Little Ballerina

Today Faith participated in her first ballet class. This was something that she had been looking forward to for quite some time, so needless to say, she was beyond excited! And she loved the class, so that was great. As Shane and I watched in the back of the room, I immediately began to wonder if Faith has too much energy for the beautiful dance of ballet. Maybe it was the first week excitement, maybe it was just her love to dance, but she was extremely energetic. Of course the other moms thought it was cute that she had such enthusiasm. I was more worried that the teacher was not appreciating it! Regardless, Faith had a blast and can't wait to go again next week! Here are some additional pictures. They are not the greatest quality as the camera battery was running low, the lighting was poor, and the subject was anything but still!

Looking the part!

Faith did the best when all the girls were up and moving. The waiting your turn thing, watching others leap across the room, was more challenging!

Enjoying herself

An action shot! And this is actually exactly what she is supposed to be doing - jumping off two fee! Way to go!

Jana Alayra

This morning I had the wonderful opportunity to hear Jana Alayra speak and sing. She has an incredible testimony! Despite crushing circumstances, she was able to feel the love of God and use the trials in her life to bring honor and glory to him. If you ever have the opportunity to see her, I highly recommend going! She lives in Irvine, CA, but travels the country sharing her story. One of the other parts of her ministry is singing for kids. At the end of our morning, the kids were brought in to do a song with Jana. Faith was so excited to do this, and she enjoyed every moment on stage! Here are a few pictures!

Faith and friends with Jana!

Doing the motions

Loving every minute of it!!

Beach Walks

One of the things that we enjoy about living in Ventura is the chance to take walks by the beach. After a few years of taking the same route when walking at the beach, we found a new place to take our walks this past fall! It quickly became a favorite place to go, for both us and the kids! Not only is the path even closer to the ocean, but it is less traveled, which enables Faith to ride her big wheel! Since it is something that we frequent, I thought I'd share some of the pictures from one of our recent walks.

Faith looking at the big surf as she rides

Shane's favorite way to take a walk!

Faith discovered the joy of riding through puddles! (it had rained the night before)

At some point towards the end of the 2.5 mile walk, Faith needs a little boost - thus the need for the big stick I am using to give her a push!

Christmas Recap!

I think we have finally recovered from all of our celebrating from Christmas and New Years! We had quite a bit of fun, and it has taken almost a week now to recover (or just get caught back up on life and back into the swing of things!!). We are thankful for wonderful family to celebrate the birth of our Lord with, and we will cherish the memories we made this past Christmas season!

Shane on Christmas Day - full of excitement!

Faith loved the bells she received!

Look at that cool guy!

We capped off a busy and fun Christmas day with dessert at Renee and Joe's house! Faith always loves the entertaining games that Aunt Renee has for her!

On the 27th we left for Grand Rapids to celebrate the holidays with my family! Our first major event (after getting patted down at the airport and the plane ride) was a Christmas party with the Swagmans. Faith had such a great time with them, especially Great-Grandma!

Sharing some ice cream!

We visited the Frederick Meijer Gardens. They had tree decorated to depict Christmas around the world. Faith is standing in front of the tree from the Netherlands.

We arrived to a winter wonderland! Faith could hardly wait to go outside and "make tracks in the snow!" She LOVED the snow!!

We also were able to celebrate Christmas with the Bruinsma side of the family. One of the highlights at Uncle Gord and Aunt Cathy's house is the drum set! Both kids spent quite a bit of time on the drums, and we know they would love a set of their own! They'll have to keep dreaming!!

Steve taking Faith for a ride in a sled.

Again, we had a wonderful Christmas season and feel so blessed! As we begin 2010, we look forward to what the year ahead has in store, and look forward to making many more memories as a family!

Gingerbreak Cookies

One of the Christmas traditions that I started with Faith last year was baking and decorating gingerbread cookies. And since Faith remembers everything, she has been asking for a few weeks about when we would make gingerbread cookies again! So, today was the day! She loved helping me with the cookies, and showed great improvement in the decorating realm (although that really isn't say too much). Her favorite part remains eating her creations!

Getting cookies out of the oven!

We occupied Shane with his lunch - some yogurt, which he fed to himself. It was pretty messy, but he sure had a great time!

"I think it's time to eat one!"

working wonders with frosting

So, any 'real' cookie decorators out there don't have to worry about us putting them out of business! But we had fun, which was our goal!

Christmas Train

All Aboard! Since the kids love to see trains, we thought it would be fun to take them on a Christmas train featuring Santa, a chance to cut down a Christmas tree, and scenic views! They had a great time, other than the visit from Santa as both kids were frightened by him!

Faith and Shane enjoyed the ride...Shane was pointing out some horses that he spotted!


The excitement as Santa arrives...

Still pretty curious...

but did not want a cute Kodak moment with Santa!

A view from the train

Once we arrived at the Christmas tree farm, Faith needed to ride a pony!

In front of a Christmas tree

A family shot in front of the train

We decided to sit in the open car for the ride back, which the kids seemed to enjoy even more since it was such a beautiful day!

Christmas Program

This morning at school Faith was able to participate in the Christmas Chapel. Faith, along with her classmates, sang two songs in the program. I could hear her sing loud and clear, even though I was sitting in the back (Shane was with me!). She did very well, and was so excited that Shane and I could be there to watch. Here are a few pictures...

This was at the end

During the performance

I'm sure this is the first of many school performances that we will have the opportunity to enjoy!

Fire Department Christmas Party

This afternoon was the annual Culver City Fire Department Christmas Party. It is an event that our family (particularly Faith) has come to look forward to every Christmas! And once again, the kids had a blast! We had an afternoon of coloring, cookie decoration, bouncing in the bounce house, and of course a visit from Santa who arrived on the fire engine! Here are some pictures from our afternoon...

Faith spent most of her time at the art table

Shane wanted to bounce the entire time!

Steve had fun helping Shane bounce

Faith receiving her gift from Santa. She also was given a candy cane, and when she did she said, "Look! It's a J!"

Shane actually sat on Santa's lap to receive his gift...maybe that will help Faith do so next year!

Getting her face painted

As you can see, a fun time was had by all! The kids were talking about their favorite things about the party the entire way home! Well, faith was talking, and Shane just threw in a few "Santa" mentions here and there!

Knott's Berry Farm

This past Thursday we went to Knott's Berry Farm! It was the first time the kids had been there, and they both loved it. Knott's has a cute kids area, which was where we spent a significant amount of time. We also could all go on some rides, and that was the most fun! Riding on the Log Ride was a highlight for us all. Faith claims that it was her favorite ride! And poor Shane probably got the most wet! Another highlight was riding on a stage coach that was pulled by horses. Animal loving Shane loved to see the horses up close! Here are some pictures from our very fun day...

Faith on a race car

Shane loved the Merry-go-Round! Steve had Shane ride on a pig as Shane is even more into pigs than horses right now!

Faith was excited because she could ride on this ride all by herself!

She loved it!!

Steve and Shane on a balloon ride