The Busy Month of October

We spent the month of October traveling and holding meetings in churches all over California!  While we sure missed the beautiful fall foliage and crisp weather of home (in Iowa), we definitely enjoyed the warmth and sunshine this fall in CA!  Besides meetings, we got to do some fun things like visit Coronado Beach in San Diego and go to various parks/playgrounds along the way!  Here is a sampling of photos from the month... enjoy!

On Weds. October 2, we were with Lighthouse Baptist Church in Moreno Valley, CA!

We were with them again on Sunday morning!  

David gets LOTS of attention from folks in the churches we visit!  

These girls especially took a liking to him :)

Hard to believe it's the middle of Fall out here!  

It was sunny and warm with beautiful trees and flowers!  

We just HAD to get a photo :)

On Sunday night we were at Canyon Ridge Baptist Church.

David loves exploring new hotel rooms and places we stay in as we travel!  

He especially loves finding the mirrors :)

We spent a fun evening at a park in San Diego...the whole park was covered in sand!

We got to spend a day at Coronado Beach in San Diego!  

It was gorgeous weather and such a secluded spot!  Perfect!

David's first experience with sand/ocean!  He was a little timid at first but soon got to liking it!

It didn't take him long to start eating the sand....oh well!  

What doesn't kill 'em makes 'em stronger, right?!

On Weds., Oct. 9, we had a wonderful meeting at Berean Bible Baptist Church in Chula Vista, CA.

The next Sunday we were with Grace Baptist in Montibello, CA.

On Monday/Tuesday, we enjoyed attending a pastors' conference where Dr. Bob Jones III was one of the guest speakers!  We sang in Tuesday night's service.  

Before we left L.A., Caleb brought me to the first ever all-cupcake bakery, Sprinkles Cupcakes!

The owner of Sprinkles is one of the judges on 

Cupcake Wars (for any of you fellow Food Network fans out there!).

We enjoyed a great weekend with Pastor Miller and his family in Atwater, CA.  I spoke to the ladies on Saturday, Oct. 19, and also taught the teen girls S.S. class Sunday. 

 Caleb preached and we both sang in the services on Sunday too.

David LOVED all the Miller kids :)  

Two of the Miller girls let me do their hair Sunday :)

Caleb preaching Sunday night at Victory Baptist in Atwater.

We had Revival meetings Thurs-Fri, Oct. 24-25 at 

Old Glory Baptist Church, a new church plant in Santa Barbara.

Pastor Gobbell and his family took great care of us that week!  

David enjoyed all the love and attention the kids showed him!

One of the other church planters in the area is a good friend of Caleb's.  He came to our meetings in Santa Barbara and offered to give David his first haircut, since he's a professional barber by trade!  David sat perfectly still (watching Baby Einstein on our laptop which is a real treat for him!).

On Sunday, Oct. 27, we had great services all day Sunday at Downtown Baptist Church in Sacramento, CA!

With Courtney Hedger after Sunday night's service.  Her grandfather is the pastor of DBC and she and her family hosted us that weekend.  She is an AMAZING cook!  We feasted all weekend long!!

Then the next day, we drove to Golden State Baptist College/North Valley Baptist Church and got to see Courtney's older sister, Cassidy, who is a student there!

David - 13 months old! AND Fall Photo Shoot!

We were staying with Bro. and Mrs. Raymond in Beaumont, CA for a few days in the middle of October.  It was the middle of Fall and boy, did it look fall-ish at their house!!!  All their fall decor (inside the house and outside) got me inspired to do a fall photo shoot with our little family!  Of course, that means setting the camera on timer and *hoping* David looks in the right direction at the right time - and if you're lucky, you MAY get a smile....it's always nerve-racking, but we do it anyway!  Here are a few of my favorite shots!  Enjoy :)

For fun, let's look at our family photo from LAST October!!!

Here's our photo from this October! :)

I love David's cheesy grin!

It's so hard to get him to sit still nowadays!  He wanted to crawl off and explore not take pictures!

The ultimate "happy face"!

David turned 13 months a couple days later on Oct. 20!  Can't believe he is already

one month into his 2nd year of life already!  

Happy Birthday, David!!! ~September 20, 2013~

As I look back over this past year with our son, I am overwhelmed with gratitude at the gift God has given us and the blessing it has been to be David's parents!  So many memories flood through my mind: the exhausting sleepless nights at first, the diaper blow-outs :), the first smiles, the first giggles, rolling over, starting solids, cutting teeth, sitting up, scooting, talking, crawling...each little milestone has been so special and I look forward to all the new ones David will reach this coming year!  

He is now cutting 3 molars (with a 4th one following pretty close behind), he's cruising all over the place (walking while holding on to something) and even lets go sometimes and stands by himself!  He is a little communicator already, jibber jabbering away (complete with hand motions and facial expressions - as if he's fully communicating and we are crazy for not understanding him!).  He LOVES to give Mommy and Daddy kisses, even when they're not asked for ;)  He enjoys just as much reading alone as he does reading with Mommy or Daddy!  He'll crawl off and be real quiet for a while, which of course, will make me really nervous!  I go run to find him and most of the time, he's in a corner with a bunch of books, sitting there flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures!  It melts my heart!  We are enjoying each day and each week and each month with David, each stage he enters and the new things he learns.  As was expected, the time is flying by way too fast...but I guess that's just how life goes.  All we can do is savor and enjoy each moment - and take lots of pictures and videos! :)  If you'd like to see a slideshow of photos from David's first year of life that Caleb put together for his birthday party in Iowa, click here. 

Enjoy these photos from David's birthday "eve" as well as his birthday on September 20!  

I was SO sentimental the night before David's birthday!  

I had to get one last picture with my 11-month old!

"Good night, 11-month-old!"

"Good morning, 1-year-old!"

Yummy special birthday breakfast: pancakes with syrup!

Ready to head off on a birthday adventure!

We took David to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA!

He LOVED the fish!!!

Me and my big boy...where has the time gone?!?

David and Daddy!  He's a daddy's boy for sure! :)

Learning about scuba diving

In front of the HUGE fish tank!

We had so much fun there!  PERFECT birthday activity :)

The following are David's 12-month photos that we took outside of the Aquarium!

 "Hey, look guys!  My hand fits in here!"

David's 12-month photo with stats

We stopped at a cupcake shop on the way home

So many choices!

Lemon with Cream Cheese frosting for Caleb

Vanilla with Nutella frosting for me

Vanilla with Chocolate frosting and sprinkles for David :)

That night, after dinner, we got the cupcake and camera ready and looked at the clock...

it was 8:17pm where we were in CA (10:17pm in Iowa, 

a year exactly from the moment David entered the world!).  That was cool!

"I've had enough mom! Get this glop off my hand!"