Kauai 2012 (part 1)

We had such a GREAT vacation!  Family, beach, zip-line, pool, sun, and lots of food - sounds amazing, right!  I'm so thankful to my grandparents for taking us and my whole family on this trip.  It was such a blessing from the Lord and such a special time!  So instead of a long narrative about all of the details about our vacation, here are a bunch of pictures.  Enjoy!

First day at the beach!

Maggie's fun new pool float!

She's too sweet!

My grandparents = awesome!  They started it all :)

My family minus my dad (who was taking the pic).

All of us!  The Bowens, Morales', Smiths, Watsons, and Wauhops!

Anniversary Date Night!!  Seriously some of the best food I've ever eaten, and I SO loved being alone with my man for 24 whole hours!!

A gorgeous hike on the coast in Poipu!

Crazy fun zip-line tour with Kauai Backcountry Adventures! (video to come!!)

I realized this was getting a little long...so, Kauai 2012 part 2 coming up.  Stay tuned!

A Beautiful Saturday

Life has been BUSY lately!  Most recently my amazing husband graduated from Seminary with his M.Div. (don't worry, i will be singing his praises in my next blog!), family was in town from NoVa, Maggie turned 6 months (yet another blog to come), and of course just living the high profile, high energy Wauhop life - you know what they say, work hard, play hard ;) and we do!

But seriously, we had SO much fun this weekend at the gorgeous Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills!! (Thanks Carly Brannon for the tip!)  We brought a picnic (Chipotle) lunch - yum!  It turned out there was no "picnicking" allowed, nor the throwing or catching of balls, and a few other random things.  But it was an absolutely gorgeous and FREE activity!  Even the drive down was super fun, (we took the 2 to the 134 to the 101 and got off on Coldwater Canyon and followed that down most of the way) very scenic - the secluded Beverly Hills!  Here are few of my favorite pics from the day.  Enjoy!

Handsomest Hubby/Daddy I've ever seen!!

My two most favorite people!!  Love their big, beautiful blue eyes!

Maggie loves giving kisses...big, wet, slobbery ones...all the time!!

and a few of the place, itself...

Thank you, Lord, for your beautiful creation, a super fun day in the sun, and an amazing family to enjoy your graces with!!!  We are so blessed!!

My Girl Maggie - 5 months!

One more month and my Maggie Grace will be half a year!  Half a year!  I cannot believe that she is growing up so quickly.  This past has month has been so much fun!  Life with a baby gets better and better; each month she is learning so much and it is awesome to be able to be there for ALL of it!  It is such a blessing to be a stay at home mom and hang out with my baby girl all day, every day!  We have a blast together, reading stories, going on walks, playing with toys, spitting, making silly noises, having little photo shoots, singing songs - you name it, we love it!  *Don't get me wrong, we (I) have our moments when things get frustrating...but God is SO GOOD!  And it is awesome to be being sanctified as a mommy!  What a blessing 

Maggie is to me!

So...On to the interesting things:

Maggie is talking!  She babbles and coos and gaga-goos all the time!  It is pretty much the cutest thing you've ever heard!  I am convinced she will have a scruffy, raspy little voice.  She's going to be this beautiful, little, petite, feminine thing with the voice of a smoker.  It's going to be pretty cute,  I'm sure :)

We started doing solids every day, morning and night!  Mostly just oatmeal cereal...we tried avocados and sweet potatoes (not together) once, but she didn't love them.  I think it was a little too chunky.  I mixed it by hand; I think we need to get a blender of sorts to assist in my baby food making efforts.

She is sitting up for around a minute at a time all on her own!!  So fun and scary!  I know crawling is right around the corner.  I've caught her caterpillar crawling a few times, just inching around!  Baby-proofing is coming, I guess.  I actually think my biggest need in that area will be to vacuum the insane amount of hair I lose daily (which is apparently normal) off of our floors so she doesn't eat it - GROSS! 

She was sleeping about 11 hours a night (AMAZING, thank You, Jesus!) - until the day she turned 5 months, actually, when we entered into the fun world of teething!  (I think/I hope this isn't just a new phase she's in).  Mom's any sure fire teething tricks you'd like to send my way are greatly appreciated!  I will be sad to see her priceless little toothless grin go, but a little tooth will look pretty adorable in her precious mouth!

We also started a 4 hour feeding schedule - which has been the bomb (again until the teething started, but hopefully it's just a hiccup... :) !!

Maggie had her first Easter!  She is so beautiful!  I cannot get enough of this sweet girl!!  I could just kiss her little face all day -  so I do!

22 BIG weeks!!

The happy happy Wauhop family!  We love our little Maggie!!  Thank you, Lord!

Flashback...

to July 3, 2009. Young(er) Robert watches young(er) Ashley walk down the aisle; they say "I DO!" and then they kiss and so far they have lived happily ever after!!!

Flash forward two years (present time) and they are in cool San Francisco celebrating two years of fabulous love and a baby girl on the way! So, please enjoy a few pics from our trip - we did!!


THE PAINTED LADIES


CRAZY LOMBARD STREET


COOL STAIRS AT COIT TOWER


ALCATRAZ!


ROBERT IS LOVING THE PRISON!


(and obviously i'm looking super cute!)




AUDIO TOUR


(this totally crazy insane guy) in front of this YUMMY burrito place!


YAY for our good friends, the MILLERS :) (came to visit from Modesto)


GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE!!

OK. There are a million more pics, but uploading them is getting annoying, haha. So, for now, adios!! Can't wait for my man to get home...!

Chocolate and other things...

Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate hearts are staring me in the face...and I don't really mind. Would you?

And, how can people be so talented? I mean, I feel like everywhere I turn around someone else has a great blog, amazing photography site, or creative venture! I recently (as in today) found this photogrpher (Gray Benko) who seems to be seriously phenomenal! Of course she lives in SC, and only photographs children - but nonetheless, she is worth just checking out! And obviously the famous VanDykes! And my dear friend Jake - who side note DJ'd my wedding and is marrying my friend Katie from college in October! I really want to get into photography - not just because everyone and their mom is - but because I feel like its such a useful skill to have in a family! But, as of right now, we have lost our camera. Neither of our mom's can find it on the East coast...but, it must be somewhere!

Anyway, I love chocolate and peanut butter, and do really enjoy some great pictures, too! (I mean really, who'd rather hang expensive, random art in their house when you can take such amazing pictures of people and places you actually know and love!)

"Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation." PS 118:1, 8, 9,and 14

is late really better than never?

If so, then please enjoy these pictures :)




This summer, the wonderful Manfredi brothers took their awesome sister Erin on a cross-country trip before she went off to Hong Kong. Well, Erin is a professionaly, top-notch photographer. So anyway, when she was here, she took a few pics of us just hanging out at the beach. I thought I'd share a few :)

Isn't it a blessing to have talented friends!! And don't you love Robert's curly hair?!

Married at the Marriot

"And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man.' Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh..."

AMEN!

This was our first married Valentines Day, and it was wonderful! Robert and I went to San Diego and stayed downtown at the beautiful Marriot Hotel and Marina. I loved the city (and the fact that it was clean). I loved seeing the lights, and being able to walk everywhere. I loved the whole mood of the town - the tall, sleek buildings, the weather. I loved not going to work. But most of all I loved being with my husband. Being married is pretty much the greatest thing on the earth. What a blessing from the Lord to get to share your life, every day, with the one you love! We could have stayed at the romantic Castaic Inn (which is this hilarious little motel with like an 8"x10" swimming pool, an advertised 27" in-room tv, and a blinking red sigh that says ROMANTIC as you pull into the truck stop that so happens to be our exit off of the 5. It's priceless. You have to see it for yourself.) and had the most amazing time. But, the Lord was so gracious to us in allowing us to stay in such a gorgeous location and enjoy each other to the fullest!

We walked to breakfast. We went shopping. We ate amazing food - a lot of food - too much food! We went to the beach, saw a touch of the olympics, and smiled at each other. I called my mom the day before and just told her how excited I was to get away and just be with the hubs. And she laughed, fully knowing that we really have nothing to "get away" from, but totally understanding how great these special times are!

So, home is certainly where the heart is. I do miss my family and my friends daily, and terribly. But goodness, I sure do love this boy that I married. I am so proud of him and all of his hard work, and so very thankful for all the grace that God has given us.

Lastly, I wanted to add that we have decided to hire Isabell to travel with us, because we are wretched picture takers :)