Jude meets the dogs.

Hey Daddy, what are those?

I think I like these little dogs, Daddy...

Jude's blessing

Jude's baby blessing was such a special, wonderful day. Jude is lucky to have a faithful, loving, strong father who works hard to honor his priesthood. The blessing was beautiful. Jude is special and it was amazing to get a little glimpse into his future. My heart gets tingly when I think about the awe-some things Dan voiced.

He is one loved little man. His entire extended family and great grandma and grandpa were in attendance! He was loved and doted upon like no other. He was as precious as ever and stole everyone's hearts. He got a little weary at times, unsure of what to make of so many people constantly smooching and holding him, but it was great. He surprised us by how well he did on the plane, so well-behaved and unphased by the ridiculously loud take offs and landings. What fun those tiny little changing tables in the lavatory are! Or when we walk down the whole plane to get to the front lavatory, get him undressed and realize I forgot a clean diaper... Oops! Thank you flight attendant for fetching it for me.

It was a memorable weekend with both Dan's and my family. It was nice to all get to spend time together and just relax and get to know each other better. We spent Saturday in old-town Sacramento. Dan's mom put together a lovely, perfect little picnic that we enjoying overlooking the river. We then just walked around and and enjoyed the sites. The weekend was pleasant and pleasing. We had delicious food thanks to the hard work of Grandma Mulder, played games, and spent most of our time looking at, holding, playing with, laughing at, kissing, hugging, and squeezing Jude.

The rest of the week was spent playing Wii, Killer Bunnies, Bananagrams, some movie-watching, some fishing, some shopping, a night out on the town getting Chinese food and bowling, and just relaxing enjoying being with Dan's family. Mother nature was being sassy and decided to rain every single day we were there so our illustrious outdoor plans were replaced with indoor activities, but we loved being there! We even snuck in a bike ride and a motorcycle ride on our one clear afternoon. Oh, it just feels so nice to be in the presence of California.

Grandpa's kind of enamored...

We like to sit around and stare at him...

Kris might have beamed like never before... :) 

Fell asleep with his little hand on Aunt Kris. She's in love. :) 

Uhm, can you blame her?! 

Personalized drinks Mama Mulder made! How perfect! 

The Grandpa's keepin it real. Thank you for carrying my purse, Dad!

Great Grandma lovin :)

The blessing outfit :)

The weekend wouldn't have been complete without an intense game of Clue...

A morning at the mall... 

He sucked his thumb for the first time in Great Grandma's arms! 

Fishing trip with Dad and Grandpa. Jude was such a trooper.

He hung out in the car seat covered in blankets the whole time since it was pretty freezing.

Leatherby's!

Bowling was the best. Everyone got a strike!

Breastfeeding while bowling. So efficient!

My mom seems awfully happy to be cozied up next to Bill Clinton...

Navy brats... :)

We nothing less than love and adore our sweet child. The joy he has brought into our lives (and I dare say, many others!) is unbelievable! We are so thankful for loving and supportive families to help us raise and love this child. :)

another great james family vacation!

we spent the weekend after thanksgiving in southern california and had the best time :] we know our family is very blessed and we are so thankful for each other and the time we were able to spend together! we truly feel watched over and blessed every single day.

we had the most DELICIOUS hot cocoa, thanks to kris, on the way over to california. full of creamers of all kinds, it truly was divine. AND we got a free one, almost stolen, but the worker knew, so free... :)

my california boy wanted to get up early and go to the beach so my dad and i followed along and we discovered the most beautiful historic beach with old beachfront homes they are restoring... it was beautiful! see more pics on my 143photographie blog/facebook page :) okay fine, here's a couple....

that little speck out there is danny :) he went bodysurfing! it was the coldest.

twwwwo birdddss....

califoRnia!!! Rachael!!!!

our favorite water ride! the line was so short we went on it twice. do they look a little bit squished and maybe a tad uncomfortable? it's because my dad was sitting by LURCH on his other side [not pictured, although i wish he was] yes, my dad LITERALLY said after we were all talking about how squished it was... "well, if i didn't have LURCH over here..." to his FACE... a stranger!! a strange stranger, but still... he was a little offended. tried to get back at my dad, it just didn't work. it was by far the FUNNIEST. and then right when we were about to go up one of the climbs the ride stopped for like 5 minutes and we couldn't figure out what the hold-up was.... when a worker came around and scolded jared and kris for switching seats mid-ride... we were the hold-up!!!

adorable!!!

we weren't complaining about the two person to a seat THANG.

we loved our delish mickey pretzels :)

ALLL smiles!

tower of terror... soo hilarious! my mom is the best i think.

awww:)

me&my boys :) lovelovelove!

cutest. newlyweds.

newport beach temple photo shoot. it was the windiest, but so beautiful. we loved that little boy who was standing outside and asked his mom "where's Jesus?" oh, also, how handsome is my husband?! he's a movie star.

i know, they are the best....

seriously?! they are THAT CUTE!! i love them sooo much, best parents ever.

how cute are they?! LOVE!!

my mom posing with the towel puppy. possibly one of my favorite moments along with her trying to get a picture of my dad posing with the puppy, who was not complying... :)

looking at the sea lions in la jolla! they were soo hilarious itching themselves and blubbering around. we were totally in love.

i think it might be love....

this is what we do on vacation... twirl around and grin at each other on the beach, isn't it nice?

did i mention we went to la jolla?! dan was the giddiest, giddiest thing when we got there. he was down on the rocks by the time i got out of the car. cutest boy.

a riveting game of skip-bo as you can see. the best!!! we loved our little villa thing.

don't worry, dad is going to get the cart.... MINI CART!!! no big deal. we almost got kicked out probably from all the rukus. anywho... have you ever had those real fruit bars?! they are incredible and delicious. we bought several boxes all in a row but on separate trips. and be careful with the tangerine flavor... they will make your whole mouth/lips/lymph nodes tingle and burn and hurt even. more than one at a time is not recommended.

this is adventures in the grocery store. krissy kept count of how many times we went to the grocery store in one day, it was like seven or something. don't mind them kissing back there... just the usual...

the long awaited family picture. thank you mom for making it happen... it is beautiful!

thank you mama and daddy for a wonderful week and an amazing trip!! we absolutely love, adore, and look up to you in so many ways. can't wait for our next adventure!