I love Yosemite. It's truly a magical place and leaves you in awe.

Here we are on a bridge over the Merced river infront of Yosemite Falls. 

Isa didn't seem that impressed with the waterfall.  She was more interested in throwing rocks in the river.

Here we are at Mirror Lake at the base of Half Dome.  Its only a mile hike, but with Isa picking up every stick and pine cone it took us a long time getting there.

Summer Is Here! Boogie Boarding with Naomi

Summer is here! And when your with your cousins its always more magical

 

Isa and her cousin Naomi loved being pulled around by Mike on the boogie board

Isa bailed a couple of times and was completely under the water one time and didn't even cry.

  She is a tough cookie.  She is not even phased by the cold water.

2013 Easter Week End

If the video above isn't working try this one.

2013 Easter in Santa Cruz was a success. We had some friends I knew from BYU (Ajay and Angie) come down from San Francisco.  It was so fun watching their daughter, June push Isa in the doll stroller crashing into everything.

 We started Friday with a B-Day Bowling Fest to celebrate me turning the big Three-Five. Despite me barely breaking 100 both games it was so fun to act like a little kid with all your friends.

On Saturday the weather was a little wet, but by the time the Easter Egg Hunt started at the Kasper's it was clearing up.  Later that day we went down to Wilder State Beach for a little beach football and a classic game of running away from the waves as we pretend the ocean is hot lava.

Easter Sunday was so fun watching Isa following the trail of eggs that the Easter Bunny left, guiding her to her Easter basket.

 

Isa and Laila are growing up so fast. Laila is a 2 month-old sweet potato always smiling and giggling. She is sleeping well and eating great. Isa is little firecracker.  She's non-stop always wanting to go to the beach, go on walks to the church, or go on bike rides.

Introducing Laila Jane McLeod

Its been a month now since Laila was born and I have been trying to tell the birth story, but finding time to write with two kids under a year and half is difficult.  Thank goodness that we have had the wonder help of Silvia's mother.  She has been a God sent.

Laila Jane McLeod was born at 10:52 p.m. on Monday January 21st which was Martin Luther King Day this year.  She weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz.

Laila is pronounced with the "ai" as a long "i" sound.  I was spelling it Lila, but Silvia said that in Brazil they spell it Laila.

Laila mean "Born at Night," "Dark-haired Beauty" or "Divine Creation." in German it also means a shade of purple.

 Jane is a family name.  She was my favorite aunt who passed away when I was in eighth grade.  She was so kind, beautiful and full of life.   She always made me feel like I was important.  The Hebrew meaning of Jane is "God is Gracious."

2012 Halloween Trick or Treating with Isa

 Halloween was so fun.  Isa was Tinker Bell, I was Peter Pan, and Silvia was Tiger Lily.

 We started off down town with our good friends the O'Donovans and Teeples.  Santa Cruz closes down Pac Ave. and all the businesses hand out candy.

We finished the Night off at the Baker's going house to house in their neighborhood and ending at their house with some hot chocolate and pumpkin cake.  As you can tell from the video Isa figured it out super fast and loved going up to strangers and taking candy from them.  So much fun. I love Halloween. 

Isa 13 months old at Wilder Ranch

 I feel so bad. I took Isa to Wilder Ranch to look at the horse and I noticed that she was kind of warm to the touch.  She always is on the warmer side, but this was a little more than normal.

 When we came home I took her temperature and it was 101.8.  Despite running a fever she was so cute and fun at Wilder.

 I love that my work is so flexible and allows me to spend most of my Tuesdays and Thursdays hanging out with Isa.

 She is growing so fast.  She is starting to say "Da Da" now and can do the sign for milk and poo poo.
She is getting better and better at walking to the point where she is almost running. 

 She loves books right now.  Her favorites are Peek-A-Boo Christmas, The Cuddlers, and Pete the cat.  I have to say Pete the Cat books are pretty awesome.

 We are trying to speak Portuguese to Isa as much as we can, but English is all around her so I don't know which language she understands more.

 It will be nice when Silvia's Mom comes and stays with us in January.  That will help Isa's Portuguese

Isa her friend Levi hanging on West Cliff

While Silvia was getting her CrossFit on this morning, I took Isa and her friend Levi down to West Cliff to hang out by the ocean.

This is my favorite time of year (late September and October).  The weather is cool and crisp in the early mornings and then warms up by the late morning.  All the tourists and fog are gone and what's left is just sunshine and perfect combo swells.

Happy Birthday Isa! Isa turns the Big #1

I can't believe how fast the time goes.  Isa just turned 1.  Here is a video of the past 365 days.

She is going through our recycling bin right now as I ignore her.  She is taking everything out and throwing it on the floor.  Oh well, It gives me some time to write.  Isa is now walking around pretty good.  She can say "Mama" "Doggie" and "Wow."  She knows how to sign "more" and "doggie."  Its amazing how she learns new things everyday.  Like Yesterday she learned how to go on and off her little horse without falling and today she was able to climb up on the couch.  Writing about it make it seem insignificant and lame, but seeing them do it is thrilling and joyful.  It's weird.

We had a wonderful Beach Day Birthday Party for Isa at Capitola.  We just relaxed and hung out with family and friends.  Isa loves to play in the sand and splash in the water.  She went boogie boarding with me for the first time. It was so much fun.

 We love this little girl so much.

7mo. and back from Brazil

I'm a 7 months old now and a world traveler.  I just got back from Brazil and let me just say it was hot there.  I'm not use to that heat.  I was a sweaty mess. I ended up taking two baths a day.  I brought all these cute outfits to wear and I ended up mainly in my diapers all day.  I was so stoked to see my Grandma Maria and my Auntie Jackie.  I haven't seen them since I was 10 days old.

I

I just wish my Daddy could have come with us, but as least I got to skype with him everyday. When I came home I showed him my two bottom teeth that came in and my new crawling skills.

The first weekend there we had a big churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) where all my mommy's friends came over.  They were all trying to make me laugh, but I may have been a little cruzty from new teeth coming in.  I loved listening to their laughter of past memories fill the hot air as the sizzling Picahna and Linguesse were passed around.

Here I am with Auntie Jackie and Grandma Maria at a restaurant called "Baiao de dois". They serve traditional food from the state of Bahia and boy it smelled good.

So here I'm sitting by this older boy named Paulinho. Let's just say we hit it off and leave it at that.

Me and Grandma playing with Barney

Here I'm with Bellinha and Lulu chillin.  They sang for me and danced for me.  They are quite the performers

It seems like every day there we were at another house having good food and good company.  Here we are at the Sancho's house.

Here I'm playing with Jasmine my 2nd cousin

It was amazing to be in Brazil it was an awesome experience that I wish I wouldn't forget, but I know I will because I am only 7 months. Tchau Brazil I will be back someday!

2012 Easter In Santa Cruz

This Easter everyone was all over the country from Alabama to Hawaii and from Arizona to Whistler.  We spent Easter in Santa Cruz with the Eyres.

It was a mild Easter with only a few of the cousins together, but none the less it was still fun.

The Easter Bunny hid their baskets and they had to search the house for them and he left Easter eggs throughout the downstairs for them to find.

Ethan, McKay, and Namoi were all fighting over who got to hold Baby Isa in the picture.  So we had to rotate her around.  I wish everyone would fight over me like that.