July Highlights Recap ... we've got a really long ways to go!

One of the fun things we did at the beginning of July. The girls sat side to side for some fun hairstyling. Lauchi did great, never a peep. Brianna, like a royal princess, chatted up her stylist and found plenty of topics to discuss.

Showing off my crib

Good times in Exeter

Our girls in June

More beautiful than ever and growing like little weeds!

Project Backyard Landscaping: Check

In a historic day, we finished our backyard landscaping and hosted a beautiful party for our beautiful baby girl. After all, we entertained two families, in our small house, for an entire weekend. It was a wild ride but we had lots of fun! Thank you to the Clarks & Burgos' for the amazing memories!

Make a photo book design

Happy 1st Birthday, our sweet baby girl!

This scrapbooking design generated with Smilebox

Our little Lauchi turns 1 today!!

One year ago at noon ....

Kiara Charlisse made her grand entrance into this world and filled our lives with joy. She's been a gift from God and we thank Him for the beauty of this little miracle especially today, on Good Friday ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAUCHI!!!!

We've got a CRAWLER in da house!

At 7 months Kiara surprised us today by crawling for the first time at the Little Gym. We're thrilled for this new development though Mommy will have to watch her even more closely from now on!

Will post a video of Kiara's crawling later on this week.
Bravo Lauchi!!!!!

Kiara & Brianna's development

how did I get this fat?

What napkins?

Two little teeth at 7 months

Brianna scribbling this whole page plus an additional half of the next page. She's not even four yet!

Kiara's world

Boy, I love squash!

Hey, are these rollie pollies mine? How did they get there?

Our little fish

The Burgos Family

One of the highlights of the day was the Burgos family visiting us from Thousand Oaks. The girls had a blast in the pool and also dressing up. The adults caught up with good conversation, reading, hanging out at the pool and enjoying each other a lot!

Sunday brunch American style

The girls' brunch

After brunch nap for Kiara!

Even more friends!

Sherri, Vivian and Bibi

Ampee & Kiara

The Argentine Gang plus Ampee & Amee

The Kuns Family

We were blessed to have around 40 people at the Dedication and Luncheon. It was great to share such a special event with dear family and friends.

More friends!

Ivon, Roxanna & Matt

From left to right, Aidan, Giovanna, Elisha, Brianna and Mateo. The kids had a blast playing under a table and all over the Fellowship Hall.

Pastor Rosie, Ampee & Amee

All smiles for the camera ... they know the good food is coming!

Dedication Luncheon

After the Baby Dedication we treated our family and friends to some Spanish food and tapas.

The welcome table

The beautiful centerpieces that Amee made to decorate each table and also as a gift to each family present.

Kim, Sherri, and Laurienne

Kiara Charlisse's Baby Dedication - July 11th

What a memorable day! Our baby Kiara was dedicated at the Visalia SDA Church at three months old in the presence of both sets of grandparents and most of our closest friends. Ampee started off the dedication by reading beautiful quotes from EGW regarding child guidance.

Pastor Chad had a beautiful meditation on Jocabeth and Moses and some throughts of his own regarding parenting. Just priceless!

Pastor Carron also had some beautiful words for us and the congregation.

After the dedication prayer, Kiara woke up and was presented to the congregation. It was an amazing moment! Immediately following the dedication, we all watched a slideshow of Kiara's first months. Thank you Pastor Carron!

We feel incredibly blessed by all our Pastors, family and friends. Thank you all for being part of our lives. We love you tons!

HAPPY SABBATH, EVERYONE!!

Kiara Charlisse, 2 months old

10 lbs and sleeping almost through the night

Chunky Kiara weighs 10 lbs. now and, as you can see, continues to eat very well! Luckily for Mommy, as Ki keeps gaining weight Mommy is losing it! Bibi is back into her pre-pregnancy clothes and starting to train for the half-marathon in San Francisco at the end of July.

Last night she slept for almost 7 hours at 7 weeks, just like big sis Brianna. By 9 wks. old, Brianna was sleeping thorugh the night, as we hope Kiara will too. We're following the guidelines of the book "Preparation for Parenting," found at www.gfi.org. It's proven a great Bible-based resource for our two girls, especially in teaching them the value of a routine from early on. We highly recommend it!

1 month old!!!

Kiara turned 1 month old this past Sabbath. Our church had a rose for her, commemorating her birth, as well as an announcement in the bulletin. Pr. Chad had Bibi stand up and show off Kiara to the congregation. It is a neat ritual our church does for all babies born to members.

Sisters for a month and going strong! Brianna is a wonderful big sis. She's doing much better about being gentle with baby Kiara and loves to hug her and give her kisses. Kiara keeps on eating well and gaining weight and has smiled a few times. Her neck is very strong and she is very alert. She's already looking around and staying awake for longer periods of time. We ARE LOVING having two girls!!!