We just got back from a trip to Cambria and then to Fresno. We celebrated Mima & Pa's 50th Anniversary, first in Cambria with just family then we had a party in Fresno with friends and family. Cambria was pretty cold, then we got hit with the Fresno heat. I think the night of the party it was still 100 or over at 5 pm. Here are a few pictures from our time in Cambria.


Zeke down at the Tide Pools watching the Seals. Right before this picture Zeke was on his tummy on the rock putting water on his head, I guess he wanted to be like the seals.


The place we all stayed had Croquet and Shuffle Board. Zeke tried both but I only got a picture of the Croquet.


Brice, Zeke and the Elephant Seals (lower right corner). One day we drove about 10 miles up the coast to see the Elephant Seals. They are very stinky animals at the time we saw them. We saw a lot just hanging out on the beach, some trying to get in the ocean, some fighting others trying to start a fight.

Zeke ended up going GG & Papa's house last week for a last minute "Cousin Camp" and loved it! Then GG, Grandma Donna, and the kids drove up to our place to pick up Aunt Tali. We went to the Oakland Zoo for the first time and loved it. We will be making many more trips to the zoo.


Coloring with GG, Caelan and Brenna at "Cousin Camp"


At the Fresno Zoo during "Cousin Camp"


Sharing an ice cream sandwich at the Oakland Zoo

We have had a busy month so far. Right after the 4th of July Zeke and I headed to my folks house and Brice headed to camp for the week. He had a very busy week while we had a nice relaxing fun visit. While at my parents Zeke got to see Aunt Amber, Uncle JJ, GG, Papa, Grandma Donna, Papa Ray and Grammy. Then we headed down to Mima and Pa's. We were able to be with Mima on her birthday which was a lot of fun. It was so hot the whole time we were there. One day it hit 113 I think, others were 103-107 probably. So we stayed inside a lot. Poor Zeke wanted to go outside and we would say "No it is too hot outside, we are going to stay inside for now." Which meant nothing to him, he did not care that it was hot he just wanted to play outside. So we tried doing things inside the house and if we went anywhere it had air of some sort. Here are some pictures from the week.

One day we went to the Children's Museum in Oakhurst. We had never been and Zeke had a fun time being able to do and touch it all. His favorite thing was in the camping area. They had a log cabin play house which said Ranger Station, and then they had this motorhome play house. Zeke loved it! He could drive then get up and go play in the kitchen. Once he saw it we had a hard time getting to to keep moving to see what else there was.


Since it was so hot GG decided we could set up a tent in the house for Zeke to play in. He would bring books in it to read. And one day we brought his bed and put it in the tent.


Zeke likes to point at you and say "Hey You!" He does it a lot with Brice, I can't explain so the next time you see Zeke we will have to do it!


I took this picture today after Zeke got up from his nap. After being up for a while he went down the hall and found the office. When I got back there he was in the chair typing on the keyboard with one hand and doing the mouse with the other. When I asked him what he was doing he said "I'm working Mama"

Birthday Party

This weekend we had Zeke's party with family and friends. We are very blessed to have wonderful family and friends.

While singing Happy Birthday to Zeke he became very shy and put his head down.


Eating cake was very different this year. As you can see he ate it with a fork and had very little frosting on him.


Since Zeke is a big boy now we decided to go ahead and move him to a big boy bed. Daddy, Papa and Pa took the crib apart with Zeke helping and then after his bed was all set up he jumped in. Pa was in with him at first but he got out before I could get the picture.

Happy Birthday Zeke

Today was Zeke's 2nd birthday. Can you believe it, we can't! When asked how old he is he actually answers with "two." Brice taught him how to say "Happy Birthday" when it was my birthday. Now when you say Happy Birthday Zeke, he says "No" and will go on to say "Happy Birthday Daddy." We are also working on the Happy Birthday song.

Lake Pictures

This last weekend my family had a get together at my parents place. We were together to celebrate Grammy, Phil & Shirley's birthday. On Sat. my grandparents rented a party boat for the afternoon. Zeke loved watching the water, and watching the different family members that got pulled in the intertube.


Bass Lake was beautiful on Sat.


Zeke driving the boat with Uncle Phil


The three sisters


Zeke and Mama

Right now on Sunday nights we have the young adults meeting at our house. Zeke loves it, he has a lot of people to play with and they let him play with their car keys, cell phones, and sunglasses. This past Sunday night Zeke found the zebra print glasses and loved them. He also tried to wear the same girls matching shoes but he did not like those.

My Mother's Day was great. I shared at church how becoming a mother has changed my life. I was so nervous and Brice was so encouraging to me the whole time as I prepared and during the service before it was time. I cried through the whole thing but what can you do. We then had a very nice lunch with some friends. Then all three of us took a long nap.

When Zeke got up from his nap and we discovered that he had the flu. Brice was up with him in the living room and I was still napping. I guess they were both yelling my name, Zeke was even trying to say Neisha. Wed. was his fist full day that he was feeling better. Here is a picture once he was feeling better. We are so glad to have our happy, silly, crazy, boy back.



Tonight Zeke helped me make some sugar cookies. We sprinkled them with yellow and purple sugar. Go Lakers!

Busy Times

This last week we were all at Pepperdine for Lectures. We got to see a lot of family and Zeke was able to see some of his cousins. He is able to recognize and say just about all of their names which is fun.



Then Zeke and I went to GG & Papa's house. Tali and the girls, Amber & Jeremy and a lot of other family members were there. We had a get together on Sat. and saw a lot of the Foster side. Our first morning there Zeke pulled the books out as always (the boy loves to read). He wanted Papa to read him Llama Llama Red Pajama. So my dad went to sit in a chair and Zeke got on the ground and said down. Papa looked at him and sat on teh ground and Zeke still said down and put his head on the ground. He wanted Papa to be on his stomach on teh ground reading the book. GG and Papa put Zeke to work.







We then went down to see Mima & Pa. Zeke is finally saying Mima and would walk around the house looking for her. We played outside a lot with the new ball Mima got. At one time he had the new ball, a basketball and a little ball out as well as two bats. And wanted to get more out. Zeke also figured out how to climb on every piece of furniture at their house. He loved the rocking chair and Pa's chair.





Then my Grandparents brought Zeke and I home on Wednesday afternoon. They were headed up to Sacramento to fly to Texas on Thurs. Zeke had fun but was so happy to see Daddy. In fact he did not want to leave Daddy or let him out of sight.

As I get more pictures I will try to post them for you all to see.

Doctor Appointment

I was trying to post a picture from the other day but right now Blogger is not letting me do it. So you will have to check back later for pictures.

Zeke had a regular check up with the doctor yesterday. He has bad memories from doctor visits, so as soon as we walked in the room he started crying. If they said they were all done with the part of the appointment Zeke took that as they were all done with everything. So in the middle of his crying he would stop and get out "All done" and try to pull Brice to the door. He got stickers that helped, but then it was shot time. The lady was really good and did it really fast and then he got more stickers.

Here are his stats from yesterday:
Weight: 25 lbs. 2.5 oz. (23rd percentile)
Height: 2' 10" (60th percentile)
Head Circumference: 48.9 cm (64th percentile)

He continues to be a very funny boy. He tries to repeat what we say. The best was when Brice said "goodness gracious" while watching a basketball game. And Zeke was in on his lap and tried to repeat it.

Warm Days!

This week it has been warm in Antioch. It is in he 80's which is really nice.

This morning we got Zeke his little pool out and he loved it. I thought we might have to wait for the water to warm up a bit but Zeke jumped right in and started playing.


The other day I was looking for a cake recipe in my family cookbook and came across a Banana Drink that we always loved. This afternoon I thought I would made it for Zeke.
The result:

Our Silly Boy

Zeke is turning out to be pretty silly these days. Here are a few pictures and stories for you to enjoy!




The two above pictures were one morning this week at breakfast. Zeke has become a big breakfast eater and loves his cereal. Between one of his bowls he decided to put the bowl on his head and would just laugh. The next picture is during his third "Zeke" size helping. I guess was tired of using the spoon.


Zeke already understands what to do with a mic and a songbook. He walks around the house with this mini mic and the Wee Sing songbook singing "Da da da Doe!" He gets louder as the phrase goes on. It is pretty funny to watch and listen to.

Easter Pictures

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Zeke was able to hunt for eggs a couple of times. Once was with the preschool here at church. They have a picnic and hunt at the park right up the street. And another was a picnic and hunt with the church at another park. It was a lot of fun to watch him. He was one of the youngest at them, so by the time he saw eggs an older kid had already picked it up. So we ended up just putting a lot in front of him for him to pick up. (Picture of that will be up later. Blogger is not letting the pictures load so I will post again with other fun pictures.)

Buzz

Zeke got a haircut today. Here is a before and after picture. It was pretty funny when Brice was cutting it. Zeke had this frown, I guess he was practicing the look that goes with the cut. I think he looks pretty cute!

Bubbles

Today since the weather was so nice Zeke and I went for a walk, then played in the yard with bubbles. Zeke loves bubbles and loves to say bubbles. We have a big bottle of bubbles and a mini one for Zeke. Today in the yard he wanted his bottle. So he played with the wand for a bit, but then wanted the bottle. So I emptied it into the big one and gave it to him. He ran around the yard trying to blow bubbles. It was very cute and a lot of fun watching him try to figure it all out.

Zeke meets Tortilla

We have just discovered that Costco sells uncooked flour tortillas. We bought them the last time we were there and we love them. Zeke would just have bites from whatever we were having them with. Today after his nap we were snacking on one and he wanting his own. Here he is eating it on his own sofa! he loved it and ate all but 1/4 probably.

These are pictures of Zeke on his motorcycle rocking horse. He can finally get on by himself and rock it. And he loves it! Zeke continues to do new things each day. It has been so much fun. We are also starting to understand some of the words he has been saying for a while and they are just now making sense to us.

We have been having so much fun with Zeke recently. He is now talking so much and we can understand a lot of what comes out of his mouth. While I was up with my parents the last time he was playing with a dog while we were shopping. I had given it to him to keep him entertained while we walked around. One time when he dropped it we did not get it to him right away and he said, "I want dog!" My mom and I looked at each other and gave him the dog back. Since then he has told Brice, "I want eat!" after we got back from the grocery store. brice said, "You want to eat?" Zeke looked at him and said, "Yes!"

Here are a few pictures from the last week. Hope you enjoy!


Helping Daddy build the fire. Zeke loves to do the paper and hand it to us. When Brice is at work Zeke stands by the fireplace saying his word for fire and wanting to do the paper. It is very cute to see!


Zeke finally wore his cowboy shirt from Pa. He was looking pretty nice in it.


Yesterday Zeke decided not to take his nap. When I went in to get him I found him with one arm out of his shirt just walking around in his crib playing. I said to him, "I am going to go get the camera ok?" He looked at me and said, "Bye Bye!"

Fun Pictures

Helping GG and Mommy break the boxes down after they emptied them.


Trying on some of my cowboy outfit that I got from Pa before I was born. It is still a little big, but it won't be long until I can wear it all!


This last weekend we went to Tahoe with the Santa Rosa teens. Brice was speaking at their snow trip. There was a lot of snow and it snowed for most of Sat. morning. Some of the teens made a couple of snowmen up on the deck so that Zeke could look at them. Here we are out on the deck of the house we get on Sat. afternoon.

Christmas 2007

We did get a little dusting of snow while we were in the mountains. GG took Zeke and Caelan out to play in it, after a while she pulled them both around in the wagon. Then when the snow was gone GG pulled Zeke in the wagon and Papa pushed Caelan on the bike.


Zeke was so happy when he was given the Wii remote. It was not hooked up but he did not care.


This lasted for a little while one night. But the kids did not want to stay still because they might fall asleep.


Papa & GG decided to get a small real tree for the grandkids to decorate. They loved it!


Then at the end of the time together they would go plant it together and take a picture of the kids by it. We did it really fast after church Sun. and right before Cliff, Tali and the girls took off. Right after this picture Brenna rolled down the hill, but it did not bother her one bit.