Blake's Swim Lesson Videos

Here are two videos from Blake's first pool experience. Sorry we didn't edit out all our jibber jabber.

Blake's First Swimming Lesson

Here are pictures from Blake's first swim lesson in Grandma and Grandpa Hurst's pool. He enjoyed the water and is quite the swim fishy. We are still in Oakhurst because the Eurovan broke down and Andrew has to replace a water pump (parts stores are closed on Sundays) tomorrow so we can drive home. Everyone pray for the Eurovan and hope we get back to San Jose sometime soon.









Here is crazy Uncle John.

Kyle Turned 3

This last weekend Andrew, Blake, and I celebrated Kyle's third birthday with his family and friends. It has been about six months since I stopped nannying for their family and I do miss those boys!

Here is the Curious George jumpy house. Sarah (the new nanny) is in the red holding her youngest son.


Christy and Tyler's best friends Joe and Andrea recently gave birth to their baby girl Peyton.


This is how Kyle reacted when we sang Happy Birthday to him.


Ready to blow out his candles.


Blake was asleep in the corner (note the party hat on his bucket) until we clapped at the end of the candle ceremony.


Kyle enjoying his cake.


Aden with helmet hair from riding his scooter all around. He can do wheelies now.


Kyle loved every single gift he got. It was nice to be around a thankful child.


We had a great time and Blake loved being at a party. He was a bit overwhelmed, but he loves to watch the kids run around.

I Can't Drive 55

No really, it is not very fast. We love our new VW EV MV (Volkswagen Eurovan Multivan) Westfalia version. In normal Hurst fashion we have put 250 miles on the beast in the four days we have had the van! Andrew has gone surfing twice in Santa Cruz and we deem it the perfect surf/hippie van. This morning's surf session was great because Andrew played around in the surf while Blake and I hung out in the back of the van with the bed laid down.

If you know anyone who wants to buy a 2000 Chevy S-10 truck let us know since we will be selling Andrew's truck.

Here are the van's stats: seats seven, rear seat folds down into a bed, pop-top camper tent (sleeps two), rear facing middle row of seats, fold out table for fun card games, and mini refrigerator beneath the driver's side passenger seat. We are planning a Jalama camping trip in August and will be driving the Eurovan up the California/Oregon/Washington coast come October. Everyone pray we make it there and back without any major problems. We have a few more things to fix mechanically and then we can get to fixing some cosmetic issues.




*race car sound effects, but VW horn is real

Here I am enjoying a Slurpee from 7-11 since they were giving them away free because it was July 11th.



Andrew and baby Blake napping in the back of the Westy.

My Latest Crochet

Here are my latest crochet creations.

I made this for my friend who just had a baby with the idea she could use it as a changing pad, burp cloth, or whatever she wants it to be. It was fun to make.


Today, I finished another baby sweater for another friend. I couldn't resist using orange yarn. There is a new yarn shop in town that sells eco friendly and fair trade yarns so I made this out of one of their pima cotton yarns. The green edging is a soft combination of hemp, cotton, and wool. It is way too hot to be crocheting sweaters, but it was fun.

Aren't They Incredible

Blake is the luckiest guy around. My father and grandfather just finished making a block set for Blake. Here is what my grandfather had to say about the blocks:

"The 114 blocks, made from scrap alder and oak hardwood obtained free from Hughes Hardwood, have been left unfinished. The three storage boxes, 8 1/2” wide x 12” long x 6” high, made from white oak salvaged from the North Ridge Country Clubhouse when it was rebuilt in 1998, are finished with environmentally safe varnish. In addition to cutting the largely modular blocks (on a base cube of 1 3/4”), many hours of router work and hand-sanding have gone into the blocks to not only smooth them, but also to round out all edges & corners for safety and to minimize potential splintering."



Not only will Blake grow up playing with one-of-a-kind blocks, but now the two woodworking geniuses are building Blake a toy box. Here are some photos of the work in progress.



I am so thankful for all of the hard work they have put into the blocks and toy chest. The two of them create such great stuff and they never cease to amaze me with their craftsmanship. I love you guys.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Happy Birthday to you! You are the best!

Happy Day After the 4th!

Here is our happy family on the 4th of July. Barley dog, our friend Danika and Peter's dog, joined in on our family photo. I tried to get Andrew to match us and wear the same outfit, but that was a bit too much for him. He settled for a pattern to stand out and show his American pride. We showed up to Barley's party three and a half hours late because I wrote the wrong time on my calendar. What horrible guests we were, but thankfully our friends gave us a "get out of jail free" card this one time. I really need to work on my multitasking skills! I hope everyone had a great 4th and just in case you were worried, LuLu survived and only made a medium size accident in our entry way.

New Shoes, New Memories

Blake was so lucky to have had his cousins stay with him this last weekend. He loved all of the attention Mia gave him and followed her every move with his eyes. Nick was nice enough to allow Blake to use his pillow as a barrier/spit up catcher. Andrew took Nick on a tour of Google where he ate stringed cheese, grapes, and played in the ball pit. Future Googler? We will have to wait to find out.

*Just reminding people that Nick was my ring bearer in our wedding. Can you believe how he has grown.


Blake thought all of us should venture out to the Great Mall in Milpitas before everyone had to leave. We shopped for seven hours and Blake was great! While Nick and I were in the back of OshKosh, Grandma El was in the front buying these shoes for Blake. They are so adorable and he is absolutely fascinated by them. Here he is posing with his new treads.


I kept trying to get him to look up at the camera, but all he wanted to do was stare at those shoes. Since I didn't grow up with many cousins, it was so fun to watch the kids play together. He will grow up with great family memories for sure.

Blake got his third round of shots yesterday and weighed in at 14lbs. 10oz. Andrew and I weighed him on our bathroom scale the other day and told everyone he weighed 15 pounds. Sorry, I lied! I predict he will be 15 pounds pretty soon. He has eczema on his belly (that is my genetics right there) and baby acne on his knees and elbows so the poor guy is going to be slathered in cream tomorrow after his bath.