Happy 3rd Birthday, Elijah!

Tyler and Nora (his future wife!)
Auntie linz and Tyler
Tyler enjoying Elijah's birthday gift from us!
James being silly
Gracie in the bounce house
Nora and her beautiful blue eyes
Tyler and Great Grandma Preszler

Johnathan
All the Hess grandkids
Elijah blowing the candles on his cupcake cone
Lillie enjoying her cupcake cone
Alaethia smiling for the camera
Spiderman pinata!

How does time fly so quickly? It's like once you have kids the years just disappear! Elijah turned 3 years old on the 24th of August, and we had a little party for him on the 23rd. He's such a big boy now, changing so much everyday. We were blessed to have Kevin's almost ENTIRE family here for the event, which doubled as a Hess Family Reunion. So, let me list who all was staying at our house for the weekend... (keep in mind, I have ONE bathroom!!) Kelly, Janay and their 4 kids Gracie, James, Johnathan, and Lillie; Keith, Lorna and their daughter Alaethia; Dan, Karen, Danielle, Karl, Kody, and Ariana. Some how we ALL were able to make it ON TIME to church Sunday, praise the Lord! ;) We had people spread all over the house, and although it was at times stressful, all in all it was a blast-- especially so nice to see everyone together again. The only person we were missing was Danae, who sadly had to stay home to work, but who was definitely missed! Danae's boyfriend Jaron was able to get a bounce house for the party, which Elijah spent the entire day in. He still wonders where it went! Auntie Linz was also able to come down from Washington which was SOO awesome to see and hang out with her! We miss her terribly, and can't wait to make a visit up there HOPEFULLY soon!

"Praying Mantis"

This is what Elijah called his "Praying Mantis." He loved it so much, he loved it to DEATH! :)

Monterey

We were able to spend the weekend in Monterey, CA with our good friends Katie and Kevan Riley a couple weekends ago. We had so much fun going to the Aquarium, and hanging out on the warf and at their apartment. Elijah's favorite was the jelly fish, I think he could have looked at them for hours. He still talks about hanging out with Katie and Kevan, and wants to go back soon! We all do!

The Boys' Dedication

On Sunday, August 17th, Kevin and I had our two boys dedicated at our church here in Stockton. Basically, we wanted to make a public commitment in front of our friends, family, and church family that we will strive to raise our children to be Christlike, and set a good example of our Savior to them in everyway. Our prayer is that they will one day commit to serve Christ as their personal Savior, and allow Him to be in control of their lives. Elijah was never dedicated previously because we were in between churches at the time, so we decided it would be special if they were done together. We were fortunate to have many family members and friends attend the service, including my parents Thom and Charlene, Kevin's brother Kyle and his fiance Kelly, Kevin's cousin Ryan, and our good friends Mark, Steph and Nora Werdon, and Jeremy, Megan, Alyssa and Mia Edens. It was so special to us to have you all there!

Growing so quickly...

Tyler is now almost 5 months old... it is so hard to believe how time has flown by! He is in the stage now where he's laughing randomly (of course not when you pull the video camera out!). Yesterday he was laughing harder than I'd ever heard him laugh before. Elijah was throwing around a stuffed Batman toy, and cracking up when Kevin would make a sound when he landed on the floor. Everytime Elijah laughed Tyler would crack up. It was adorable. He worships Elijah, it's so cute.

First time blogger!

Well, it has taken me forever to bite the bullet and do this, but here I am! I'm excited to have this now, because I enjoy keeping up with others by reading their blogs.. now people will be able to do that with us! I feel badly when it takes me forever to send out e-mails updating everyone on what's been going on, but now I won't have to worry- and no one will be bothered by my e-mails! ;) Special thanks to Lorna-- you were my ultimate motivation for doing this!