He has been eating lots and lots now - and I am happy to report that he LOVES my peas now. I have made sweet potatoes and peas recently. And this morning I needed to make some prunes - I think he needs a little help. :) He ate those right up. He is sleeping better and taking decent naps. This trip across the country will be somewhat challenging with Liam, but I think it will make us take things slower and as Brian said, "Enjoy the sunset each day." It will undoubtedly be an adventure we look back on with fondness.

So, enjoy the pictures. I have a video I want to post soon as well. Look for that shortly!

Love to all.