Charlie's 5th Birthday!

Charlie is 5! Where has the time gone?  I have images of him being a baby.  Wasn’t that just yesterday?  We had a nice celebration with some friends on the hill.  Cars was the theme.  We pulled out everything from his room that is from the movies cars to decorate for the party.   After that his room looked bare!  We had lunch, played some fun Cars games, ate a most fabulous Cars cake (made by Mike), and enjoyed being together for a very special celebration.  It was quite a day!  Thank you God for Charlie and thanks to all who love him!

Fall Festival

We were grateful to be able to participate in a safe and fun Fall Festival put on by one of the local churches on the hill.  The kids got dressed up.  They ate food, played games, and got loaded up on sugar! We also found out that a tire swing is a ton of fun!

Camper Picnic

We had a great turn out for our Camper Picnic on October 23.  We had received about 60 rsvp’s and had planned for that much food and fun.  Then the weather happened…  But as we are always reminded, God is bigger than the weather!  It was raining just about everywhere in Orange County the morning of the picnic, and the park for the picnic was in Orange County.  But right where we were, it was not raining.  We received a few calls that morning to see if we had cancelled due to rain.  People were amazed that it wasn’t raining at the park.   Thank you God!  We had 60 people come and we all had a great time.  All the campers participated in the games and seemed to enjoy being together.  We encouraged the campers to continue to be “Transformed” by God and to live for Him in all they do.  We were blessed by a great turnout and a great day of weather, all provide by God! 

Fall Festivities

We joined some friends at Riley Farms for apple picking.  It was a great time.   Charlie & Gracie are still so excited every time they eat one of the apples they picked from the trees.

The kids also enjoyed carving pumpkins.  Really they weren't too sure about the insides, but they had fun with dad.



We have a Kindergartener!!!

Can you believe it!  Charlie started school August 23, 2010.  He has been so excited, even counting down the days until he would go to school.  Now it is finally here.  There are 25 children in his class and his teacher's name is Mrs. Gray.  So far so good! 

Kids at Camp

Here is Gracie attempting to be in a skit.  When the time came to perform, she got stage fright!

This butterfly was attracted to many campers because they had just gotten wet in a fun water game.  I love Charlie's face!

Sad News

It was finally time!  Sierra, one of our dogs, needed to be put down on August 23, 2010.  She had been growing increasingly sick over the summer months.  It was so sad to watch her.  She seemingly had a tumor above her left eye.  It was growing bigger and pressing in on her eye, so much so that she was unable to see clearly.  She was not eating and had lost a lot of weight.  We were trying to hold off as long as possible with the hope that she would just get better. But the time came and we knew what needed to be done. We have enjoyed Sierra's love and sneakiness for the last ten years. She was a great dog and is greatly missed!

From July 19-23

This last week of camp was quite a blessing! We were short a few counselors and staff too. Of course, God took care of everything. The campers He brought for this week were just super sweet. Overall, they wanted to participate in all the activities, they asked great and deep questions about the Lord, and were a real joy to spend time with. However, personally, I felt disconnected from the campers to a degree because I was in the house often doing a lot of behind the scenes jobs. Honestly, I was getting grumpy because I wasn’t able to engage with the campers as much. I was feeling selfish and the whole “oh, woe is me” attitude set in. I was ready to eat a worm when God reminded me what camp is all about…HIM! It was Thursday night, the last night at camp; we had just sent all the campers off to bed, when Carrie came in the house with her counselor, Melissa. Melissa told me that Carrie wanted to pray to receive Christ into her heart, and she wanted me to pray with her!!! Was I ever blown away! What a blessing to be a part of this great moment. The three of us went out front to a bench and sat down together. I asked Carrie if she knew what she was doing and if she understood it all. She replied with a great big yes, with a great big smile on her face. So we prayed something like this… Dear Jesus, Thank you for loving me so much. Thank you that you died on the cross for me. Please forgive me of my sins. Please come into my life make me a new creation. Help me to grow in you and to live for you for all of my days. Amen. Melissa and I both grabbed Carrie and gave her the biggest hug. Carrie was excited. She believed that God has an amazing plan for her life and she wants to live for him and share him with others. Thank you God for this opportunity! Thank you for helping me take my eyes off of me and see you and your wonderful works!

Some Recent Pictures!

Oh, The Kids Are Growing!

The other morning I went into Charlie's room to get him up.  He was already awake, but he was pretending to be snoring under the covers.  It was quite a sight and sound!  I sat down on the bed and gave him a little tickle.  He came out of the covers with the biggest smile on his face, and boy, he can make it from ear to ear!  I grabbed him and cuddled him in my arms, which is pretty difficult now that he is as big as he is.  I asked him if he knew that there was a time when he was only 10 pounds, when he couldn't walk or talk, or even go potty on the potty?  Of course, missing the point, he reminded me, that he used to go potty back then, it was just into a diaper!  I kind of got teary eyed thinking about how much he has grown, that he is a big boy now and he is only going to get bigger!  And Grace is a whole other story.  This girl, let me tell you, is becoming a little girl!  She was so tiny for so long and really she still is.  She is thin and petite and just so cute.  But all of a sudden her legs look longer and she seems taller.  Really it's her big personality that stands out so much.  She has a joy about her that fills a room in seconds. And she is a smart cookie.  Just about the time I think I can stump her, she comes up with  the most brilliant answers.  Lately, it has been, "I'm just kidding!", "Are you sure?" and "God made me!" She's good!  It is a blessing to be a parent, to watch the milestones, and to see the ah ha moments.  Thank you Lord for the opportunity to be a parent and to have so much joy because of the children!

Celebrating Easter!

What a great time we all had remebering and celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection!  It doesn't look like it, but both Charlie & Gracie had been sick with ear infections, high fever and lots of grumpiness!  Despite, we had a fun day together.  They enjoyed finding eggs, figuring out how to open them, eating as many jelly beans at one time, and talking about how much Jesus loves them! Thank you Jesus for your love!

Another Answered Prayer!

Would you believe it?  Charlie started praying that we could go to Disneyland.  We told him to pray hard and often because Disneyland is sure expensive!  We are getting a strong feeling that God hears Charlie's prayers!  Some wonderful friends of ours blessed us with the opportunity to go and we all had a blast.  How many words is a picture worth?  Well, here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how much fun we had! 

One Snap Shot of Winter Camp

Camp seems to have become a second family for Paula. It is sweet when she comes to camp, as we get to catch up and see where she is with the Lord. This time was no different. She got off the bus and fell right in to my arms. I got the biggest squeeze ever! Over the course of the weekend, I saw Paula’s participation in all of our discussions. It was as if she was looking for some answers without being too obvious about it. Later, she asked two pretty heavy questions…How can you stand up for Christ when no one else around you is a Christian or even seems to care, and How can you be a Christian but struggle with messed up thoughts about sexual identity? Her heart was aching and broken. Her family said they were Christians but really didn’t live it out. Any time she tried to tell them more about Christ and His ways, she got shut down. And, her past abuse left her confused about her sexuality. She knows what the bible says and she believes it to be true, but her mind is telling her lies. As tough of questions as these were, we both saw God’s word and love giving her encouragement and comfort throughout the weekend. Our winter camp theme was My Heart, Christ’s Home based on the book by Robert Munger, and our memory verse was Ephesians 3:17 Then 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. It was God’s perfect timing for Paula to be at camp when she was, and it was God’s perfect plan that this was our theme. It was a gentle reminder for her to trust in Him all the more and that He will keep her strong.

God Answered Prayer!

We made our first trip to pre-school today! Charlie has been praying that he would be able to go for quite a while. And today it happened. The pictures tell the story from being at home to the time in the car and getting to school. As you can see, he is not at all excited or happy!!! The first thing he said to the teachers was that he was too shy to say hi. The next thing we knew he was playing and making new friends. A few times while we were there he came running over to us and explained what he was learning about, and this was while they were having free play time. "Hey Dad, look, I'm learning about blocks!"  "Mom, look, I'm learning how to drive!" (as he drove a car around a track) He was not even bothered when we left. He barely even took the time to say good-bye. As for mom and dad, well, it was harder to leave. Our boy is growing up! Thank you God for answering prayer!

Happy 2nd Birthday Gracie!

Everything is Minnie Mouse and pink as we celebrate Gracie's 2nd Birthday!  We started the day by singing Happy Birthday to her as we went in to get her out of bed.  She was excited!  As you can see, we gave her a Minnie Mouse dress up outfit which she was more than ready to put on and play in.  Grace received some real nice gifts. The Mickey Park Playhut was from Susie.  The pots, pans and play birthday cake was from grandma.  Aunt Shelley and family sent a cute summer dress.  An apron and chef's hat helped in keeping her clean as she made her birthday cupcakes!  We had a great day resting after a fabulous winter camp weekend, celebrating Grace and the gift we have in her, and praising God for the many blessings we have!