Descanso Gardens and Red, White and Blue festivities...

A friend took Jonathan and I to Descanso gardens for the morning a while ago and I have been meaning to share pictures for ages- this is a link to the Descanso Gardens site: http://www.descansogardens.org/ 

This is a picture of our friendly 'tour guide'- Caroline (she is in our Bible study and it was such fun spending time with her.) 

We didn't go everywhere since the gardens are about 160 acres big- but I have added a 'few' snapshots from what we did get to see.

Here are two pics of the entrance area:

Here is a picture of a walkway area and also a shot of some barbel/catfish for my dad!

Here are a few of the Japanese garden area:

This is a lilac field but we missed the major blooming time... but you can see some blossoms in the second pic

Here are some pretty scenic ones from on our way to the rose gardens:

Some of the rose garden area:

Note Jonathan's exhilaration reflecting on the roses in this pic:

Then... we saw some Egyptian geese, a crane and even a tortoise while he napped!

Here are some last ones of us relaxing under some beautiful trees at the end of our walk:

Well... I planned to share so much more in this post, but it has gotten to be a book once again... so I will work on getting the rest of our news up asap-

Blue just had his first 'red, white and blue celebration' 'Fourth of July' and here are two pics from our day!

Yummy red, white a blue cupcakes and we all dressed in red, white and blue too! It is so fun to just join in with the festivities!

I am so thankful for this life and the beauty of places like the Descanso gardens... plus fun days like 'Independence Day', where we got to have fun times with friends- but it is all so obviously a foretaste of what is to come. I long for heaven- where we will be in His perfect presence and everything will just make sense. 

I love this quote by CS Lewis which really summarizes what I am trying to say- "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." 

New surroundings...

Well, it is finally time to show you our new home... 


We are so thankful! I am pretty sure that I thank the Lord for our sun-filled, bigger home almost daily! It is such a blessing to be able to have open windows, fresh breezes and the sun's reflection dancing on our walls!


When we found out that this apartment was going to be available (They are provided to seminary students at a lower rate by a couple that attend our church and there is a long list of students who would like to move in...), we honestly thought that we would have very little to put in it... 
We had a bed, couch, cradle and a few of the bookshelves...


But the Lord provided everything you see in these pics- including an incredible experience where we had our very own 'Gillies' home-makeover! We even got to go to IKEA and buy things we needed and liked! (I mean... who are we to experience all these blessings?!?!?) :)  It feels like our home testifies so loudly of the Lord's kindness to us! 


Okay, time to take a tour! This is our lounge area:

The kitchen:

Dining area and a view from the balcony:

Our bedroom:

The bathroom:

Blue's room: (We recently got given this beautiful 'sleigh' crib:

A view from our front door:

I love this passage in Psalm 127, it is in verse 2: 
"It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labours; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep." 
I always thought it meant that He gives sleep, but actually it looks like He gives to us even while we are sleeping- ie. it has very little to do with our effort and everything to do with who He is. :) 


Here are two pics I recently took of Blue- he seems to really enjoy photo shoots! I have been wanting to do some with just his diaper on and that penguin hat before it got too small! 

 Then... we received such a fun parcel from SA- from the Bakkes'! Look at how creative Heleen's packaging was! The package was filled with fun African things! Including the outfit and toys you see in the pic of Blue below...

It is so funny because Blue loved eating both the giraffe and the lion and managed to get some of the lions fur into his mouth! Izak and I joked that he has only ever eaten milk and lion's fur!


Well... we hope that you enjoyed the time in our home and we look forward to hearing from you!


LOTS of love!
Your LA Bakkes'

All things BLUE!

It feels like it has been forever since I last posted... And it pretty much has been! Our son was born on the 20th January 2012 (My grandpa's birthday) and we named him Jonathan Turner Bakkes (Jonathan means 'The Lord gives'...). He pretty much goes by many other names too- as many of you remember, we still call him 'Blue' and other variations like 'Blue-Blue', 'Moo', 'Little Monkey', 'Monkey Moo' and the list goes on!
We have also moved to a LOVELY two bedroom apartment and life is good! It has been such a blessing to have more space especially with our new Bakkes family addition who does not seem to fully grasp the concept of 'silence', and this even in his sleep! I thought I would devote this blog to some glimpses of the last few months and will try to include pics of our new apartment next time (since there are STILL some boxes to be unpacked!).


So here it goes, a whirlwind tour of our last 3 months:

And then... two that I took today... love this one that is so close up...

And... a friend of mine always takes pics of her little one next to a toy to see how much her little one has grown and I decided to start it... at 12 weeks! May be a bit late and the bear may be a bit little... but let's see how it goes!

And... to end it off... here is one of our balcony view of the LA skyline... (I should try to take one for you at night...it is especially beautiful with the city night lights...)

Well... Sorry for taking so long to write this post- I will try to be more faithful in the months to come! It has definitely been an incredibly tough couple of months of adjustment but it has been INcredible too. Only the Lord could weave together tough times and beautiful times so perfectly. :) I LOVE being a mom so much. It is the best job that I have ever done and so rewarding! :)
I was reading this the other day and it just encouraged my heart so much! (Been thinking about how knowing the Lord is so much more important than anything else...)
It is from Jeremiah 9:23-24, 
"²³ Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴ but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”"