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Monday, 19 January 2009

Jan. 20th:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRACY!!!!!!
Have a wonderful day friend!

Friday, 26 December 2008

The 'kids' had a great time on Christmas.

Tuesday, 09 December 2008

Okay, I'll admit it...I have been overtaken with Facebook and have left Xanga by the wayside. So this one's for you Tracy . I have some serious adrenaline going tonight so I'll try and recap.
I feel so redundant in saying it...but really where does the time go...and how is it possibly December?! November marked Emma's 5th birthday. She had a fun bash at My Gym. It was a fun bunch of her church and Kinder friends, as well as our soccer team.

Then it was time for Thanksgiving - Tom's mom put on a wonderful meal and it was such a blessing to be with both our families. It was extra special to have one of Tom's aunts and cousin and her daughter join us. The girls had another kid to play with for the first time at a holiday . But we definitely missed Uncle Bobby & Auntie Landi as they were abroad for the holiday. I have to say having a 4 day weekend was wonderful!

Soccer has remained a constant through it all. This past weekend marked the end of our season with a Friendship Tournament - the girls each had two games which meant all day at the park so we took a picnic and made it a day. The Pink Ponies finished well & Lauren's team ended up making it to the championship game on Sunday which we didn't play in. They came in 2nd overall. I was thankful that even with the passion Lauren has for soccer she understood why we weren't going to play on Sunday. Each of the girls' team will have end of year pizza parties next week.
Saturday night marked our traditional trip to the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade. The closest we get to small town and bundling up here in So. Cal. We have been going since Julia was 9 mos. My parents and Beck joined us and we had fun as always. Although I have to say I was sooo tired - nothing a little cotton candy and hot chocolate didn't cure .

At the moment gearing up for our big neighborhood event tomorrow night. It will be my 2nd annual toy drive and evening with Santa and the Big Red Bus. I think this may be why I am still going strong tonight - going over the master to do list, checkin it twice...So until next time...merry christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

Sunday, 16 November 2008

This Sunday morning finds Lauren & I home from church. She has been complaining since last night of her chest hurting and a stomachache. Not sure if it's fire related or a cold. Hmmm. She has stayed in bed listening to cds all morning which is so not like her. So we'll just take it easy.
It was a good week - it was stange but nice to have a day off of school in the middle of the week for Veteran's Day. On our day off Tuesday, we met my mom and Becky for lunch and shopping at Toys-R-Us since Lauren & Emma had gift cards to spend. Then we hurried home and Julia headed off on a date with our elderly neighbor Andy, the adopted neighborhood grandparent. He's been asking to take her to the bookstore as they share a love of books. They went to lunch and came home with too many treasures. One of which was the dvd Oliver. Since watching it you can guess what we've been hearing belted out at the the top of lungs around here..."Consider yourself..." That is until yesterday when we all watched "Singing in the Rain" since Lauren's soccer game was cancelled due to air quality.
We all had the priviledge of having a photo shoot with Kristin from church late Tuesday afternoon. I tell ya getting 4 people 'picture perfect' was quite a task. Thankfully, Tom can get himself ready . We were excited to see the pics up on her site http://kristinrogersphotography.typepad.com/my_weblog/.
The girls got out the rest of week at 2 due to parent conferences - it was nice have them all get home at the same time. Friday was full of impromptu fun - Tom, Kirk & Sam had scheduled a boys' night so Julie, Kim, Jill & I followed suit and had our own girls' night complete with pedicures, take-out & a good movie rental.
Last night Tom's sister had 'Thanksgiving' at her house as they'll be out for town for the holiday. It was nice to all be together. I'm insistant on group photos where we're all together.

And now another week is upon us. I'll leave you this Sunday with an excerpt from this awesome email I got from Tom's aunt who is on a missions trip in Quito, Ecuador:
The responses of the people who come through the vision station. As she tests the peoples eyes and fit them with reading glasses... immediately after they put them on some of they would get tears running down their faces...some would say "I can see...it's a miracle...or it's so clear. God Bless you!" And then some would say "how much do they cost?" And she would tell them they're free and tears would roll down their face. It's such a blessing to be a part of their blessings!

Missionaries were lead by God to this area 17 years ago when there were no evangelical Christian churches. Today there are over 100 churches in this area many of them are indigeounous tribes in the high mountains and tropical jungles, and some of these tribes used to be fierce head hunters. Praise God that His word never stops setting people free.

Monday, 03 November 2008

It's been a busy couple weeks with an unusal amount of travel with all the normal stuff mixed in.
Two weeks ago I was able to attend a conference for two nights with Tom in Phoenix.   It was very strange to be in 90 degree weather and be able to wear a swimsuit. I have to say I loved it. The hotel was on a beautiful piece of property with lots of places to explore and/or sit and read, Etc. I was particularly convicted at my lack of prayers specifically for Tom's work. I was thankful for quiet time to pray in this area. Thankfully, Nana was able to step in and stay with the girls.
We still have soccer going strong, but the schedule will lessen a bit with the time change and dropping one practice. Lauren's team is still ranked #1 with only 3 games to go so it's getting pretty exciting.  The last couple of Emma's games have been much more enjoyable as they finally started providing referees for the U6 games.   This has thankfully eliminated the bullying I was experiencing. Saturday's game was our most fun yet.
Last Wednesday I was able to get out of town with Julie & Kim to New York. We had such a great time on our whirlwind trip. We had one full day to wear scarves & gloves , shop, people watch & soak in the city. One highlight had to be sitting in Central Park sipping hot cocoa.

I flew in Friday morning to be sure to make it to the day's festivities. It was the Jog-A-Thon fundraiser at the girls' school which kind of frustrated me as to the choice of days. Expecting kids to run 20 laps and then be able to trick-or-treat at night?! We made the best of it and really had fun with costumes this year. I am thankful for Google images to copy for make-up authenticity .
We had the priviledge of having Gordon Taylor at church on Sunday. I especially enjoyed the ARBCA updates on France and Switzerland he present in Sunday School. Such wonderful work!
Looking forward to voting tomorrow.  In the words of John Piper "we need a healthy dose of the sovereignty of God" as we head into election day tomorrow.