Vacation Skills

Andy and I have learned that our babies always gain new skills whenever we take them on vacation.  In California this time, Macie learned...

To climb stairs.

If you look in the distance, that's Ephram at the top of the stairs.
And that would be the reason that Macie decided to go up the stairs too.
The next day she did it again, and again, and again.

She was very proud of herself.

She also learned how to make a ride-on toy go.
This fire truck was just the perfect size for her.

And she strengthened her recently acquired skills of pulling up and crawling.

She sure is a cute little girl!

CA '12: Giving Macie Drew a Name and a Blessing

Out of all of the things that we did in our whirlwind of a trip to California, nothing touched me more than a Sunday morning in church when my father, brother-in-law, and Andy's high school friend (among others) put their hands on my baby's head and gave her a name and a blessing.

Sure, I had a beautiful dress.  (Thank you Zulily.)  But I'd seen the dress before we left for California.  I'd put it on her and taken the token pictures when I saw just how beautiful she was.  I took the time to crochet some booties for her to wear, and put those on her as well.

 But there was just something special about that morning.  My sister's family had stayed for the blessing and my grandma had driven up from Vista.  I handed my baby girl to my dad and watched him walk with her to the front of the chapel.

And she was there, she was healthy, she was happy.  She cried not one peep during the blessing.  My dad said that she just stared at him all the way through.

Sometimes I think that I live with an angel.  I know for sure that she is very special.  Sure, all parents say that.  But there's something about my Macie Drew.  Something about the way she has changed me, my family and touched so many just by surviving and thriving.

And then my dad started talking.  There's something you should know about my dad, too.  He can talk.  He is gifted with words, and though he's not much of a talker, when he speaks it is usually moving.  And he spoke about her start, and her fight, and her spirit.  There was something about that moment and hearing my dad speak about what we'd been through that made it soak in, in a way that it never had before.  She is a miracle.  She is so special.  And I know that she is going to continue to touch others.  I just have a feeling that this will be her gift, to help and to impact the lives of those around her.

To be honest, I don't remember the words of the blessing.  I just remember that overwhelming feeling.  I know that she is supposed to be here.  She's my Macie Drew.

A special girl and a special day.

CA '12: Kovar Night Out

The Bowers kids wanted to do something fun with their cousins, so the entire family went out to one of those pizza/arcade places on another night.  It was a lot of fun!

We took up quite a bit of space in one of the rooms.  It was a good set-up and we were able to do a lot of visiting.  Charlie was really excited to sit with his boy cousins and without his parents.  I think it's the first time he has been allowed to sit at a "kids table."  We have some work to do on this!  Macie was asleep at first, but when she woke up Aunt Kristina and cousin Gillian were happy to entertain her.

Andy, Uncle Kris, Uncle Todd and Grandpa took all of the cousins to the arcade to play.  Kristina and I stayed behind with Macie to visit.  After awhile, Andy brought a very excited Ephram into me.  He had hit the jackpot on one of the machines.  Andy said that he was so excited when the tickets started coming out that he did a little ticket dance.  It was quite the stack of tickets.  I went back out with them so that he could show me just how it'd happened.

Then it was time for the kids to turn their tickets in and choose their prizes.  

Meanwhile, Macie had woken again and was being pretty cute.

The kids showed Grandpa everything they had chosen and we stayed awhile to watch Martin and Evan play a game.  

And then Macie was very not happy and Charlie was in overstimulated sensory meltdown, so it was time for us to say goodbye.  We are so glad that we were able to spend some time with Andy's whole family and hope that it won't be too long before we are all together again.

CA '12: The Cousins Meet

We moved into our current house six years ago.  At the time Andy's sister, Kristina, lived about 20 minutes north of us, where her husband was stationed with the navy.  Several months later, the navy moved them to Belgium with our two handsome nephews and our beautiful niece.  We were so lucky to have had several years to get to know these kids when they were young.  In many ways, it helped me to cope with the fact that I was unable to have a family of my own.

As luck would have it, Andy and I became parents just one year later when Charlie and his sister moved in with us.  Then Ephram was born, Charlie adopted, and finally Macie Drew arrived... and still we had not been able to see our "Belgium family" (as our kids came to know them.)

Fate brought all of the Kovar clan to California in October.  It was one of those moments when everything aligned.  Kristina and Todd moved back to California when he retired from the navy this summer along with Martin, Gillian and Evan - now much, much bigger than when we'd last seen them. Even Andy's brother Kris happened to be in Riverside when we arrived.

I honestly don't remember the last time the whole Kovar family was together.  I think it was Christmas 2004 or 2005.  So this reunion was a long time coming... and three people had to meet the "Belgium family".

It was a special afternoon when we finally got together.  We all went to Andy's Dad's house.  It was a beautiful day, so we spent some time outside.  Uncle Kris even took almost all of the boys for a hike in the ravine behind the house.

I will let the pictures do the talking...

CA '12: Visit with Grandma Hayman

As usual, we took a day to drive down to my Grandma's house in Vista, which is in North San Diego County.  This is one of the only areas of California that we would happily move to.  It is beautiful, the weather is amazing, and we have good memories associated with the area.

It was nice to visit with my Grandma.  It was hard to keep my two year old tornado in check, but all things considered, he and Charlie both did very well.  Ephram was really excited to spend time with my Grandma's dog, Aimee.  But I'm not sure Aimee appreciated his handling.  (Boone is very tolerant!)  Macie got to meet her Great Grandma Hayman and her Uncle Jordan for the first time.

Grandma has been a very important part of my life since as long as I can remember.  In fact, everyone likes to tell the story of how she tried to "fix" my sleeping habits as a baby.  (Ephram gets his wonderful sleeping traits from me, I'm sure.)  I treasure these little annual visits with my Grandma.

CA '12: Fun with Grandpa Boyce

My kids love my Dad.  He engages with them, they actually seem to understand his humor - or at least think it's funny if they don't, and he does fun things like let them ride on his shoulders.  He's a good Grandpa!

One morning Charlie wrote a letter in his "curly writing".  My Dad took the time to ask him about curly writing - what it is, how you do it, what his letter meant.  Charlie explained that adults write in curly.  To write in curly, you just have to put lots and lots of curls all around the letters and make it really big.  Here he is explaining it to my dad, and then showing both his curly version and the plain version he wrote to translate it for us.

Ephram does not let me do "This Little Piggy" with him.  He always pulls his feet away and yells "no!"  But if Grandpa does it, it's a whole different story!

I love this series of my Dad and Ephram.  Enough that I've thought of framing it.  I just love their expressions, the colors, and the candid nature of it all.