Shaver Lake

my favorite little church

ha!! this picture makes me laugh so hard.

so let's continue with my photo dump of our vacation. because that's just the easiest.
[and bonus journal entries!]

we were able to spend a couple of days at Adam's grandparent's cabin while in California.
Adam's parents amazingly made it all work out really last minute and we were so grateful to be able to go spend some time in the pretty mountains at Shaver Lake.

the first time we went to the cabin was right after we were married.
and it was also the same California trip that we found out i was pregnant with Elijah.
so.... kind of a circle of life moment. :)

we went boating, swam, climbed on rocks, collected sticks [that was Elijah], ate our weight in gummy worms [also Elijah], enjoyed an awesome mountain storm, hung out by the fire, went shooting, kayaked {and went all the way to the dam!}, swam some more, ate more gummy worms, and basically just had an all around awesome time.

Elijah had the best time and loved just floating around on his little giraffe floatie out in the lake.
he had so much fun that he would pass out the minute he was forced to stop moving.
i call that a successful trip!

thanks for all the fun memories, Shaver!

Fun Land

right next door to the zoo is a very mini amusement park called Fun Land.
basically it's a few carnival-type rides for little kids that at first glance looks pretty rundown but is perfect entertainment size for little kids who aren't quite observant yet. :)

there was absolutely no one else there so a ride attendant just followed us around to each ride we wanted to go on. i wondered what the point even was of having to give them tickets when we already paid for them anyways but she would lead us to the ride then patiently wait for me to tear off my one ticket before Elijah got on.

but really Elijah loooooooved it!!
{despite his face in that last picture...}

he kept asking to go again and again and again, even though he was pretty nervous and scared on the bigger rides. he loved driving the cars and would tell me "go left! go right!" during the ride. and he especially loved the train tunnel and carousel.

something that i really appreciated on this family trip was being able to not feel rushed through our days and really enjoy seeing life through the wide, curious eyes of a child.
so many things that i know i take for granted or have pushed down in the dark recesses of my memories have come back to life and full fruition when i see Elijah enjoy all the small wonders around him.
simple rides like bumpy antique cars or seeing turtles & fish in a small pond can bring the biggest smile to his little face.

it is my absolute favorite part of being a parent.

that Elijah... he really just makes every experience exponentially better. 

Inspiration

Adam showed this video for Family Home Evening this last week and i thought it was a great story to show repentance, especially for children.  i know the Lord can take our sins and make us new again.  i fully believe and have hope in that promise.