A Lovely Evening.

Last night our family and friends came over for our annual pumpkin carving party.

I love having this party every year. 

To me it feels like the kick off party to the holiday season.
Plus it gets me in the Fall mood, even if the weather disagrees (it's been warm here).

We ate yummy food, spent time with one another, and of course, carved.

We had a great time, as always.

A lovely evening indeed!

Family Photos.

Back in July when we were on vacation my sister's friend Allie came down to photograph our family.

If you live in the area and are in need of a photographer, you should definitely check her out.

Her business is called Salt+Light Photography and she is awesome.

She is super laid back and easy going, which makes the session so simple and fun. 

She always gets the kids to laugh and she somehow gets them all to cooperate at the same time.

I don't know how she does it.
She's a miracle worker.

I'm just now trying to decide which ones I love the most to hang on walls and place around the house.

We took group shots, individual family shots, couple shots and just some of the kids. 

There are so many good ones to choose from. 

These are some of my favorites.

Isn't Allie great!

How will I ever decide?

Saturday Afternoon.

On Saturday we took the kids to Seal Beach. 

Ethan loves it there and I'm sure, as Jacob gets older, he will too.

Brett loves it because it's the beach. For him, the closer we are to the ocean the better. He would live there if we could. Someday, maybe we will.

I love it because the main street is so quaint and cute. I could stroll up and down the street for hours.

Plus the kids get worn out and always end up taking good naps. Bonus.

Our first stop was the jungle gym.

The kids climbed and played and ran around on the sand.

 

Then we took a stroll on the pier and decided last minute to eat lunch at Ruby's.

We had never taken the kids there and I haven't been back in years.

A little fun fact for you...I worked there, like 12 years ago. It seems like just yesterday but at the same time so long ago.

The kids got mini ice cream cones at the end.

 They were pretty happy about it.

A lovely way to spend a beautiful, sunny California afternoon with my family, if I do say so myself.

We've Been Busy.

This past week we were busy.

Nearly everyday was filled with something fun to do, which doesn't happen often for us.

We went to our local Japanese Gardens, the Aquarium, the park and then ended the week with a progressive party with friends. 

Have you ever done a progressive party?

We were on bikes all day with food and drinks at every stop.

It was so. much. fun. 

Here's some lovely snapshots of the week.  

I wish I could say I will be relaxing this week, but oh no!

My little guy turns 1 in just two days and I've got a party to get ready for.

Let the craziness begin.

Have a lovely week.

I'm linking up here...