Henry's Happy Second Birthday!

My sweet Henry is two! Our celebration for him this year was simple, cupcakes at Disneyland with his special birthday buddy, Kinley. For those of you who don’t know, Kinley and Henry are only two days apart. Kinley was actually supposed to be born after Henry, but she apparently had another plan in mind and surprised everyone. Anyhow, we thought it would be fun for them to share a little treat together, as they practically share the same birthday.


Now, I know Disneyland doesn’t sound simple, but we have passes so I don’t feel like it counts as a big outing. My now two year-old has grown quite fond of Mickey, Goofy, and Donald, and loves to ride rides, so Disneyland was designated as the celebration spot. A wrench was thrown into the plans though, when certain Disney cast members would not allow us to bring in the cupcakes I had brought from home. Another cast member however, was sympathetic to our plight about making it a special day for Henry and gave us a coupon for two cupcakes at one of their restaurants. Unfortunately, the only cupcakes available that day were lemon raspberry. You can see in Henry’s face below how that went over with him.

Sour faces, grumpy toddler faces, happy faces with grins and giggles, I love every one that come from my Henry. Every day he brings joy to my heart and smiles to my face (and gray hairs to my head). Happy Birthday little man! Your dad, mommy, and Oliver love with all of our hearts.

And Banjo Was His Name-0...

There was a family who had a dog, and Banjo was his name-o! The tune doesn’t quite work with our name, but you get the idea. We got a dog on Christmas Eve!

Oliver was very opposed to this idea, and Henry generally agrees with whatever Oliver thinks, being the little brother. Joe and I however, after seeing Banjo on the Animal Friends of the Valley website, convinced Oliver that we should at least just go meet Banjo, and see how things go from there. Well, I’m sure you can guess how things went from the pictures below.

The kids met Banjo and loved him instantly. Banjo has been so sweet and gentle, and nice, easy going addition to our little family. I think Banjo loves us too because after a day or two, he had settled in nicely on the couch with us, wants to join us for car trips, and snuggles on Oliver’s bed at night while Ollie falls asleep.

Christmas All Year Long

Christmas is over, sad! The lights have been taken off the hours, the decorations packed away, the tree stuffed back in its bag for another year. Our visiting family members have gone home and Joe and I are preparing to return to our regular schedules as we both go back to work this coming week. I always get sad saying goodbye to Christmas. I love the decorations, the singing, the FOOD…

But thankfully, the real reason for which we celebrate, that being Christ’s birth, is not something that can be put away for another year. The most amazing gift ever given is one that continues to give for all time, every moment of every day, if we chose to show God’s love to those around us. And even when we forget our calling to be God’s hands and feet from time to time, God’s love continues to prevail and abound.

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.
--Dale Evans

Christmas PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa. Not the most thrilling gift to open on Christmas Eve,
but it's the tradition kids, so get used to it!

Les is More, Less is More. I will remember that next Christmas. But this year, Santa was very generous!

Leaving cookies for Santa. Christmas was fun this year because Henry was old enough to participate in the mystery and traditions of Santa Claus.

A family photo is not an easy thing to come by with the Parla family. But here we are in all our Christmas glory.

We love Nana!