Evelyn's Photo Shoot

Our good friend Gwen Hawkins took some nice photos of our little girl at 1 1/2 weeks.

Our Little Evelyn

It seems that I am a terrible Blogger! I just can't keep you all up to date with our little family like I wish I could. I just don't care to go online very much. It's not that I don't like to go online or that i don't like to keep a blog, I just find myself wanting to do other things instead. I like to have a clean, orderly home, I like to write in my handwritten journal (personal and family), I like to sit and read books for an hour with my son, I like to cook dinner... there are many things I would like to accomplish or do before I will get on the computer and write a blog post. This is the reason I am a terrible blogger and will probably be forever! I am not giving up though, we have family spread all over and this blog is one of the best ways to keep them all up to date with our little family.

Well, a lot has occurred since the last "catch-up" blog post, but the most important and exciting news I will share with you all is the birth of our little girl, Evelyn Deline Reynders. Evelyn was born January 27th 2012 at 4:35 am. She weighed 7lbs. 7oz. and was 20 and 3/4 inches long. She is doing great! Although she has her night and day schedule a little confused... we are all doing well. Peter is adjusting OK, he is pretty obsessed with Evelyn though. Well, we put together a short video of her arrival for those of you that would like to meet her. Enjoy! :)

Here are updated pictures of Peter and Evelyn, taken on Sunday, February 5th.

Catch-Up

It has been too long since I last posted... I have lost the charger to our camera! I was hoping to find it so I could post pictures and video from our trips this summer. We have decided that we will need to buy a new charger... Anyway, we have travled to Southern Utah the Thorley Family Reunion at the cabin, with a stop in Lancaster, CA to visit with the Blair Family. Then we took a flight into Bellingham, WA and drove across the border into Vancouver, BC Canda to visit with my sister, Vanessa, and her new little girl, Brooklyn Pearl (who is too cute for words). We had a blast exploring Vancouver and Langley, BC. We got to see the Beautiful temple that was dedicated last year in Langley. Vanessa lives less than five minutes away. We actually walked to the temple from her house! It was nice to see so much family and create memories this summer.

Peter is getting sooo big! He has learned so much and continues to learn new things each day. It is a joy to see him grow. He knows how to say mom and dad well, and a few other words not so well. He knows several signs. He will sign eat/food, milk, juice, more, all done/finished, bird, light, and he does some of the cutest gestures and facial expressions. I love it when he comes and grabs my hand to take me to something he wants. He definitey knows how to communicate his needs and wants. We sure enjoy being Peter's parents and feel privledged to have been entrusted with such a wonderful, sweet spirit and son of God.

For those of you who do not know... we are expecting our second child. We are having a little girl! Her due date is February 4th 2012. We are excited and anxiously preparing ourselves for her arrival. We know it is a big change form one child to two. We just hope we will be as prepared as possible to make this change.

Camping at Dinkey Creek

Peter loves nature. He loves to play with plants, he loves to watch birds fly, and he loves to explore. So, David and I decided to take him camping. We only stayed one night, but Peter had a blast! We drove up to Dinkey Creek, a campsite near Shaver Lake here in California. I grew up coming to Dinkey Creek Campgrounds every summer with my family, so it was easy for us to decide where we would camp. However, preparing for the trip was not so easy. There are so many things required for a family to be able to live a day without the convenience of a kitchen with a fridge, stove, oven, and microwave. But we ended up surviving. Actually we did better than survive, I think we ate pretty good :).


We arrived at the campgrounds around 11 on Friday the 15th and left at 12 on Saturday. From the moment we got there up to the minute we left, Peter had a blast! He explored everything. It is amazing how a one year old can be so easily entertained by rocks, sticks, and dirt. Peter loves water, so we took a hike over to a waterfall and let him play in the river. He had a great time. I think we may turn this into a annual family tradition :).

See the post bellow for a video of highlights from our trip.

Camping at Dinkey Creek 2011

Here is the video of our camping trip to Dinkey Creek :)

Happy Birthday Peter!

We can't believe a year has passed since we first met little Peter and welcomed him into this world. Time has sure passed quickly this last year. Peter is walking pretty good now. He is still a little wobbly, but he can get where he wants to go. Here are some pictures that our friend Gwen Hawkins took of Peter at one year. Enjoy:)

P.S. - June 9th was his birthday... we're a little late in posting this.

Graduation

All went well with the graduation. It sure felt good to walk across that stage. I was able to see and feel that my goals had been realized. After the graduation, I was stopped by a 10 o'clock Fox News camera man. He was interviewing random graduates and asked if he could interview me. I said sure. He asked what I received a degree in and what I plan to do with that degree. I told him that I graduated with a Bachelors in Child Development and told him that I plan to use my degree to help me be the best mom I can be. He then asked what I could do with a degree in Child Development. I explained the various options and stated that if there ever came a time where I needed to use my degree I would. It is a good plan B. David and I hope and have faith that I will not need to get a job, that I can stay at home and raise our children in truth and righteousness. I feel that there is no better way to improve and help society than to teach children correct principles so that they can grow and contribute to society in a good productive manner. Anyway, it sure feels great to be done. Now I can more fully focus on my dream job... being the best mom that I can be with the help of the Lord.

Here are some fun photos of the big day!