Author: Helen

Last Saturday was one of the most fun days I have had in a while. A friend of mine, Rachel, who is also a neighbor decided to make me feel special by throwing me a baby shower for our sweet little boy. I knew it would be a lot of fun, but it was more than that. I loved having every person that was able to come and share the joy of having a new addition to our family just within weeks now. I can’t thank enough each and every person for making the time to come! The presents were absolutely wonderful and needed. This lil’ man is definitely spoiled already and I know that it is only the beginning. The decorations were beautiful, the food was delicious and the games were a lot of fun. I don’t know if Rachel will ever read this post, but I am truly grateful and blessed to have a friend like her. Her fun and outgoing personality is contagious and people can’t help it but fall in love with her as soon as they meet her. I met Rachel after we moved in to our home two and a half years ago, when Lissy was only eight weeks. I am so privileged to see this little girl grow up right in front of me and now share full days with Isabella. We are definitely blessed!

We might be known as one of those “crazy” families that can not wait to get their tree every year. Some years we have even gone as far as getting it before Thanksgiving, but this year we decided to be “good” and get it the day after 🙂 I always think, we only get to have it for one month, so why not get it early? This year Bella was much more into the process, not to say she wasn’t last year, it was just a completely different interaction, she wanted to be more involved and touch every ornament and put them up and help with lights…the list goes on. As much as I love holidays in general, this year more than others I have realized how much more fun holidays are with kids. The excitement about the littlest things are just priceless. She loved going and picking the Christmas tree, she loved decorating it, was excited about candles and all of the other gadgets that we usually put out and of course the stockings. I can’t wait to have hers filled on Christmas morning 🙂 Below are a few pictures of our tree this year and our little helper 😉

Tonight I come to my precious God with a heart full of gratefulness and praise. The list is endless for all the people and things I am grateful for, but there have definitely been a few that stood out this year more than others. We have our daily routines and schedules that seem to sweep us away from even the thought of being alive and breathing every day. It is unfortunate that I personally forget in the midst of life to really take in every minute as we do not know how much time we have with our loved ones. Today, I am above and beyond grateful for my family and the new life that is kicking as I type this journal. What an awesome feeling to have a living soul moving and kicking inside of you. I couldn’t help but to think this morning how God worked His miracles of creating life and even though it comes at a very painful price, there is nothing more worth it. I am thankful for my amazing and loving husband that stays by my side through good and bad, I am thankful for our precious daughter Isabella that has been nothing but an absolute joy to us. What an honor to raise a child and what a challenging job at the same time, I thank God for this opportunity every day. I am especially thankful for my priceless parents this year; God is very gracious and has blessed me with them abundantly. I cannot think of better role models. I thank God for giving us trials where we are constantly aware of who is in control. He has some remarkable ways of doing that and the bottom line is Faith, Trust and Prayer. I thank God for one of the most challenging but rewarding years.
We celebrated this l holiday with both families, Barry’s and mine. It was joy to get together and share the most delicious meal and to hear what each heart was thankful for. You can’t help it but just sit in that moment and be joyous and grateful for every person and every event that took place in their life.

November has always been a wonderful month.  Not only is it a month of praise and thanksgiving, but we also celebrate a birthday of a very special lady- my mom!  Oh, how I love her and what a great example she is to me, not only as a mother but as a friend.  I can’t even think of all I have learned from her but the list is endless.  I could not ask for a better mom, I feel truly blessed!  I ask God for one thing and that is health for my parents.  My thinking is if you are healthy, the rest is doable.  For her birthday I wanted to do something different, so we went on a little day trip to Napa Valley.  Both of us love Fall and what a better place to be than Napa to see all of the Fall has got to offer with it’s beauty.  We also had a great opportunity to visit the Culinary Institute of America and attend one of their cooking classes.  We had such a wonderful time!  The tour was wonderful and we even got to taste some of the dishes that students made, which was such a treat.  I must say, the best ribs I have ever had, it’s too bad I will never be able to make those myself, as the guy that made them went through two different culinary schools to learn how to make ribs.  All in all, I can easily say that it was one of the best days I could have spent with my dearest mom.

 

 

This month has been so hectic for us, I don’t even know where to start. So, what you will find in this post is variety of events that took place with different titles and pictures below. You might want to spread this out for a couple of days or so 😉

Friend’s Visit from Montana
We had a great visit with Terri, Audrey and Alyssa from Montana and we were very glad to have them come, even though it was only for a day and some. The girls played great together and we all fell in love with Audrey. We only wish they lived closer, Bella and Audrey would be very good friends. Some of the highlights of Audrey’s personality: “flirty eyes”, I am still laughing remembering how she winks with both eyes at the same time, or her apologies after every time she burps, or the way she takes care of herself by wiping her face clean 🙂 We just loved her!!! It was also wonderful to see Terri and Alyssa. Just amazing how time flies and we find each other in a completely different stages of life, compared to care-free college days. We thank God for the opportunity we had to visit with these three fun gals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Short Visit from Florida

We also had opportunity to have Barry’s sister Lily and her family visit with us for a couple of days. It was good to see them all and watch Ava interact as the last time we saw her, was last Christmas. Somewhere between the flight here and TJ feeling a bit sick, unfortunately we did not get to do much together or take them anywhere, but hopefully there will be another time, where thing will not be so hectic.

Bobby & Sarah “tie the knot”
October 15 was definitely a beautiful day. Bobby and Sarah were married at a gorgeous Castle Oaks Golf Course and they both looked absolutely stunning. The joy was felt all around, may God keep blessing them through their new journey of marriage. We stayed in Jackson the day before, which gave us a great opportunity to spend some time with Barry’s family and all there cousins (Bella, Ezra and Ava) could play together. The rehearsal dinner went lovely, it was great to see Sarah’s family join the Griffith side and share many wonderful stories. Below you will find pictures of the special event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm

Just writing about this, makes me want to laugh. Somehow we have been planning to go to this pumpkin farm for a while and didn’t act on it until one fine evening we finally decided to take our boo. One thing I left out, before leaving the house is telling Barry that’s it’s about 30-40 minutes away and that it gets dark around 7P.M. With all that we only ended up having 15 minutes of daylight at this wonderful and fun place. We couldn’t stop laughing as I proceeded to take as many pictures as possible before the sun went down. Bella got to see pumpkins for almost a split second and take a train ride in the dark. Let’s just say, that the trip would not have been completed without a nice stop at the yogurt parlor where we just set and laughed until it was way past Bella’s bed time. I have marked it as one of the funnest things we have done as our lil’ family 🙂 Enjoy the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spontaneous trip to Carmel, CA

Next on the list was our mini vacation before our precious bundle of joy joins our family. We decided to go to Carmel as it’s not too far and the ocean is right at your feet once you are there. We only went for one night, but had a very nice time, just spending quality time as a family. Bella absolutely LOVED the ocean, I knew she would like it but certainly did not expect the reaction we got when she saw it for the first time…WOW! That girl giggled really loud and kept screaming “ocean, ocean, water”! Definitely one of her very favorite places and why wouldn’t it be? I can’t help it but think of our Creator every time I glance at the mighty waves. Who else would have the power to create such endless beauty?  We are all very grateful for having ability to have gone on our little vacation and simply let go of daily busyness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 Weeks and Counting…

This pregnancy has been nothing but a breeze, it’s hard for me to fathom that in two months we will be parents to a baby boy.  It’s exciting above and beyond but at the same time almost intimidating remembering sleepless nights and all the adjustment that takes place.  Now we get to have two tiny creations in our house 🙂  We can’t wait!  I must admit, this baby boy seems to be a lot more busy than Bella was and not only that, a night owl, barely lets me sleep already.  There has also been a lot of pain involved but per my Dr. everything seems normal, so I shall trust that it’s the case.  I finally started resting more, which has been one of the biggest challenges…I feel like I am sleeping through a good hour of my day, but I need to take care of this little guy and myself before it gets really hectic.  Our next appointment is on the 16th, which puts me at 31 weeks.  Stay tuned 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween

As much as I am not a big fan of this holiday, I am not even sure if I can call it a holiday, but this year has been an absolute blast to have Isabella’s friends over and see her excitement to dress up and say “trick or treat”- let me just say it was priceless!  We decided to take her to our church (Bayside of Granite Bay)  for “Trunk or Treat” which blew me away.  The organization and preparation that goes into it every year is above and beyond of what I have imagined it might be like.  There were thousands and thousands of people, bounce houses, hundreds of decorated cars, live music and dancing, food, carnival attractions, face painting and so much more.  Bella was definitely a little nervous to ask for candy at first, but she pretty much nailed it when we went to “trick or treat” to Nana’s and Papa’s house 🙂  She was so happy to be there knocking on their door 🙂  On actual Halloween night, we had our annual tradition of baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with my parents and of course opening doors to little “trick or treaters”  There were so many cute little ones.  Bella had two of her friends stop by and play with her, Lissy (who was wearing a “Strawberry Shortcake” costume ) and Kaitlyn (who was a raggedy Annie- very adorable costume.)  Bella was wearing a Tinker Bell costume and looked absolutely darling in it.  All in all, all of the girls had a blast playing and dancing together and better yet, going to our neighbor’s house and saying:  “trick or treat”.  By far, my favorite Halloween.  For me it’s all about cute little kids dressing up and all of the ugly, evil stuff I simply cross out of my mind and teach Bella not to look at it or to ever desire it.

I absolutely love Apple Hill!  Endless orchards of apples, the smell of kettle corn and apples makes you breathe in Fall.  The leaves are not quite there, but the smell of Fall is definitely here and for those of you that have not idea what I am talking about when I say “smell of Fall” you are simply missing out 😉  I realized that I enjoy it more and more every year and Isabella is the biggest reason.  Her excitement about ponies, pumpkins, apples is absolutely priceless.  We planned on staying there for about an hour, but ended up being there for at least three.  Bella got to see fish being caught in the little pond that’s on the property, she saw a real wolf, played and ran around in pumpkins, picked her first apple from a tree, tried caramel and kettle corn and got to try an apple crumb doughnut for the first time.  She loved everything we did.   Our little blessing was very tired at the end and the trip back gave her a wonderful opportunity to nap.  Below you can see some of our new memories created.

Apparently September is a popular month for birthdays, at least in our families 🙂  We were grateful to be able to celebrate them with the people we love.  We did not make it to Fresno for Lois’s birthday, but we did for Mormor’s (Barry’s grandmother) and my brother’s Oleg:)    Some people do not celebrate birthdays, but I always wonder how one can let it go unnoticed, it’s a celebration of life.  We get ecstatic when a new born baby arrives, because God gave that little person life and therefore we should celebrate it every year and thank God for giving us health and the means to survive in this world while enjoying his glorious creation that surrounds us.  I pray for each and every life that was given in both of our families because it would not be the same without them!  We love you all!!!

Barry and I have been patiently waiting for September 7th, to do something that we have not done with Bella- to find out the gender of the baby on the way.  The anticipation grew each day which made it fun;  we took a poll with our family to see who was thinking boy and who was thinking girl and just  plainly guessed ourselves 🙂  I have had moments where I was almost 100% sure it was a boy and of course vise versa that it was a girl.  Things like, always being cold, or my wedding ring going from white to yellow, constant craving for salty foods verses sweet.  Of course these signs are all “wife tales” but it still made it fun to guess and wonder.  On the day we went in, my heart was racing like crazy, simply because of the anticipation to find out…pretty weird, but I am so glad we did it and I will encourage every couple to find out.  It almost feels like you celebrate twice, no matter what the gender is, it is purely exciting!  The ultrasound took about 35-40 minutes and it was silent pretty much all of that time until the technician took 87 pictures of all that was needed and asked, well, are you ready to find out?  We were both just glowing at that moment (makes me laugh just thinking about it)  She showed us a few profile images, feetsies, arms and then ….  It’s a BOY!!!  We can not be happier, neither one of us had a preference and went in wanting a healthy baby.  The great thing about having two different genders is not ever wanting one or the other after having one of each 😉  I always wanted Barry to have his boy and I am very glad that God is granting that wish.  Babies are truly gifts from above and we feel abundantly blessed to have Isabella and our baby boy on the way.

Recently, we had a great opportunity to get away for a couple of days and stay at a very nice cabin up in Tahoe Donner area.  If I said it was nice and relaxing, I would be lying, so I will just say that it was very nice including a great time spent with our family as to relaxing not so much. The reason I am skipping relaxing is because of sleep deprivation due to our little peanut not sleeping well at night.  I decided I will blame it on high elevation, since the first night back home, she slept perfectly fine.  I am grateful however for the lovely walk with my mom and Lilya as well as the “girls” time we got to spend, walking the streets of old Truckee and visiting galore of boutiques 🙂  The guys got to go on a few fishing trips which were successful 🙂  Bella loved the outdoors and all the time she got to spend with Papa, Nana, uncle Oleg and auntie Lilya.  I love seeing her light up when they play games with her or blow bubbles or just simply hold her hand as they take a short walk.  Below you can see some of the images from the fun times.

Weeks are just flying by, I can’t believe I am almost half way through this pregnancy, time just needs to slow down 🙂  Our first appointment went great, Dr’s exact words:  “It’s a big healthy baby”  We are very excited to find out the gender and are counting down the weeks 😉  It seems like only yesterday I was filling out paperwork for hospital admission for Bella and here I am doing the same thing for our new baby- wow!  The closer the time gets, the more excited we get.  I think Bella will be a great big sister 🙂  On August 2, Barry felt the baby for the first time, it was very exciting.  The little person was boxing away 🙂  Below is the first picture of our second bundle of joy 🙂