Birthdays

February is a very celebratory month for Jake and me. Jake jokes that February is an expensive month because of Valentine's Day and the many birthdays. It begins with his grandmother's birthday on the 7th, then his sister, Kate, on the 9th, his Mom, Betty, on the 13th, his sister, Sarah, on the 16th and me on the 25th. Twenty years ago I got a niece to join me in February (Suzannah Hasson, on the 23rd) and this year I got a late birthday present- Eden Elizabeth Feffer born at 6:44pm on the 26th. February is a very exciting month indeed!

Eden is my 7th niece, my sister's third daughter. When Ashlie became pregnant with her first daughter, Josephine, we hoped it was a girl partly because Ashlie and Adam were sure they were going to be blessed with boys. Then little Eleia Ruth came along and again most were shocked that it was another girl. In June, Ashlie became pregnant with her third child and didn't have near the morning sickness as she did with Jo and Lou (Eleia's nickname). Overall, she felt this pregnancy was different. September came and the ultrasound delivered God's desire for it to be another GIRL! Once again we were surprised, but blessed with a healthy baby. Now Eden has arrived, the heaviest of the three- 8lbs 8oz and 21 inches long. and she is a treasure. With their three jewels, Ashlie and Adam do have their three boys- Jo, Lou and Ed. :) Happy days at the Feffer homestead. SO thankful this girl has been born, as I had been waiting on pins and needles for the call to come to San Jose for her arrival. I truly love each of my nieces and nephews with a love that only an aunt can have. It is such a blessing. Welcome, Eden. Glad you could join the awesomeness of February. :)

1 Year

Today marks Isaac's FIRST rotation around the sun!

It's amazing that one whole year has gone by since this little man graced us with his presence. We had a pretty mellow day: went to Music Together, opened a couple presents from Grandma and Grandpa Springsteen and Ike got his FIRST true dessert- a chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting. 

Betty did the flower on the top :)

Mmmm. The cupcake is actually not that unhealthy; it has carrots in it (that has to count for something)! 

Isaac was not impressed and  a little unsure about the cupcake at first...

Then after exploring it some...

he decided it was quite a yummy treat!

It's been really nice having Jake's parents here and Ike has enjoyed the attention!

Ike tuning his first guitar

Ike loved his card!

I often think I couldn't love him any more and then I wake up to another day. Thank you, God, for continually growing my heart more than I could ever imagine.

Happy Birthday, Ike

Happy Birthday Ashlie!

Today was my sister's 34th birthday. She is a fantastic woman through and through.

Even though I was not with her on her actual birthday, I was able to drive to San Jose on the 4th to make a birthday eve dinner and dessert. Isaac did great hanging out and playing with all of the Feffer's toys and I enjoyed cooking, visiting with my sister and playing with her girls. I also got to see my brother-in-law, Adam, which was a treat since the last couple times I've been with Ashlie, he has been working.

So dinner was Ina Garten's Spring Green Risotto with rosemary parmesan rolls from Trader Joe's (those rolls pair with everything!) and for dessert I made a Tiramisu Chocolate Mousse and got a double chocolate bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Deliciousness!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLIE! 

I am SO thankful that God blessed me with you as my big sister!

Happy Halloween!

I felt very underprepared for today. :( I love Halloween, but I didn't decorate or even dress up as anything really fun. Thankfully, earlier this month I picked up a possible costume for Isaac just because I walked by it in a store and thought it looked cute. Well, thanks to that day, I present to you: our little lion

We were on the phone for at least an hour with our bank getting our credit card figured out and this little boy kept us smiling! 

Jake had to fly out for work this evening so we tried Isaac's outfit on in the afternoon. 

After I dropped Jake off, Isaac and I dressed up and went over to my cousin's neighborhood to hang out and hand out candy. Isaac did not succeed in taking a full afternoon nap, so he was a little tired (as you can see in his pics with Annabel), but he hung in there!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Mrs. and Mrs. Hansen Curran

Today one of my best friends married the love of her life. We have walked with each other through a lot of changes, struggles and triumphs over our decade of friendship and I was honored to support her as she married her girlfriend of 4 years. What a time in history to be a lesbian! There are so many opinions and conflict surrounding peoples' choice to love one another, that it was a privilege to attend such a glorious celebration filled with love and support. The woman officiating began by discussing the mystery of God's plan as outlined in Ephesians chapter 3 and Paul's prayer:

14When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,^e 15the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.^f 16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

20Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT

As I listened to the words and truth of God, I couldn't help but beam from the Spirit igniting my soul with pride of what God gives us in Him and the honor of what these women are becoming together. It was so great to be a part of such an occasion.

Congratulations Megan and Emily!! You are bold and beautiful and simply two of my favorite people. May God bless your life together!

Cotton

Yesterday was Jake and my 2nd wedding anniversary. It's really not very long, especially when you think about all that has happened and it's only been TWO years since we said, "I do." Either way, I am still incredibly happy and blessed to be married to Mr. Jacob Springsteen. Not only is he a great husband, he is also an awesome father.

The traditional gift for 2 years is cotton and the modern gift is china. We already have china and I was thinking we would have Chinese food, but Jake is on a pretty limited diet right now, so that wasn't going to happen. So for our gifts- Jake got me a robe. He wasn't entirely sure it was cotton, but he made sure it was at least "made it china." ha. Good job, honey. :) I ended up getting Jake (and kind of myself) a cotton hammock. We spent the afternoon and the evening cuddled up in it. Pure bliss! I was impressed how comfortable it was with both of us in it, particularly at night when we watched a two hour show on Jake's iPad! Success.

In the afternoon, I set up Isaac's chair right next to the hammock so we could talk to him and he could eat his chicken.

We also let our kitties out for the first time. A few days ago we got them up to date on shots and we also got them new collars and tags. They need one booster in a couple weeks, so we only let them out while we were outside and close to dinner time. :) They had a marvelous time exploring the yard.

All in all a lovely relaxing day with the ones I love. God is good.