yes, we're still here...

I know it's been a while since the blog has been updated. Sorry to all of you wonderful followers. I feel like things have been a bit busy and I haven't had much to say. Although, I'm sure if I thought about it a bit I would come up with something. Here are some pictures to update you on what's been happening in our life.

Our awesome friend Shara took some great one year photos of Raegan. Here is just one of the many amazing ones she took.

Just a cute funny picture of Raegan acting like she's talking on the phone :)

Our friends generously gave us a kitchen their kids were done playing with. It's one of Raeagn's new favorite things to play with. She has been making me some delicious food!

We were able to celebrate Gracie's first birthday with our wonderful friends the Hughes. We also had to say goodbye to them this week. They are moving home to England after being here for 3 1/2 years.

We have had a couple visits from my dad lately. He and Raegan have really enjoyed their special time together.

Here is Raegan and her friend/neighbor Cameron. They love to play together and are only 2 months apart in age. It's fun because his family only lives a few blocks away and he has really cool parents.

Jeff's parents and sister Kaelyn came out to visit us and we went up to Biola to have lunch with his cousins. Raegan had fun riding on her Papaw's shoulders. There is a similar picture of Jeff on his dad's shoulders when he was little. [excuse the underline on this]

Raegan got some new sunglasses that she enjoys wearing at all times. I think it's one of the cutest things ever.

She is also starting to try and say more words. She can say: eye, "anks" for thanks, yes, dada, woah, tata, "ba" for bath.

freedom to wait in HOPE

This morning I went to the mom's group at our church. It is always such a blessing to be with other moms, enjoy a delicious breakfast, to hear from the Lord and discuss the different ways God is at work in our lives. Ever since Kathy gave a message this morning about waiting, it has been on my mind so I thought I'd share a little bit about it.

She spoke about how we live in the tension of the "now and not yet". We are living in-between the time where Christ has come and he will come again. This is something I have really been thinking about a lot lately and wrestling with. With the news of people passing away, marriages suffering and all of the brokenness we are surrounded with, we have hope in Christ.

Kathy also spoke about loss and change in life and how we can be in it with each other. She listed 6 different types of loss that were interesting to consider: material loss, relationship loss, functional loss, role loss, systemic loss, and intra-psychic loss. One loss that came to my mind is the loss of my job. Not that I really lost it, I just transitioned from my job at our church to being a full time mommy. It has definitely been an adjustment to go from being around a number of people each day, being part of something bigger, seeing results from things I was doing, and receiving affirmations to being with my sweet little girl, not seeing too many results [except for when I clean the house or do the laundry :)] and not receiving as much affirmation. I LOVE what I am doing and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but there is a loss there.

She also shared a bit about how we can be in waiting with other people as they are going through a loss or a dark time in their life. It's so easy to want to fix things or come up with a solution when, really, a lot of times there is nothing we can do but pray, support, and encourage. There are so many things that we don't understand and probably never will. Thankfully God is here with us and will never leave us. When we are in his presence we can rest in those truths.

Are you going through a time of waiting? What are your resistances to this process? How are you sitting with somebody while they wait? Are you trying to fix their problems or joining with them in their waiting?

one year old.

Wow! I can't believe our baby is one already. It seems like it was just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. I remember the first couple weeks and how hard they were as we were adjusting to having a newborn at home that had to be wrapped in a light blanket 24/7. She was like a little alien glowing blue.

What a joy she has been in our lives. Everybody told me that time would fly by and in the first 6 months that didn't prove to be so true. Since then time has flown. It is so fun to watch her grow and develop, to try new foods, take her first steps, and start trying to say new words. It is fun to celebrate each new milestone with her.

Here are some of the things she has been up to lately:

She loves her "dada" and talks about him all day. If I ask her to say mama she almost always says dada.

She loves to walk around and carry her toys or drink with her in at least one hand, if not both.

She signs "please" every second of the day because she is always wanting something. :)

She LOVES animals. Looking at pictures of them, making animal noises, reading stories about

them.

She can make sounds for a dog, lion, elephant, and sometimes cat, monkey and cow.

She really enjoys being outside and playing around the bench in our front yard.

Recently, she has started sitting still long enough to read books with us.

And just today she unlocked my iPhone for the first time [oh no!]

I love this little girl with her sweet smile and sassy attitude. I'm looking forward to what the next year brings and watching her grow even more.

Christmas

I know this post is super late but the last few weeks have been a bit hectic for us. The craziness started the week before Christmas when Jeff's family came out to California to celebrate Christmas with us and go to Disneyland. We had such a fun time with them while they were here and had a successful trip to Disneyland with an 11 month old, a 13 month old, 3 year old, 5 year old and 6 year old. They were amazing for our 13 hour day there.

Raegan and BG

BG and Caleb in the snow!

Laney and Kaelyn

Raegan and Daddy

After our time with the Braun side of the family we flew up to WA to be with the Hiller side. We had a wonderful time celebrating Raegan's first Christmas. We got to go to church on Christmas Eve and see lots of family we hadn't seen in a while. Here are some pictures from our time up there.

Raegan and my Grandpa love each other very much
Kendall and I with our 2nd cousins [who are like brother and sister to us] Taylor and Bailey. So fun to get together with our spouses for dinner.

santa picture

Since this is Raegan's first Christmas I really wanted to get a picture of her with Santa. We were at a party last week and they had a Santa there. Anytime we would go near him she would hold onto me so tight so I knew it might be interesting trying to get a picture. Friday night we went to Fashion Island to get a picture with Santa. We got her all dressed up in her Christmas outfit and she was really happy all the way up until she saw him. I don't really need to explain what happened after that because the picture does it well.

happiness and joy

Over the last few weeks I have really been thinking about these two words and what they mean. What they mean for me, for our family and for others. I have been faced with the news of people becoming ill, people passing away, and marriages struggling. A few weeks ago I was talking to somebody about how God desires for us to be happy and they challenged my thinking in that. God doesn't promise us happiness, he promises that with his spirit in us we will have joy. In all of that I go back to God and remember that we are living in a time where Christ has come and he will come again. It's interesting that this is on my mind now as we are quickly approaching Christmas, a holiday that is celebrated because of the birth of our Christ, the savior of the world.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:10

The good news is that God sent his son into this world to be among his people and ultimately to die for our sins and bridge the separation between God and humanity. He sent his son for me and for you and for every other person. Because of that we can live with the knowledge that we are saved and will live forever with Christ.

I have really been trying to remember this as we are going through the Christmas Season and am so thankful for all it means to me. When Christ lives in us we are filled with joy.

Family Pictures

Last week we had our wonderfully talented friend Shara take family pictures. She and her family just moved down here from Fresno. I met her through some ROCKHARBOR friends and have really enjoyed getting to know her the last few months. She has the sweetest family!

There are so many fun places to go in OC. We decided to go out into nature this time which was a bit interesting. It ended up being cold and super windy. Poor little Raegan's lips kept getting more and more purple as time went on. However, Shara took some amazing photos and we are so happy with how they turned out.

Here is one of my favorite family photos. Raegan wasn't too sure what was going on at this point!

This shot really captures Raegan's sweet smile and squinty eyes. I especially love those little teeth in there!

Lately Raegan has been really cuddly and I am so enjoying it! I was trying to warm her up a bit right here. Look at those eyes :)

Our little sweetie looking at her daddy.

Love.