Sunday, April 21, 2013

Griffith Park exploring including Big Boy Bob's and Travel Town

For anyone who has undertaken going through seminary or is currently in the process of getting through it, you will know exactly what the 'last month of the seminary semester' means! It is a busy, busy time. It involves Izak often being at the library until it closes and not seeing very much of him. To be fair, this can be all semester long, but it is especially apparent at the end of the semester! I am sure that there are many other students with far heavier loads and I am so thankful for how much we still do get to enjoy Izak! 

The Lord is so gracious and kind. I love Him so much! :) There are so many treasures in my life that reveal His grace shown to me, one of which is my dear friend, Jen. She goes to Grace Church too and I met her at the Bible study that we attend. She is such a gentle and kind person and has been so intentionally kind to us. (Her husband and Izak get along really well too.) 

Well, she does such sweet things like takes me to get my hair cut and takes me shopping for some things that we need etc. It is amazing to see someone who loves the Lord so much and has a heart for others... like her and her husband do. We often thank the Lord for them. 

Well, this was going to be such a very busy weekend for Izak in terms of school work and Jen took Jonathan and I out to explore the Griffith Park area. The below pics will hopefully help you feel like you came along with us! :)

First, she took us out to lunch to 'Big Boy Bob's restaurant', which is a very old establishment in LA, a landmark really. There were photo's of various actor's on the walls who have frequented it. And there were scenes shot there from a couple of movies. It was a fun experience! They also apparently first created the 'double-decker burger'! 

Here is the sweet Jen and Jonathan in front of the restaurant:


 Jonathan being very creative with a crayon! :)
 After lunch, we headed out to 'Travel Town'! It was so much fun! Jonathan like most boys seems to enjoy trains and it was great to see him look at them etc. It was also amazing to see that the entrance was free and a train ride was only $2.50 per person. PLUS Jonathan could go on the train ride for free. I think it is free for children up to 2 years old. 

 Here are some pics from the Travel Town Museum:





 Somebody say "TRAIN RIDE TIME"! I think I was more excited than Jonathan for this one! hehe. It was Bean's first train ride too. 




You can see evidence of the bump in this one. :) Bean at 17 weeks.
 This was so sweet, Jonathan was enthralled with the little stones on the railroad track. He kept going to get a few more and his little fists were filled with them! It is always the most unexpected things that amuse him!


You can just see the delight on his face specifically pertaining to the little rocks in this pic!
 And then, as if lunch and Travel Town weren't enough, Jen took us to the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round! Jonathan was very intrigued and making his excited sounds right up until I placed him on the horse and then he began crying his little heart out... so we sat down on one of the benches on the merry-go-round instead, and he pensively documented the whole experience in his head. :) 

You can't tell, but I was trying to persuade him that he did actually want to be on this horse and did not actually want to cry his little heart out... but maybe next time!

Well, as usual, I hope that you enjoyed exploring with us! It was a beautifully warm day and one that we all enjoyed so much! Like I said, it is so encouraging to have experiences like this in the midst of the final section of this semester.

It makes me think of that passage in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where the Lord reminds us that "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness...." His grace really is enough in these harder times and it is amazing to see that if you trust Him, it almost makes you laugh to see how He undertakes for you despite how circumstances appear!

I hope that you are well, and would love to hear from you!

Lots and lots of Bakkes love!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Blue and Bean...

It turns out that Blue is going to have a little baby brother! Bean is also a boy! Well, it looks 95% certain. We are very excited! I can just imagine how fun it would be for a little boy to have a brother not much younger than himself! It also helps so much to have had a little boy (so we have some experience although they say that all babies are so different!) and still have Blue's baby clothes to 'pass along' to Bean! :)


Our little Bean at 6 weeks and now we know that he is a little boy!

Izak is in his final month of seminary for this semester and it is bu-sy. His first summer class begins the very week after this semester ends, so he won't get much rest before that begins, but hopefully there will be a small gap or a little more room to rest somehow.


There is a big chance that we may be visiting San Diego with friends at the end of May for 2 days and seeing Sea World and the San Diego Zoo! We are very excited about that! I am sure that Jonathan will be mesmerized by all the action! What a fun experience to be looking forward to!

Well, I will be in touch, I pray that this Scripture would be true of us:
Psalm 19:14,
"
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."

Monday, April 1, 2013

It's about time... :)

There are no excuses for taking this long to write a new post! We are all well and Izak is almost done with his third last semester, before completing his MDIV! To state it more plainly, he has one year left of his MDIV after May. Lord, willing, we would love to stay for an additional year and a half and have him complete his THM. It sounds like a long time, but if you think about it in small 'bite size' pieces, we will only have one year left, and then an additional year and a half... Lord willing. :)


Our little family with Bean at the Griffith Park Observatory when Emily visited us...
For those of you who are not aware, we are also expecting our little number 2, 'Bean'! We are very excited and Bean is one of the reasons for my lack of energy displayed on the blogging scene. But, Lord willing, I am back!

Jonathan is getting so big! He is trying to communicate with us and it is so sweet. He will look you right in the eye and babble earnestly, expecting you to understand and respond accordingly! It is such a blessed adventure to be a parent and that is for sure!

There are so many things to be thankful for! I literally feel overwhelmed to begin to try and list them (overwhelmed in a good way...). But, I would say that His faithfulness to change us to be more like His beautifully perfect Son, is my favourite thought of all. What a privilege to see the Lord of the universe working in our lives to bring this change and to bring Himself due glory!

Izak has had his preaching classes in full force this semester and has been enjoying it far more than he expected! It has been such a blessing to witness the Lord enable him to write amazing sermons (biased wifely perspective?!? hehe) that he is truly passionate about and only the Lord is able to equip us like He does. 


One other thing has been on my heart. We are not able to travel home any time soon with the little one on the way and the trickiness of a visa situation and it was so hard for me to be away especially with certain trials and my one little sister having her first baby and the other getting married... I just wished that I could be closer. But after a recent EWG (Every Woman's Grace) study, I was encouraged by a discourse between David and Jonathan where they knew that they wouldn't see each other soon and in 1 Samuel 20:23 it says, "And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.” It really helped me so much to think that the Lord is with our family and friends while we can't be. He is with us both simultaneously and He is a better Help than we could ever be to each other! What a precious truth to meditate on. :)

Well, my plan is to do far more short posts and this is the first of them. A wise lady helped me come up with this plan and I like it!