Year: 2023

Hey again,

Half way through the month and almost done with the entire year.

This year blew by us.

We wanted to make sure that we still got out and saw some Christmas lights, despite things feeling so hectic this year due to having a new baby to care for. We spent a few nights going to various places and a few with some light shows.

Included a photo of Lijah (who adores his baby brother) and loves holding him. He takes off his shirt when he can and gives it to the little man.

The last couple of photos show some home renovations! Big costs in the way of a new roof. Our roof was already on borrowed time. We ended up having some water damage near the edge of the roof (which nobody ever told us about). There was some flashing that wasn’t included from the last time (but should have been). Due to that, it made some of the base wet and rotten. You can see the leading front edge (in the photo above with the ladder) and where they removed some parts to replace the bad sections.

Anyway, we thought we were okay to hold off, but it’s good that we did it now. This roof comes with a 50-year warranty, so hopefully we won’t ever have to do this roof again.

The parents came to visit for Christmas until Luca’s birthday. They were excited because this time they were able to finally meet Ezra (photos below of the first time they held him).

Before we knew it, it was Christmas morning. Below is a photo of the kids on that morning before they opened gifts.

One thing that Luca asked for was “Back in Time” cars. Not only did my parents get him some, we got him one as well. He loved every single one so much that when he went to take a nap, he fell asleep hugging all of the cars. Ever since we went to the Back to the Future event in September all of the kids (especially Luca) have loved all things having to do with Back to the Future.

Elijah got an Ecto 1 car from Ghostbusters. Naturally, Luca wanted that car too. Alas, he can’t have everything. For dinner, we decided to go to a local place to eat instead of having to cook dinner at home and try to help remove that stress from everyone (especially the wife).

Riverhouse Bar and Grill, unfortunately, was not a place we should have gone. The food was bad, and we ended up getting more than half of our bill comped due to food quality issues.

Rounding out the year with a photo of Ara loving on her new sibling. The same day we took him in for his Circumcision. I must say, he took it like a champ. No joking about that at all.

On the 31st we went to find the Santa’s that are hidden each year around Portland every year. Later that evening we went to “Bing in the New Year” in Milwaukie and saw the first ever “Bing” drop. Since the Bing cherry originated in Milwaukie, they did something locally that everyone could go to (and it was a free event). We all enjoyed it and hope they continue to do something similar every year moving forward. Since it was a “family” friendly event they had the Cherry drop at 9 pm PST (noon EST).

So that’s it for 2023.

2024 is upon us! Now we will watch the new year come in by streaming the final minute of the year and watching the Space Needle (the event we went to last year) as it is local and better than watching a pre-recorded ball drop from New York. Don’t get me wrong, we will still watch the NYC ball drop, but for the live event, we will watch the Space Needle.

Happy New Year!

just Pray

Hey there,

Last month of 2023, and then we will be in the year 2024. Amazing.

The last day of this month is Dec 31, 2023, or 12,31,23 (123123).

We began this month with the opportunity to go see a new movie. “The Shift” by Angel Studios. While at the movies we also got to cash in on a free drink and popcorn that the theater offered the wife since it was recently her birthday. Win-win!

The movie was great, and overall what we would like for a Christian-based movie to look like in the future. Not preachy, and keeps your attention.

When we were home. Luca got hold of an iPad and decided to zoom in as close as he could and take photos of the tree. What a ding dong. That kid is crazy. He probably took 20 or more photos of that tree. He will sometimes talk to us about how he likes the tree. He won’t get too close to it because it has spiders on it though.

What else?

Luca has been loving on what he calls “my baby” or “Geeka’s baby” and part of that is holding him when he has one of us nearby or feeding him when there is milk available for him to feed.

The next day we were at the doctor again, here is a photo of all the rugrats doing their thing.

When we were at home, we noticed that Ara had gotten into some markers and decided to go around the bathroom labeling everything for us. She is proud of herself for being able to sound things out and spell them. The spelling may not be spot on, but you can understand what she is getting at.

Hmm

Not much else has been happening. I purchased an antenna and got it established recently. Now at some point, I’ll need to get a Tablo to finish everything and have DVR of any OTA shows (over the air) and free for everyone.

The boy is growing nicely. As is typical for every kid we have had, I had to get one of the little ones asleep on me. When you have some good skin-to-skin time going on, you just want to stay laying with them for as long as possible.

endquote: {[ “Newborn babies can’t do much on their own. They can’t eat or walk or talk on the phone. But every parent is sure their creation is without a doubt a tremendous sensation.” – Jennifer Davis”]}

Until next time

just Pray

Hey there

It is crazy to think that I am officially off of work until next year. I’ll be taking FMLA during the first part of next year to help out and get things settled before returning to work.

Speaking of returning, we returned to my parents and the kids. Luca (who initially was a bit hesitant when we talked about having a new baby) lit up and we captured the moment in the photo below.

It warmed our hearts to see.

Baby boy is getting bigger and likes to have stare contests. If there was a cuteness contest he would win every time.

Hmm.. what else?

My parents stayed for a day or so more to help out with the kids while I was mending to Maryia and she was swooning over the baby. During this time they were sweet caretakers and brought us dinner in our room.

So the kids have been fond of the movie “Cars” over the past month or so. I decided to take our van and make it into a Cars-type character. I think it turned out pretty well.

We are quickly approaching the end of the month. One evening we called for Arabella, but she was delayed in coming to us. When she did she had this ring on her forehead. According to her, she took a suction cup that was meant to be used on her back or legs and thought it was a good idea to see what would happen if she left it on her head for a few minutes. Well, that is a mark that won’t be going away so quickly.

Ending the month with a photo of myself with the boys.

On to December!

just Pray

The day is here! November 22.

Ezra’s birthday, Maryia’s birthday, and my dad’s birthday too.

Wait wait wait… Ezra? Our new baby.

Welcome to this crazy world, Ezra.

Below is a photo of the hospital on that morning we arrived (already decked out for Christmas) and then a quick one of the fun bunny suits I got to wear once again. Then an introduction to the little guy!

We took our time to ensure that we had a name that would suit him.

Ezra – Helper

Judah – meaning “thanksgiving” or “praise

How fitting!

We brought along his first stuffy Leo.

Before it felt like we had time to breathe, we were already being told it was time for us to make our way home. Now we get to go to countless doctors’ appointments with follow-ups for the baby. Let the fun begin.

just Pray

hey again

This year due to our odd schedule of having to work evenings and being forced to sacrifice our weekends, things have been off.

We ended up doing our pumpkin carving after Halloween. These are the designs the kids helped to design and carve.

Luca ended up falling asleep when we set them outside, so this was the best we could get from him. You can see a Spiderman, a princess who got sick, and a baby pumpkin.

We also are switching away from Xfinity. We will be trying out Ziply for a little and see if it’s any good. The speed is higher than Comcast offers, and the prices are (so far) lower.

Hmm.. the day is drawing near, seems to be doing so at a pretty good pace too.

We have decided to celebrate Thanksgiving early to allow for the time we will spend (over Thanksgiving weekend) at the hospital.

We planned it out. We even contacted the local tree farm which allowed us to come before they officially opened to get our tree.

Here are a few photos of the fun times we had:

Arabella wanted to pose for a photo next to Mt. Hood and I caught my dad tying down the tree to the car on the way home.

The next photos are of the Christmas lights up and running (before Thanksgiving this year). Our dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (we went all out to make it a little more special).

The next day, we had a semi-normal Turkey Day feast with mostly all of the fixings. Finally, on the 21st we went to get some Sushi for dinner.

The day is upon us!

just Pray