February 2012

After settling into out home fairly quickly, we picked right back up with a whirlwind of activities. Here are some of the highlights:

Tim takes the girls on what he named "3Ds" or Dada-daughter dates. Here the girls hold hands while peering into a pen where some large animals are kept:

 Madeleine and I went to cousin Abbie's princess party and we enjoyed all the wonderful treats that Auntie Lori prepared:

 Madeleine & I came home to find that Dada had built Mads' big-girl bed; she loved it:

 While the weather is sunny and warm, the girls play out back. Grace helps me water flowers and we all enjoy watching many local feathered visitors devour our bird feed:

 Madeleine has a special affinity for her "jungle" and wants me to come be the Mama cat. She even led G out by the hand to play with her and gather food in the jungle:

 C.C. cars!:

 Our friend Kaitlyn turned 4 and had a Neverland Pirates birthday. Madeleine & a friend enjoy a treasure hunt complete with spyglass and pirate hat (on friend S.):

 The girls at the party:

 Mama & Mads

 My parents invited all four of us down to the Fred Hall fishing show and we watched the Dock Dogs jumping. The girls also enjoyed duck races. I picked up the boater's course for water safety, so it was fun for me too!:

 Gracie enjoyed feeding and watching the ducks:

Last Tuesday night, came down with strep throat and Tim stepped up the hero action to take care of me and the girls for 3 days in a row (oh, then he worked one and then took another one off to baby me because I was still recovering). I barely saw the girls at all, he was so diligent to take care of their feedings, laundry, trips out, shopping and he brought me soup, medicine, even arranged babysitting so he could take me to the doctor's. (How can I not brag about this man?) He took work off on Friday and I thought I could manage with both my moms' help. We got a late start, but my mom, the girls and I made it to the Vintage Hills Easter Egg hunt and because we were so late, the coordinator laid out a huge spread just for us! It was so kind of her to bless us in that way- my girls had too many eggs to pick up and we ended up leaving some for another straggler who we saw coming.

Gracie was so adorable with that basket:

 Madeleine had a wonderful time, and enjoyed filling G's basket and her own alternatively:

 After naps, my mom left and my mother-in-law came over. Somehow I had managed to bake some eggs for the girls to color thinking it would be a fun experience they could have with their Grammi:

The rest of these are not chronological because they are from Tim's camera  and I am too lazy to go sort them!

Gracie's blue eyes benefit from glasses, and she looks lovely to boot: 

Tim had taken the girls on a previous 3D when we had snow down to 2000'. The girls loved in, in very different ways. At first they are both having fun:

 But G decided that she did not want ANYTHING to do with snow and Tim reported she would not stop crying until he finally put her back in her car seat and let her watch as he and Madeleine played. (She had a similar reaction to sand the first time):

Madeleine enjoys the snow & her snowman:

G enjoys her carseat and a snack cup full of animal crackers:

This sweet girl filled a Nalgene full of snow for her mama as a souvenir and when they all returned home, Dada put it in the freezer to save :)

 A few days ago, Mads wanted a picnic dinner and Tim snapped a few shots of her. When she saw him, she snapped a few right back:

 Love, Lauren

Bergon Palms

Well, I decided that Bergon Palms would be the new name. It won out over Patience Park, Bergon Park and Birdsong. When you come to our house, you will find it by looking for two towering palms on the north side of the property. Palms also comprise much of the greening around the house, so I thought it appropriate. I also wasn't going to use our name in there because it really isn't our house, but then I re-thought it...for now, it is our house and more importantly our home. Plus, if we don't use our name, it just sounds like a resort (The Palms?). Amazingly, our new home is a resort! I am so in love with it. Hot air balloons rise just over our house on the weekends, upstairs in the master bedroom you can hear the gentle swaying of eucalyptus branches which create dancing shadows on the walls. Gardeners come every week to keep the property perfectly maintained and the birds flit in the trees singing sweet songs. *sigh* I still combat the stress of unpacking and not being able to find most things at any given time, but underneath it all is a deep sense of compatibility and happiness with this house. I didn't really realize how a great place can cause such a deep desire to create "Place" for the enjoyment of our family. I find myself wanting to create solitude and sanctuary; to keep things clean and bright. I want to entertain, have people over, fire up the grill and all that jazz. It's home love for me. So, come over! Bring a six pack (Amstel Light) or some wine (Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet is a yummy choice-thanks Laney!) and celebrate with us all that God is bringing about in our hearts and in our home.

The Name Game

Taking a break from our holidays...I wanted to solicit some thoughts on naming of items. In high school, I learned that some people name their cars. I always thought this was odd since my family never named anything mechanical and so I didn't really think about it. But since being married to Tim, whimsy and fun seems the norm and so I named his little house the Bergon Bungalow. When we bought our Chevy, I started calling it "Chuck" the truck to distinguish it from Tim's little pick-up (which is unnamed). So, I'm hoping to find a suitable name for our rental and was wondering if your home has a name, how it came to have a name and suggestions on finding a name--all for fun. If you've never considered naming your home, don't worry...it's definitely a UK thing to do.
Love, Lauren

"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names"-Chinese proverb

The Holidays 2011: SMPFFA Children's Christmas Party

The day after we got back from Kim's, Tim took the girls to church and I stayed at home to wrap up the loose ends on the San Marco Professional Firefighters Association's Children's Christmas Party. (seriously?) Every year, the San Marcos Kiwana's club puts on a street parade with Santa riding the fire engine to cap it off and then Santa enjoys handing out gifts to the firefighter's children at station 1. Tim and I volunteered to organize the whole thing this year. Yeah. It was fun, and we had A LOT of help from some wonderful friends. Kristin B. ran a craft table that was amazing. Nikki V. made all the sugar cookies. Lauren H. and Erin A. helped run the tables and Kaitlin F.was also a wing girl, even though she was sick. A huge thanks to Amy F. for holding Gracie almost the entire day. They were a huge blessing to me and Tim as we were running like crazy trying to pull the food, decor, Santa, gifts and more together. Now that we've done it once, we'll probably have some great ideas for next year. 

The kids wait for Santa to call their name and give them a gift out of his bag:

 Madeleine's first memorable "Santa" experience. We don't really do Santa at our house (though she knows who he is), so the thought of sitting on this strange man's lap was...strange. She basically deferred in every sense of the word:

 group shot:

 G money making some waves in the bouncy house:

 and Madeleine loved it too:

Love, Lauren

Holidays 2011: Kim & the kids

During the first week of December, we made a trip out to Arizona to visit Kim & her 4 kids. We wanted to see their Christmas musical performance at school and David's basketball game and just generally let them know we love them.

We had to stop in Cabazon to show the girls the dinos. 

 everybody say "Rawr!"

On the way out, we made some stops to just let girls out and break up the drive:

When we arrived, we went straight to David's game just in time to see his team win!

That night, we had a chance to visit with Kim and we three tried to stay awake, but it was a long day and Tim was done from driving, but still a nice night.

The next day, the kids had school and Kim had to work, so we hung out at the house.

Who doesn't sit on the counter -top and eat Apple Straws when the kids are at school and Auntie Kim's at work?:

 That night was the school performance; by this time, Gary & Cindy (Tim' parents) had joined us from California and we all went to see the kids play. Later that night, I actually watched The Christmas Story for the first time. 

Madeleine does moose-face:

 Grammi & Papa with six of their 8 grandkids:

The next morning, Kim made a fabulous breakfast. Madeleine was covered with animals by her cousin and all the kids got to hang out and play. Matthew and Hannah went with me and Madeleine to the park while Tim, David, Daniel and Gary strung lights on the house and did some needed home maintenance.

 Look at that spread! Oh yum-french toast. Thanks Kim!

 We love you Kim, David, Daniel, Hannah & Matthew. We look forward to seeing you soon in 2012 (which happens to actually include Hannah's leap year b-day!)
Love, Auntie Lauren

Holidays 2011: Happy Birthday Lauren

I turned 31 the day after Thanksgiving this year. It was definitely low-key for us and still fun because I was with the people I adore. The previous Monday I had rallied the girls and taken them to my friend Sarah Seto's house for a Thanksgiving play date. Right after I left, I could barely make it home because I was feeling sick. I called my mom over and once I was home, went right to bed. I was freezing, freezing, freezing. I was thinking I might be pregnant, so I didn't take any medication and broke my fever in about 6 hours. Tim had taken an overtime that day and his relief at the station was late, so he came home around 6:30 to relieve my mom. Then, he got sick the next few days. Unfortunately, his was a different bug causing vomiting. Thank the Lord our kids were spared, but this was the first time I have been sick with kids and it is not fun at all. I  just wanted to crawl in bed and sleep forever, but that is not even possible with little ones. Anyways, we were all still recovering on Thanksgiving and the next day...my birthday. Tim gave me a new point and click camera and a lovely candle. My parents gifted me a new ipod, but because of the awesome Apple replacement program, I got a new one from Apple for free (in return for my 1st gen. nano) and returned my parents. I was able to go out to lunch with my two grandmothers, my mom and my brother's girlfriend Leigh which was delightful and more than a gift to me. All in all, a wonderful few days celebrating birth- and who doesn't want to celebrate birth? It's wonderful!

One of the first pics on my birthday-trying the camera out: 

The day after my birthday, Tim took Madeleine to the park so I could nap when G went down for her nap. He took my new camera and captured some sweet pics of our little 2.5 year old. She is growing up so fast, I am loving this age:

"leaf-head"

 I love this little lady:

Love, Lauren

Holidays 2011: JTNP 4th Anniversary

We went to Joshua Tree for our 4th anniversary. I (finally) okayed a TWO day trip instead of just an overnight and Tim got right to planning. The goal: "to get bored". We had no schedule, no plans, just packed some rock-climbing stuff in case we got the urge and books if we wanted. Tim booked Coyote's Rest a few miles outside the park and it was perfect for just two people to lounge around. On the drive out we hit Hadley's in Cabazon for some snacks and enjoyed a coffee and talking without being interrupted! We checked into Coyote's Rest, hit up a redbox, had dinner at Crossroad's Cafe (which was much better 5 years ago before new ownership) and generally stayed in bed for movies and books and warmth (it was drizzling and cool)the rest of the night. The next morning, we just lounged in bed until almost noon- what a treat! We decided to casually meander into the park and maybe do some climbing:

Boulder pad ready:

Just enjoying stretching:

this rock looks like a lion to me:

lots of jumping shots as we left the park: 

Joshua Tree saloon, where we had a few beers and sang karaoke (I did, at least): 

On our way home we stopped off at the windmill things in the pass: 

and we also got a few treats for the girls at the Cabazon Dinosaurs:

 

We had a great time, and although we never got bored, we did get some needed r & r

Thanks to both sets of grandparents who shared the childtending duties- we appreciate it.

Love, Lauren (&Tim)