A New Year. New Beginnings.

One of my goals this year is to blog regularly. Since, I have left the land of Facebook, I feel blogging will help me to share my thoughts, pictures and stories in a more private arena. So, here's to blogging in the new year.

The Beginning of it All

This month marks 13 years since I embarked on my YWAM journey. Thirteen Years!
YWAM taught me to hear the voice of God. This is the basic foundations to walking with God. We can talk to Him all we want, but if we can't hear His voice, what's the point?

This year, 2010, will be a year of listening, growing, grounding, giving and sacrificial service to honor my God.

This year, my family will come to know God, my neighbors will see the light of salvation, my students and fellow teachers will see the joy of the Lord. This is the year of the Lord's favor!

Proclaim it over your family and life. God promises His favor. Believe it. Greater things are yet to come...

Christmas 2009

This Christmas was quiet and meaningful. We declined many offers of Christmas parties and decided to stay home and do things with each other and the kids. I wanted the month to be celebrated how it should, with reflections of who Jesus is.

When we get so busy and distracted we lose sight of this.

I wanted this Christmas to put my heart and spirit on the right path for the new year.

I pray as the kids get older they will have more of a sense of who Jesus is and what Christmas means. This year they knew it was Jesus' birthday and they made Him a cake. Next year, I hope they will grow more excited about celebrating Jesus' life as they begin to understand more.

October is here?! And nearly gone?!

This year, Claire wants to be a kitty for Halloween. I just couldn't resist this costume with the tutu. She's excited about getting her face painted on Halloween, and so am I!

I love having dear friends like Becca. It's not often we get moments like this, when no children are hanging off of us. Awe, how relaxing...
Tanner and Gabe carved pumpkins, while Claire created a painting masterpiece!
And, this is our newest addition, Kona. He's four months now, but growing so fast. Claire is his master for sure. He completely listens and follows all of her commands. She spends hours each day riding her bike in the backyard with him. I just love watching how she interacts with him. He's a true gem. And, I'm sooooo glad we trained him to be an OUTSIDE dog!

Mexico 2009

We were blessed by my parents this past week when they decided to take us on a family trip. All expenses paid: food and activities, too!
We spent 8 days in Nuevo Vallarta in a beautiful 2,600 sq. foot villa. The hotel was nearly empty, so we had top notch service and attention.
We rode horses on the beach, went on a pirate ship, swam with dolphins and took a dinner cruise to a secluded beach.
Aside from having nasty colds/flu on the trip and when we got home, it was still the most amazing vacation of our lives!

The Return of the Blog: Prepare to Be Amazed!

So...here's what happened in the last year.
1) I graduated from Fresno State in May.
2) We celebrated our 10-year anniversary on June 12.
3) I thoroughly enjoyed my summer by getting in shape. Down almost 20 pounds of fat and 10% body fat!
4) I started back at school, National University, for my teaching credential.
5) We got a boxer puppy. Named him "Kona" after where we met.
6) We're headed to Puerto Vallarta, Mex. for 8 days tomorrow with my parents.

Life is good. I'm more in love than ever with my husband. The kids are growing, 2.5 and almost 5! I'm ready to go to work. Being at home has been great, but I'm getting burned out a bit. I know it's just a tough age, 2, but I think I'm still ready to work.

My goal is to blog at least monthly. We'll see...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well,
another semester has flown by. I didn't blog. Two weeks til finals!
I registered for my very LAST semester a few weeks back and it was such a relief. Great joy and excitement filled by heart as I punched the final course numbers into the computer and hit enter.
I'm nearly there! I've done it. I've nearly completed the road God set me on almost 5 years ago!

Tomorrow is my 30th birthday. Not overly excited as I've had a bummer week.
Hope it's everything I imagined!

Next week, Tan and I will head to Vegas for 4 nights! No kids! We soooo need this time to reconnect and grow closer. I pray that it is an awesome time and that the kids are good for my parents.
Thank God for my parents!

So, that's the scoop for now.
I'll be posting some new pics later.

So... too busy to blog. Sorry.

It's been too busy of a Summer and it's nearing its end.
My extensive Summer time project list is nearing its completion with only two short weeks left before the start of a new semester.

Here's the Summer rundown:
Lots of swimming, swim lessons of course.
We just had a lovely visit from Nana Ria. The kids just adore her and did not want her to leave. In fact, Gabe ran away to the neighbors' house right when we were trying to get ready to take her to the airport. He was trying to keep her here a bit longer, I guess. Little stinker.
I started selling Pampered Chef and had my first show last night. It's so fun to get out and have fun with adults! And, I make money, too.

The kids have kept me busy this Summer, but it's been fun. Here's a few pics of them.

Tanner's Canada Trip

Tan got to go up to Vancouver for a week to visit his family two weeks ago.
He went up to visit his grandpa, Lorne, who was ill with cancer.
This was an emotional trip for Tan. He knew he was going to say goodbye to his grandpa and he went alone.
His grandpa passed away last week, 5 days after Tan left.
He feels so blessed to have had that time with him in his last hours.
Tan got to see his old friend, Kyle, who we haven't seen in years. That was fun and awesome how God worked it out so Kyle would be in town the same days as Tan.
He also spent time with his sister, parents, grandma, and aunt.
How great a time.
I sure missed him around here. It was my first time alone with the kids in a long time and the first time for such a long time. We survived, but it was great to have my awesome helper and "daddy" back.

June 12, 2008: 9 years!

We celebrated our nine year anniversary by spending a weekend at Bass Lake away from the kids for two nights!
It was awesome to be together and not have the distractions of the world. Tan is my best friend and we have so much fun just hanging out.
I woke up early every morning and had some awesome quiet times just reading my Bible and Osteen book and listening to God. How great was that!?
I heard God's voice so clearly there as I was not distracted with my daily chores and running kids around.
I loved my time with Tan, but I received and awesome blessing as I grew closer to God as well.
I hope every married couple with kids gets time to be together alone. This is a huge blessing and we are so thankful to have family members that love to stay with our kids.
I look forward to the next nine years together. My how we've grown the last nine. We grew up together and now we are entering our 30's!
I love my years with Tanner and now I truly know God placed us in the same YWAM school at the same time for His divine purpose. What an awesome God who cares for us in such a huge way!

Fireproof Movie

The Blogging returns! Another semester is complete!

I finished what feels like my 80th semester at college. It was the easiest semester ever. Four classes, all in the Mass Comm. and Journalism area, and what a nice break from math.

At first, I found myself bored and missing the challenge of math. Then, I realized about midway through the semester, that I wasn't missing math at all. I was getting A's on everything and relaxing about tests. My husband was not stressed because I was not stressed. It was great.

So, kudos to the MCJ major!!! Thanks for making my life easier. Only six more classes til graduation. (Next May, in case you were wondering)

Now, onto SUMMER! Lounging poolside, sippn' tea, bikini tan lines, brown babies, and camping with the fam! Here I come!

30 years!!!

Tanner turned 30 on May 8th. He was honored to have some close family and friends to share in his celebration. Many people shared about Tanner's awesome character. It was humbling for him and inspiring for others.

I'm so blessed to be married to such an amazing husband and father. When we got married nearly nine years ago I knew he was special. I didn't know how awesome a man of God he would grow into, but I trusted God had my best interest in mind.

Thank you God for allowing me to marry him. Everyday is wonderful with him and a day without him is just not as fun.

One year!!!

Our little girl turned one!(April 21st) She loved her party, especially the "Happy Birthday" song for her.

We can't believe this year has gone by so quickly.

As a first-time parent, the first year of your baby's life goes so slowly. You are tired and overwhelmed. Every coo and smile and roll over is marked by 100 photos and phone calls to family. The video tapes are full of hours of nothing.

Then you have your second baby and time just flies. Not as many pictures of our little lady. A fraction of the video.
Poor second children. Good thing we stopped at two or who knows... would people even know we had a third?

Well, here's to another year. This year will, I'm sure be filled with many new events: walking, talking, running!, climbing, hitting, biting, and many, many more sweet little girl kisses.

Happy Birthday Miss Claire!!!

Fun in the sun!

Gabe is getting too big for the tricycle. Time for a big boy bike. Stay tuned....
Boogers for sale! Any takers. Poor girl is teething like mad.
Our princess basking in the sunlight.

Eleven months...

My beautiful girl is growing older...

She is crawling like a pro.
She claps for everyone and everything.
She eats everything.
She still likes to nurse, lately at midnight?!
She is in love with her brother.
She loves long walks in the stroller.
She loves the action at the gym daycare and the church nursery.
She befriends everyone.
She repeats every word we say, mostly, but especially the "b" words.
She's a true, die-hard mama fan.
She is 18 pounds of pure cuteness.
She is my last baby.
She's growing up too fast.

The Princess Party

Ryley had her 4th birthday at Storyland in the castle. Gabe was a knight. It was a blast until Gabe decided to run away and disappear from us for nearly 5 minutes. For those of you with children, you can imagine the panic that goes through your mind.

We found him playing by himself in the Old Woman's shoe, not scared, not realizing that it is not a good idea to run away from your parents. We left that party early and wished we could go home to a stiff drink, but thanks to our current diet, we resorted to Crystal Light flavored water.

Show your muscles!

These boys are too funny. Gabe wants to be just like his daddy. How cute! I had a good laugh on this one. Hope you do, too. The video is Arnold's body building movie, in case you all want to go out and rent it. We, of course, own a copy.

Another mad morning

Do you ever just have one of those mornings; where the kids didn't sleep great, yet your husband did, you are wearing mismatched pjs, your mascara is smudged so you look like a raccoon, the coffee pot contains just enough for you to enjoy about 3 tablespoons of coffee, and your husband is out with his friends enjoying a nice morning together. Ugh!
Well, I had an attractive morning. Both kids were cranky, too. Teething baby and whiny 3-year-old. Fun times.
So, I summoned my lovely husband home via the great invention of texting. He came home early to my rescue like my knight in shining armour. Then I enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch with my big sis at a Thai food place. Yum.
Now, I'm refreshed. Both kids are napping. Tanner has fallen asleep in Gabe's bed....again.
I just love a quiet house and the little sounds of my tapping on the keyboard.
Well, yet again I am feeling God's best blessings in my life. Great kids, awesome husband, and a full tummy. Amazing how a nice lunch can change a morning full of bitterness and untamed aggression.

The kids being funny again.

The sandbox flooded this year: proof that it does rain here.

My boy eating his popsicle off the ground.

Little miss monster face returns!

Claire went golfing.