Planes, Trains and Automobiles

We were so excited to get family pictures taken with the extended family at a studio and of just the three of us outdoors with Lisa's friend, Jamie Neilson. Jamie had us meet in Georgetown, a district a little south of downtown Seattle. We had so much fun... Lisa and Jamie started working at a photography studio 10 years together! The Georgetown area had plans constantly flying overhead and we were right next to a train track... Kaden loved the planes and trains!

It's fun to be figuring out what Kaden is interested in... and at this moment it is anything with wheels, especially trains. We went to Country Village... a little old town plaza type thing near Lisa's parent's house. Many memories were made at Country Village... holiday concerts, field trips, cute little shops and the coolest bead shop. We thought it would be fun to get out of the house a little today and head over to Country Village... we fed the ducks and roosters... we played in the toy store...we walked around and explored the village. Then we saw a sign for a train ride... so, we forked out a few bucks and went on an 8 minute ride around the village. It was so much fun to see how excited Kaden was... but when we pulled back into the little train station and the conductor turned off the engine... Kaden immediately started to cry! Granted to say we had to go straight home. The biggest alligator tears were streaming from Kaden's eyes.

It was sooo sad... but we knew he could stay on the train all day!!! Here's a little video of Kaden riding the train.

Merry Christmas!!!

Wow..this year seemed to just fly by... check out how small kaden was last year in this post...as I sit here at 3am (yes, it's late... can't sleep) feelings of thankfulness and love overwhelm me. I can't really explain the joy that I have in my heart. Yes, not everything is a field of daisies in our lives... finances could be better, a job for Joel would be awesome, but sitting back... we have nothing to complain about. We have so many loving friends and family around us. We have a wonderful job for lisa, that is more than a job, it is full of people who love and care for us and our lives in such a deeper way than any employment office should. They pray for us regularly and genuinely. A new community with a church plant who is learning to care deeply for each other in ways that are humbling. A family that loves the three of us in ways we can never express...

This Christmas has been filled with anticipation! I was so excited for the season to start.... Kaden is at such a wonderful age that everything is exciting and new! We awed over lights, music, shimmering ornaments. He danced for joy at all the baking and cooking.

Opening gifts was so much fun... he wanted to play with each thing as we opened them. He didn't realize that there was 50 other gifts under the tree with his name on it with potentially cooler things. :) Joel and I have been buying little things for kaden the last few months and considered those his christmas gifts... but mistake #1: going to target the day before christmas. There were crazy deals!!! So, we got Kaden on thing. And then I saw something else he would c

ompletely love... and I justified it by saying I was going to save it for his birthday present. (Which is 104 days away)... what did I do??? I wrapped both of them! We love giving Kaden good gifts! Seeing the joy in his eyes... it's priceless. We know it's not all about gifts... and I think Kaden would be so content with just the one gift... at this age he wouldn't question "where's my other gifts?" "What about this or that that I wanted????" I think that's the coolest part we just want to give because it brings him joy. Pure joy!

How cool is it to think that's how Christ is??? He loves us sooooo deeply that he wants to bring us pure joy? He wants us to experience HIS gifts... the ones that He knows we need? I think as we get older we start to desire things... may not be even good gifts... but God knows so much better... he knows the things we really need and even want. As I lay here watching my baby sleeping he totally trusts in his parents and knows we have the best in mind for him. And I pray this year that I can peacefully rest in my Savior and know that he has the best things in mind for me. I want to live in the daily joy that Christ has for me. And I want to be able to share that joy to those around me... especially my son... that he may grow up in this beautiful joy that God has for him... that he desires God's gifts. And that we will all continue to live in an anticipation and excitement for the things of God!!! Merry Christmas!!! We are very blessed.

WHY???

There's been a lot of craziness going on in our little world lately... some awesome craziness, and some sad craziness. I (Lisa) have been trying to process the abundance of emotions in our family lately. And thought...where better to process than on our blog! :)

With all the holiday goodness there is a lot of sadness... we got THE call yesterday evening that a couple that went to our life group lost their baby. Their baby boy was born early with many complications, he had to undergo many surgeries and then he was also diagnosed with Downs Syndrome. Through it all the emails updates from the family were heart-renching... yet the hope and faith of the couple through it all was amazing to me. The baby passed away yesterday after a month of life... and all I could think of was WHY?

Another friend of ours is pregnant with their second child...They are experiencing some complications in their pregnancy and still have a few months before the baby is due... it is all unknown... they have a faith in our maker... and I sit back and ask WHY?

Friends that have had miscarriages after miscarriages... the desire to just have a baby... to start a family... and I question God... WHY???

Several other of our friends are pregnant and are experiencing great pregnancies and healthy born babies... and my mind wanders and wonders WHY?

WHY??? Why do I get upset or frustrated at my child... when I should be thankful... thankful that he is alive, healthy, happy...is such a joy! God, why do people who don't want kids or who don't take care of their kids having kids.... yet these people who love God and love children can't have any babies???

Why is such a crazy question... do I need to really know why? I know deep within my soul that Jesus loves us so much that we won't ever understand why he does! I surely don't deserve it... I know he makes himself more evident in times of crisis and pain... and all we can do is cling to the Hope that Jesus brings! I will never understand death.... especially death of a child... a baby... it doesn't make me doubt God or his love... it helps me to see that life is truly short... that every day is a gift whether you are a day old, a month old or 100 years old... and it's a choice to celebrate life, or to complain about it. I am choosing to celebrate it!

Silly Goose!

When the Monday blues come what makes it all better? A SILLY kid!!! Yep... I wasn't feeling so hot today... it was a busy weekend with not a lot of down time or even time to play with Kaden. He was a little thrown off because we were at church three days in a row. We had a leadership training weekend, which was so good, but so tiring. And no nap kiddo made for an interesting rest of the weekend... but today Kaden got a three hour nap in and so when I got home from work he was a silly happy kiddo! He was helping wash dishes when I came in... and we played and sang and danced. He ate really well and overall was a happy baby. He even went down for bed really easy. Overall Kaden is a great kid, no complaints... but when he's extra good and extra silly... it makes for a fun evening. He's growing so fast, with new words forming every day... his new love is PUMPKIN PIE!!! He devoured a sliver of pie I gave him tonight. I can't wait for the family to come down and see Kaden in his element... they haven't been down for a little while. Happy Thanksgiving blogging world!

Future Worship Leader

Kaden has always loved worship and music. Even in the womb he was dancing during worship! And now we make sure he's part of the singing worship at church. We pick him up from the nursery early and he's quite the charismatic one! Anyways... Joel got a little video of him rocking out on his guitar! It's pretty cute when he starts to stomp his feet and do the little head bopping thing!!! We love that he enjoys music and that he especially loves worship music.

Dance Party with K-Man

Kaden has always loved music... it quiets him down when it needs to and pumps him up when he needs it. He dances, sings, claps, worships. He will hear a part of the song and know what it is and starts doing hand motions to it... it's very awesome! We especially love when he's worshiping, he raises his hands, claps and says "Jesus". It's pretty much crazy. Anyways... tonight we had a dance party. He has beat and rhythm... if you watch carefully you will see him actually stop to listen for the beat and get back on it. He has different dance styles too. He brings so much joy to our lives with his all of his dance parties! Hopefully this video brings you a little joy to your day!

ALOHA!

Ever since we got back from Hawaii in August we have truly missed the people, the culture, the beaches... so, as we were eating in a Hawaiian restaurant with a friend, the waitress mentioned we could get Malasadas (yummmy donut type dessert) at the Hawaiian Holiday Bazaar in Vancouver. We quickly went home and looked it up and decided we needed to go. So, today in the midst of the down pour we got on our Aloha shirts and slippas and trekked to Vancouver... we ate some tastes of the island and watched some fun hula. The little kids were so cute doing the hula. We now miss the island culture... and trying to get the Tran family to Hawaii for the holidays! :)

Seattle Weekend

We went to Seattle last weekend because Joel was asked to candidate for an associate pastor position. So, as Joel was leading Bible studies, helping with the Harvest Party and preaching on Sunday... Lisa and Kaden mainly hung out with the family. We sure miss all of our friends and family up there. We aren't sure about the position but it was a great experience to walk through as a family. Please continue to pray for us as we seek where God wants us to serve.

H-A-double L-O-W-double E-N

There were several festivities we were a part of this year for Halloween. The week before our church, Mosaic, had a Halloween party with lots of games, treats, and cute little kiddos running around. Then we spend the actual Halloween weekend up in Seattle. We did the first trick or treating around Auntie April's neighborhood, then went to Lisa's parents church for a harvest party and then ended the night at Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood for some additional trick or treating... we really only visited the three neighboring houses to say hi to the neighbors that Lisa grew up with.

Kaden was a little freaked out with the scary ghosts and goblins, the flashing lights, and witch cackling. Every other house was a good house with nice pumpkins and the others were met with a crying toddler. Kaden did have a good time seeing other kids running around and he likes candy...oops! He spent the first part of the night with a new friend, Hadriel and ended the night with his buddy, Kaleb! Overall fun weekend...

Pumpkin Carving

The time has finally come to carve our pumpkins... we went pumpkin hunting a few weeks ago but didn't want to carve them too soon thinking they may rot. Sunday was the day! We had coffee and tea going...garbage bags down... knives out... and away we went! Auntie Amanda by far was the most creative and fast! She carved five in the time Joel or Lisa finished one. It was a blast! Then Lisa made salty and savory pumpkin seeds!!! They are quite addicting! Kaden was a little weirded out by the mess we made... hahaha!!! We have a little neat freak on our hands!!! Autumn is just begun and it is beautiful!!!

Kaden Sleeping while Eating

Kaden has been doing a pretty good job of sleeping at night... nap time is another issue. Today Kaden went to a daycare for the first time. A bunch of Kaden's cousins have been going to this daycare for the last few years and the lady who runs it loves Jesus and takes time to pray with the kids and teach them about God. At the daycare he missed his nap...

We sat down for dinner and towards the end of it we all looked over and here's Kaden with a wonton hanging out of his mouth falling asleep. He has only ever fallen asleep while doing anything (eating, playing, etc) one other time ever, and that was at 7 months.

Here is the video of tonight and for fun we added the one of him at 7 months!

PUMPKINS!!!

It's officially autumn here in Portland. There was no easing into this season. It went from 90 degree days to 60 degree days overnight. The leaves are changing colors... the beautiful part of it all is that the sun is still out. (A little deceiving... we leave with flip flops on and have to get back into the house and throw shoes and a jacket on).

Anyways... we thought it would be fun to have a family outing to the Pumpkin Patch! (We and every other family in the Portland metro area thought THIS was the perfect weekend). :)

So we searched high and low for the beauties... there were soo many pumpkins to choose from... we were throwing our hands up in the air trying to make the decisions...

got to ride the hay ride to the field and back... and bought yummy apple cider and some corn on the cob from the store...

It was the perfect day for pumpkin hunting...can't wait to carve them!

Sleeping in his own room

Everyone has different sleep habits with their children and different things work for different people. We have been very fortunate from day one that Kaden has been a great baby.

We had him in our room in a co-sleeper attached to the side of our bed for the first two months and then he moved into the top of a pack in play and then eventually into a crib. But by the morning shift he would always end up in bed with us. (not because he was fussy or anything, it was a lazy, want to cuddle with him sort of deal).

We would feed him when he stirred and started to cry... and he started to ween himself, sort of. He would go from eating every three hours to four or five hour stretches. Even times of six or seven. But then something would happen... teething, sickness, etc and would revert back to every three...or four hours of eating. We tried giving him sippy cups of milk, bottle of water... and he would continue to stir until he got a bottle of milk. He never full on whaled for anything, but just enough whining and stirring to keep us (well...more Lisa than Joel) awake. Since, Lisa was the one working... it was much easier to just make the bottle and have him in bed with us.

He's getting so darn big that he takes over the bed and kicks us to the edges. So...in order to get a full night sleep now... we had to come up with a new game plan. Therefore: Kaden's crib got moved to his room and all his toys are in his room to make it really his room and not a guest room anymore. (Sorry for all you friends that have had the comfort of staying in there).

Friday night was the night so we would have the weekend to recover. We gave Kaden a bath, brushed his teeth, read a bunch of stories in his new Bible and listened to some Cold Play lullaby music. Put him in his crib with his bottle. After he finished his bottle he cried. We went in after 5 minutes, consoled him. Put him back down. He cried some more. This cycle happened for about 35 minutes. And finally silence. Could it be true? It only took less than 45 minutes to get him to bed? Saturday night... we got home from dinner and did the bed time routine and laid him down and he didn't want his bottle but cried instead. We closed the door...and crying for like 5 seconds.... and silence. I was kinda concerned because it was so quick... but checked in after a few minutes and the snoring was louder than the Cold Play lullaby music. Hopefully this is it.

Cheers... to good solid sleep! :)

Flipping the Switch

Kaden has learned a lot of new "tricks" lately. One of the funnier things he has done recently is turning on and off the hallway light. He will go find the step stool and drag it into the hallway right under the light switch. Then he'll prop himself up and turn on and off the light endlessly.

What's even funnier is that he claps for himself after he is finished.

Kaden in a BOX

Kaden and in a box.

Kaden and Momma in a box.

Kaden and Charlie in a box...

Uncle Zach in a box?

Auntie April in a box.

Auntie April AND Auntie TD in a box!

Kaden loves his box.

Kaden got a box, and we got a AC unit...two amazing gifts! :)

Kaden the Photographer

Kaden learned how to turn on the little camera and how to take pictures. Here's the video of him taking pictures...

Here are the actual picture he took... it turned out quite well. :)

Kaden is on his way to becoming a photographer like his momma! :)

Island Boy

This year we got the blessing of going to Hawai'i for a week! Free air-miles got us to the beautiful island of O'ahu where we were greeted by the Bui family! For a week we ate at all the local joints, swam in the warm, blue ocean, and hung out with fabulous friends and family! When we left we felt like we were leaving home. This trip was a very relaxing and refreshing. We could move there. Our eczema all cleared up while we were over there. The combo of the salt water and the humidity and island breeze all did us good! :)

Kaden loved playing with Kaleb. They are at an age where they are learning to play together and at times we thought they were babbling about the rest of us cause they were taking turns talking and then start giggling! They learned to share food and toys. They did very well with their crazy parents dragging them everywhere.

We are praying about ministry opportunities there and what that may look like. We love the culture and the people. Please pray for this next phase in our life and where the adventure may take us!!! There is way too many pictures to share here on this blog.

Dance Dance Dance

Kaden danced the night away at Uncle Billy and Auntie Lisa's wedding. He actually started to throw a tantrum when we tried to take him off the dance floor... the lights were going, the DJ playing, people dancing... but it was getting late, and the dark room was not safe for the little guy to be running around in... so, we got him home. But we did get this cute video of him dancing during the reception, but before the after party dancing! :) Our kiddo loves music!!! It's been very fun to watch him enjoy music so much!!!

Sing Sing Sing!!!

Kaden was testing out his microphone... he's quite the little singer and dancer! :)

Bay Area Road Trip

The To clan packed up two minivans and headed south! Joel's two sisters and families (minus one dadda) traveled to the bay area and stayed with Joel's cousins for a few days and attended Lisa and Billy's wedding! What a fun trip!!! We all expected the worse, but the kids were actually very good. They watched movies, played video games, ATE LOTS OF SNACKS!!! Kaden got a little restless at points... but overall everyone was very well behaved, even without naps. 10 kids, 7 adults packed into Joel's cousin's house... lots of food, games, laughs, and fun!!!

We took our time traveling down making lots of stops to stretch out legs, go potty, and see Grandma and Grandpa at the fair. We spent five days total hanging out in the bay area in nice mid 70-80 weather, and then returned to record breaking heat wave in Portland of 110!

Lisa and Billy's wedding was beautiful! Lots of fun details and most of all great time to connect with some friends we haven't seen in a while. Congrats Lisa and Billy!!! Love you guys!!!

Water Baby

Most of you know that Lisa doesn't really like the water much. So, secretly wishing that Kaden wouldn't either... Just kidding... we have a little fish on our hands. Kaden will run towards any hose, sink and bucket looking for water. He isn't quite sure with some bodies of water, but will quickly get over the fear. (unlike his momma) Joel has been taking him into our pool, but Lisa splurged and spend a whole $4.99 on a kiddy pool so that daddy doesn't have to take him into the pool all the time. We were also at a park that has a water feature and he didn't want to leave... so, here's some fun summer time pictures of Kaden and his love for water!