So I'm Not the Best Shot......

August 2006

It has been a whirlwind....from saying good-bye to Jer and Steph to saying hello to Baby Toby, August has been an incredible month. Paul and I went camping in Big Bear (which was wonderful), we spent a weekend with his Mom and Tom, and I went to Hong Kong for a week-long work conference.

I got the call at while I was in the terminal at the Hong Kong Airport that Baby Toby Russell Stillwell was born on August 25th at about 8:30 a.m., weighing in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long!

Jake likes his baby brother!

Here we are hiking on a beautiful trail up to an amazing lookout over Big Bear Lake.

My wonderful husband made an amazing breakfast of pancakes, sausage and eggs on the camping stove Mel gave us for our wedding. Thanks for the awesome wedding present, Mel!

When Mom and Tom came down to visit, we went to the San Clemente Arts and Crafts Festival and the Sawdust Festival, where we admired the art and jived to the reggae. She bought me this cool floppy straw hat - I love it!

Here I am in humid stormy Hong Kong after a long ferry ride!

Gotta love foreign sign translations

Right after I got back from Hong Kong, we got to celebrate my friend Emily's birthday at this yummy restaurant in Temecula called Harry's Grill. After a week of Chinese food, filet mignon tasted SO good!!! I was so out of it when this picture was taken....I had been awake for more than 24 hours.

Baby Christian Wilkinson just keeps getting cuter and cuter! It's hard to believe he's already two months old now - how time does fly!

July 2006

July was a month of great celebration and great sorrow. We celebrated with our dear friends, Beth and Eric at the birth of their firstborn: Christian James Wilkinson. We also got to celebrate with visits from my cousin Mark and my friend Sarah, and we celebrated Michelle's 27th birthday at a dinner theater! We also celebrated the arrival of Mel in Pasadena! But we grieved as Jeremy, Stephanie and Baby Jake packed their things and moved to Oregon. We are so excited for them, but we miss them terribly! I gained Mel, and I lost Jer & Steph.

Eric, Beth and Baby Christian

Baby Jake loves to smile for the camera! Look at those pearly whites!

Here's the gang with Cousin Mark! It was fun getting to see him again at Sharon & Gary's.

We also got to spend a weekend with my friend Sarah Andrusko, who is moving to France as a missonary. We spent the day together at the Getty Museum (which is really cool!) and "shopping" on Rodeo drive.

Michelle and I also got to go to the Hollywood premiere of "The Barnyard." Go see it and watch for Michelle's name in the credits! She got really mad at me for yelling her name out when I saw it in the credits. I couldn't help myself.

Mel lives here now!!! She joined us for lunch one day after church. Just like old times!

Saying good-bye to Jer, Steph and Jake was REALLY hard. Here they are in front of their moving truck. Poor Steph....just imagine being 8 months pregnant and having to pack and move 1,000 miles away! She's quite the trooper.

June 2006

In June, we celebrated Baby Jake's first birthday!

We also spent Father's Day at Grandpa's with our Dads. Whenever the Dads get together, the Stillwell-Jackson blue grass band emerges!

Maria and her new friend share a common affinity for empty water bottles.

Oregon Bound!

During Memorial Day weekend, we helped Paul's Mom and Tom move to their beautiful home in Cottage Grove, Oregon. They are SO happy to be retired and are enjoying a 3-month RV trip all over the country before settling down in their new place.