2nd Annual Rip Collins Memorial Baseball Game

We went to the Dodgers game when the Cardinals were in town in tribute to my Grandpa Rip. He LOVED the Cardinals. Starting last year and again this year we have planned a family outing (along with some friends) to remember him.

The Warns' and the Murdocks

Tanya, Aunt Lisa & Sarah

Grandma Noani & Amberlin


Woo-hoo!! I don't know what we're cheering for, but it must be good...

Amberlin spending time with Grandpa & Grandma Lali at the game

It's hard to believe we're coming up on two years since he left us to be with the Lord. We miss him a lot, but hope we honor his memory in our families and by taking care of, loving and keeping up with his loves - Grandma, the Lord & baseball. :)

August Birthdays

We celebrated the August Birthdays at Grandma Noani's house. Christie and Quinn were with us to celebrate this year, so we included Quinn in the birthday celebration. It was great to have them there.

Quinn, Tanya, Uncle Mike, Dad & Uncle Steve - the August birthday crew

Amberlin in Daddy's hat

Steff & Jordan

Ellie & Amberlin

We also went to Disneyland to celebrate Tanya's birthday. Here we are with Johnny & Loleta, Staci, Mike & Tanya in the Court des Anges.

Amberlin's First Word

Well, it's official. Amberlin's first word is "Da-da".

She has been babbling for quite some time and trying out different sounds. This week she figured out that if she puts her hand to her mouth while she talks she can create even more sounds. She has been combining consonants to make sounds like "gla" and "bla". It's cute to watch her try to make sounds - sometimes she just moves her jaw up and down like she's trying to get a sound to come out, but can't quite push it out.

Last night was the first time we have seen her intentionally say "Da-da." She has said it in her babble a couple times before, but now it's different. When we ask her to say it, she clearly responds "Da-da" (when she so chooses). This morning when she woke up we were coming out of her room and she looked at me and said "Da-da", so I walked her in to our bedroom and showed her where Andy was. She just smiled at me and did her little jaw-bobbing thing. I really think she gets it.

Wow. It's amazing to watch her grow and develop. It feels like just yesterday we brought this helpless tiny infant into our home and now she is blossoming into this beautiful little person - eating, laughing, sitting up and playing independently, on the border of crawling and even talking. Amazing, I tell you. My cup runneth over...

**She DID say "Ma-ma" in her babble before "Da-da", but it wasn't intentional. Just for the record.**

Matt & Mareena's Wedding

My cousin, Matt Webb, married Mareena on August 8. It was a beautiful, romantic wedding held at Mareena's parents house in Murietta. We welcome Mareena into the family and look forward to getting to know her better in the years to come!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken last week. It's hard to believe Amberlin is already 6 months old!

Dad's Birthday at Disneyland

For those of you that know us well, you know that we are Disneyland fanatics. It's our happy place. We have had passes for about nine years now and we go all the time... but last week when we went was special. It was the first time we have ever been to Disneyland with my whole family! Mom, Dad, Staci, Mike, Andy, Amberlin & I all went together. We were celebrating Dad's birthday and Amberlin's 6 month (half) birthday.

We started with lunch at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen

Amberlin sat in a high chair for the first time. She loved it!

Birthday Beignets!

Then it was off to the park to wait in some lines... Oh, I mean to ride some rides!

One thing that Disneyland does that we LOVE is a flag ceremony to lower the flag. They honor all veterans that are present and have them serve as the color guard as it's lowered. It's a beautiful ceremony with a marching band, barber shop quartet that brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. We took video and might try to upload it later, but it's a long one.

Dad standing with other veterans

Finding Nemo

Amberlin loved Grandma & Grandpa's pins!

We had a great day! All of them have season passes now, so we are looking forward to many more Disney adventures!

Zoo Day

Since we were home together for a week before I had to go back to work, we did a lot of fun stuff! The first thing we did was take a trip to the San Diego Zoo.

Yikes!