(Ahem.) Announcing the highly anticipated arrival of KARIS JOY SUNUKJIAN! (Pronounced "Care-iss" meaning "full of grace.") 

Born December 28th at 6:39pm. 8lbs. 14 oz. 20 3/4" long. We are thrilled and tired and she is all kinds of chubby. Thanks for your prayers and cares!

Check out her birth story here!

Maternity Photo Shoot

I finally got a professional pregnancy photo shoot and am so thrilled with how the pictures turned out!  Thanks to my friend, KarinaVB, for the lovely pictures - and to Kristina, for gifting me the shoot!

 

 

Much LOVE to this baby!

A Visit from Dear DC Friends

Two of our family's favorite people in the world, Ben and Barbara, flew out from DC to visit us in our new Santa Barbara home.  You may remember that Barbara lived with us our last year in DC and we set her up with Ben, our church worship leader, and they got married last December!  (Ben is not one to brag about his skillz, so I will.  He is recording in Nashville as we speak.  You must check out his awesome music...)

After picking them up from LAX and greeting them with an In-n-Out burger (of course), we drove up the beautiful coastline while the sun was setting.

The next morning we took them to the iconic State Street where they just happened to have pianos out so that Ben could serenade us!

On Saturday we had a picnic at Westmont (Luke's alma mater)

and then headed for the beach (of course)!

Ben surprised us with his instant paddle boarding skills

and the kids showed off how quickly they have become beach bums.

Ben and I are puzzle nerds, so we were sure to have a 550 piece puzzle out during the weekend that we all finished just before they had to leave.  We even converted Barbara to the joy that is puzzling!

Though we don't have pictures to do it justice, we ate well all weekend long.  (OF COURSE!)  Barbara was particularly fond of the great Mexican food we have to choose from around here.  Can you say GUACAMOLE?  And we had a lovely picnic, playtime, and sunset viewing at the Santa Barbara Mission.

They have been wonderful friends to Luke and I and the kids absolutely adore them.  (I think the feeling is mutual...)  Thanks so much for making the effort to see us, Doggetts!  We love you dearly!

John's 6th Birthday!

Our sweet, fun, goofy John turned 6 at the end of September.  And in a completely predictable turn of a events, he chose a sports-themed party.  (Thanks to Shayne for the new Dodger shirt!)

There was baseball (and jumping,)

soccer (and lots of running,)

kickball (even Luke joined in,)

volleyball (with not very many successful volleys,)

and climbing?

And we brought back the classic baseball cupcake from his 3rd birthday with his own suggestion to make the stitching out of licorice.  (I found an organic gluten-free one - who knew?)

And for John, eating also happens to be a bit of a sport.

Thanks to all his great friends for the generous gifts!  

And we even remembered to get the unusual family photo!

We LOVE this kid!

Leah's 8th Birthday Party

In mid-August, we had Leah's 8th birthday party at - where else? - the beach!  Since Leah invited friends from a variety of social circles, we started with a little "pass around the beach ball and get to know each other" game.

But the highlight of the day was Luke's homemade beach obstacle course.  

It was so popular that random children lined up for it and one mom asked when he became "Dad of the Year."

Luke took the kids through for a trial run.

Here's John getting all set for his turn.

And we ended our time with a big swim.

Of course, cousin Lily came to hang with Noelle.  Have I mentioned these girls are 2 peas in a pod?

And kudos to Gina for braving the LA traffic to bring cousin Elena so she and Leah could get some much needed time together.

Baby Daniel also came - notice they have a little blondie too?

And John was excited to play with cousin Joseph!  

Of course we created beach-themed cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, gluten-free cookie crumbs for the sand, and cute drink umbrellas to finish it off.

The girls had a grand time and we are grateful for the sweet friends Leah has already developed in such a short time.

This year in particular, we have seen Leah grow into a sweet girl who is an encouragement to the younger girls around her.  Her countenance is a true joy.

We love you Leah!