A day on the beach....

Spring break in Springfield usually isn't very eventful due to weather.  It's hard to believe that just last year I was coming home from the hospital with little Jolie.  This year, we were forced indoors due to the rain.  However, we did catch a break.  On Wednesday, we went to Florence for the day with the Michel family.  It was surprisingly not windy or rainy, which is a big surprise for this time of year on the Oregon coast.  We went straight to the beach and spent a good two hours digging in the sand, running around barefoot, flying kites, jumping & rolling off and down sand dunes.  Good memories.

It's hard to believe that our family is to the point of actually doing "fun" family trips.  I remember when Jamon was little I used to wish he was older so we could go to the park, go for bike ride, play in the sand, do fun family activities.  I feel like I blinked my eyes and suddenly we are that family.  Fast forward a few years and now we are a family of five.  It was so enjoyable to watch Jamon and Brady play with shovels and buckets, make a sandcastle, take turns with the kites.  Josie and Ellice loved the kite and burying each other's feet in the sand.  Jolie enjoyed being in the safety of the Ergo carrier.  Near the end I let her sit in the sand and of course what do all babies do their first time in the sand?  She tried eating it. It was a great day at the beach.

That is one good looking sandcastle. 

We are celebrating 7 years of marriage this July and Ryan & Victoria just celebrated 6! 

I'm not sure who had more fun on the dunes?  Maybe Victoria?  Maybe Jeremiah?  The kids loved it too!

Jamon & Brady have been friends since they first met in the hospital-they are 11 days apart! 

It really wasn't warm outside.  I turned my head for a minute and saw Josie was wearing her undies. 

The kids had so much fun!  And the parents enjoyed watching them every minute.

Korean Dol Party

It's a Korean tradition to have a huge celebration when a baby turns one.  In the past, infant mortality rates were very high so if a baby could make it past the first year then they would hopefully continue to have long life.  For Jamon & Josie I didn't know very much about the Dol party-and looking back I wish I would have done my research.  Jolie wore a habok, which we borrowed from Kiana Roper, and its a beautiful dress in bright pink, green, yellow, blue and red.  It's beautiful.  A big part of the Dol party is the doljabi game.  We placed four traditional items on a tray and let Jolie choose.  The tradition is whichever item the child choose & picks up first is their life path.  We chose yarn (symbolizes long life), dollar bill (wealth), paintbrush (artist/the arts), and a book (scholar).  I made a little board that read:  What Will Jolie Choose? We had people raise their hands to guess which one they thought she'd pick up first.  The book and the dollar bill were tied with four votes each.  Guess which one she chose?

Jolie chose $ or as Jamon and Josie said:  "Jolie chose George Washington!" Uncle Josh claims he knew it all along....

Great Grandma Jo hand sews each grandchild & great-grandchild a Raggedy Ann or Raggedy Andy doll.  They are hand embroidered with the child's name and an "I love you."  An heirloom gift.

Jolie turns 1!

*More pictures to come......

  

Jolie turned 1 on March 19th and it was bittersweet.  It was fun because I decided to do a traditional Korean Dol party.  She wore a beautiful habok from Kiana Roper, and we even had her do a doljabi game.  The sad part for me was to reflect on how fast time goes.  

The following week was Spring Break and I took her in to Tom's for a little photo shoot.  This is a little fairy dress that Josie also wore at her 1 yr photo shoot.  I thought I would devote this post to capture Jolie at this fun age. At age 1, Jolie says:  "mama, dada, der (there), baby, hi and bye."  She signs:  thank you, more, all done, dog and the occasional please.  She is not walking at 12 1/2 months-she still prefers to be carried.  And I have to admit that I still love it.  She loves waving hello & goodbye , blowing kisses and giving high fives.  Jolie sleeps from 8pm-7:30am at night and takes almost a 3 hr nap in the afternoon with her brother & sister.  I dropped her morning nap before the others did so that all 3 would be down at the same time. 

Jolie your personality is sweet and generally easy-going, except we have seen a more feisty side the past few weeks.  I love the way you pat your baby dolls and how you bobble side to side when you hear a song you like.  It melts my heart when you fold your hands to pray.  We also love how you like to play in your crib.  When I walk in you are standing along the side & then I come to get you and you fall down & pull a blanket over your head and giggle.  Sometimes I com in and peek on you and Josie when you are sleeping.  It's very calming.  I love to see you snuggled up on your tummy with your legs tucked underneath and your little bottom sticking up.  When I need a smile I just tickle you and listen to you laugh.  One of my prayers for you is that you will know just how beautiful you are because you are fearfully & wonderfully made by God himself!  I love you....  

I normally don't like pictures of me but I love this picture of us.  Although I think it's about time to use the anti-wrinkle cream.

I love this profile picture.