The Kingdom Challenge

A few months ago our Church was given a large sum of money by an anonymous donor. Each of the home groups in the Church were then sent out with the challenge to take that money and use it to bless something or someone in our local community. Our home group chose a place called The Serenity House in Escondido, California. http://ncsh.org/about-us
After speaking with the director we landed ourselves in the Child Development Center branch of the facility. We took the money and purchased some much needed riding toys, a little playhouse, built a sandbox, and built a standing planter so the kids can plant their own garden. The pictures below are all the before shots...more to come in a few weeks when we return for more work. :)


Expert digger...Dana at your service.

Expert communications person and coordinator...Allison

Expert sawer....Rob

More expert sawers....Greg and Chad

Expert weeders....Dana and Nikki


The first war wound...


Fresh out of the oven, Emma...sleeping on the job!

Expert baby holder and house holder...Elizabeth

Who says it never rains in San Diego?

We busted out our umbrellas and rain boots last week for some puddle hopping and bucket filling. I wish my nicer camera was waterproof, but unfortunately it isn't so I used my super old point and shoot camera which doesn't make playing in the rain look nearly as fun. But we DID have fun even though Ashlyn and Jaedyn were drenched and dripping by the time the fun was over. I was the only one interested in staying under the umbrella...Ashlyn ditched her umbrella about 5 seconds into the adventure and Jaedyn ditched his toward the end.







I think we might want to invest in a rain jacket...

A little pit stop in the garage for some drum playing....

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

Here are a few pics from our little Church playgroup. We headed over to Andrea's house for a St. Patrick's day scavenger hunt around her neighborhood and some bubble fun.

Mini Newborn Photo Session

Check out this little cutie pie's mini session up on www.nikkicrockettphotography.blogspot.com

The Oswald Family @ Old Poway Park

I had a very fun morning session with this fabulous family last Saturday. Check out some of my favorites @ www.nikkicrockettphotography.blogspot.com

Bustin' a move at Legoland

Last Minute Beach Trip

What's better than a fly by the seat of your pants trip to the beach on a late Friday afternoon? We hit up Torrey Pines a couple of weeks ago for some sand in between our toes and for some ocean frolicking for Jaedyn. (I used my super old point and shoot camera so the lighting is not so great).



A little game of chase...me running backwards with camera in hand.








By the time we left Jaedyn has stripped down to just his underwear....I'm pretty sure he's part fish. :)

One more trip to Legoland

Let's just say that Jaedyn was definitely not a fan of the fun slide.

But Rob and I were....and look who got 1st place. That's right. Me.

My new favorite ride....

Hiking with the Penners

A little lesson in how to brush your teeth using a weed..

A little jumping jack session when we reached the top...(Jon Penner's blog has a video of all three of the kids which is super funny).

Playing in the mud...