Happily Ever After......

New Blog

2009-08-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

Come check me out on my new blog www.nateanderica.blogspot.com
Hope to see you there!!!

Less than a Week!!

2009-07-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Well we are counting down days now! I can't believe it is almost here. I am very excited but starting to feel a little nervous. I have been doing my best to make sure the little things don't bother me but as they day draws near I feel my anxiety level increasing. I really want to enjoy my day and am hopeful ever thing will turn out fine. Then we are off to Mexico for a week of relaxing! Yea!

8 Days!!

2009-07-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

Time is flying! I can't believe the big day is getting so close. Last night some wonderful ladies threw me a bridal shower and I had so much fun! I was truly blessed by all the wonderful gifts and their kind words. Tonight some girlfriends and I are going to hit up the town for a girls night that is going to be so much fun! I haven't gone out on the town with both of my sisters before so I am very excited that they are joining me. Friday night I have a party for my girlfriend who is getting married two weeks after me and then another bridal shower Sunday night. I am going to be exhausted by the time this weekend if over. I am trying to enjoy it all as this is a once in a lifetime experiance!

10 Days

2009-07-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

10 days until my wedding day! I can't believe it is almost here. Surprisingly almost everything is done even the small details! I keep waiting for something to go wrong but so far it has been smooth sailing. The next few days are going to be jam packed until the wedding with lots of events but after that things should be calm until the big day! I can't wait for it to be done because then it is vacation time!!!!

Be Back Soon

2009-06-29T14:31:00.001-07:00

I have been so busy lately there has just been no time for posting. The wedding is less than a month away and there is so much to finish up! I hired a property manager to help get my house rented out as there is no way I will have time to get it done. Unfortunately I have to get all my stuff out before he can get renters in. I was hoping to put that off until after the wedding but he really thinks we should have it ready for August 1st. I despise moving!!! It is such a pain to try and figure out what is worth taking and what you can live without. Every time I think I have done a ton I turn around and see so much more to do. Saturday I had a yard sale and got rid of a bunch of stuff so there is progress. I have also started filling up the garage at our new house. Soon Nate won't be able to get his truck in! Hopefully once I am all moved out I will be able to get some new pics up and let you know what we are doing!

Room Update

2009-06-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well we finally moved some more of Lexie's furniture and it is all coming together. I really love how room is looking!

Here is her vanity

Her Dresser

Lexie's most treasured possession. This used to be my Grandparents cookie jar.

Mandy's Room

2009-06-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

I figured since I posted a picture of Lexie's room I should post a picture of Mandy's new room. She used to be in Lexie's room. I just love how her room is turning out. Every time I do something new Mandy thanks me and says "It looks cute! Thank you for making my room cute!" I still have some more things to do in here but I think it looks great so far.

I wanted this clock for Mandy's room the moment I saw it.I kept looking at it for weeks before I bought it. The girls love it and I hope it will help with learning how to tell time!

The playroom side. I just love having the units on the other side of the room for toy storage. You can see the girls still have quite a lot of toys because the ones out don't fit in the storage units!

New Room

2009-06-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

One of the things we have been working on at the new house is getting Lexie's room ready for the big move. I really want her to feel like this is her house and that she has her own place in it! We upgraded Lexie to a bigger bedroom set. I really loved her old furniture but she has really outgrown it. The bedroom set she will be using is from my Dad's side of the family and is just beautiful. So far we have only moved the bed but I hope to move the vanity and dresser this week! I also let Lexie pick out a new comforter for her room. I loved her choice but it took 2 months to show up! We finally got it this week and Lexie couldn't wait to put it on her bed! I think the paint color ties it all together.I was a little worried since I picked the paint color without having seen more than a photo of the bedroom set!

It has more things that go with it but this is what we have so far! I love how it looks!

Young Lives

2009-06-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

Young Lives Fundraiser Thursday June 11th at T-Bar from5-8!!!

They made it!

2009-06-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last night 5 of our teen moms graduated from high school. We were so excited to be there for this exciting accomplishment. I unfortunately left my camera at Nate's house so I had to call one of the other mentors and ask her to bring her camera. She said she would email me the photos so hopefully I should get them posted in a day or two. It was a really nice graduation and very intimate. The school had 109 graduates and said it is the largest graduating class they have had in 40 years! That is saying a lot since a lot of the kids at this school don't make it past 9th grade. Some of these kids are parents holding down jobs on top of going through school. Congratulations Deisey, Amanda, Jenny, Tabatha, and Jennifer. We are SO proud of you!

Young Lives BBQ

2009-06-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday was our last club for the summer.It is a really mellow club where we just hangout.

This is Jennifer.She is graduating from high school on Wednesday! We are so proud of her. A lot of girls drop out and just settle for a GED. We really celebrate the ones who stay the course. Besides school she works 2 jobs for a total 60 hours a week!

Tabatha and Melinda

They get to bring a guest. Sometimes it is the first time we meet the Dad's.

This is Savannah, Roger, and Travon. They all lived in the Young Lives house with their moms.

Then it was time for graduations. I headed it up this year

At the end of the year we "graduate" girls who are too old to keep coming. Some girls are 13 and 14 so we graduate girls when they hit 20 as the age range can make for interesting challenges. We try and plug them in with playgroups.

I made a diploma for each of them and picked a different verse for each girl that I hope will encourage them as they continue on their journey.

We have to do the ceremony because if we don't they won't leave! I will miss this one the most! I hope someday she will come back as a junior mentor. We still meet for lunch once a week.

Melinda our new director gave a very energetic talk. She is way more exciting than me!

This is Emily. She is our "do it all" mentor. If we need something she is the first to get it done. Here she was providing information she found about freebies in the area to the girls. We love Emily!!!!! Travon loves Emily too!

So until the fall...... Boom! That's club!

Happy Birthday Little Princess

2009-05-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

My Baby is 9!!! Ahhhhh! I can't believe we just celebrated her last single digit birthday! I can't believe how much she has changed this last year! She is an amazing piano player, she performed in her first play, and she is reading very difficult books! Not to mention she has grown out of two different clothing sizes. I can hardly keep up with her. She is a wonderful daughter and I am so proud of her!

A new webkins!

We played lots of fun games. These girls are very competitive!

Crazy friends!

Lexie has been asking my Mom to make this cake since I had one in January! She was so happy with it. She even reused my candle!

Cheese!

Lexie and her presents. She made out great! One of her favorite presents was this really cool kite my Aunt Jan gave her. She can't wait to get out and use it this summer!

The whole gang!

Fun at the Lake

2009-05-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun up at the lake this weekend. It is always nice to get away and it is so much cooler up there!

Lexie opened presents

This isn't a new DS she dropped hers so the repair was my present to her!

Grandpa Mike opened presents.(I don't know what we aregoing to do with all these May birthdays!)

Abby opened more presents since it was her real birthday

This one wanted to still open presents too! Can you blame her?

Then we celebrated with giant cupcakes!

They had fun making a huge pit and filling it with water.

She was shivering soooo much but we couldn't get her out of the water!

The beautiful lake where we will be married in two months!

We can't wait!

She's a star!

2009-05-26T20:23:00.001-07:00

Lexie chose the drama elective this semester in school and has been so excited to be in her first play. Last week she was finally a star.

The chosen play was Pinocchio and it was amazing

Here they gave introductions. She played Jill, a little girl in the land of toys.

Her face just glowed up on stage while she waited for her part!

And then it was time.... a star is born!

She had so much fun!

I am so proud of my little girl. She is growing up so fast.

Happy Birthday Abby!

2009-05-16T19:59:00.001-07:00

Abby's 7! Well almost 7. She will be next week. We just have so many birthdays at the same time that we have to spread them out. Yesterday we had her friend party and then later on we will do a family party for her and Lexie since their birthdays are only 2 days apart. Here is Abby with some of her friends!

Her school friend

Her friend for the longest

Her cousin

Two sisters....so sweet!

Ready to blow out the candles!

She was so excited about her cake!

Lexie's Concert

2009-05-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

Lexie's school held its Spring Concert last night. I unfortunately left my camera at Nate's house so I don't have any pictures. I know I am a horrible mother. Every time I go to an event at Lexie's school it confirms to me that I made the right choice sending her to private school. It is a sacrifice financially for me but the education and experiences she gets there is far superior to any other education opportunities in this town. The concert last night blew me away. Kids played multiple kinds of instruments, danced, and sang. It was AMAZING! Lexie was also extremely excited because her Aunt "T" and Uncle Scott were there to watch her. After the concert Ben and Jerry's had ice cream carts out side and we indulged with a sundae! Yum!

Happy Mothers Day to Me!

2009-05-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got these beautiful lilys delivered to my office.......

My very thoughtful fiance had these delivered to me as an early mothers day present from him and the girls. He wanted to make sure I had all week to enjoy them at work. He is so thoughtful and good to me. Thanks Nate!

Club

2009-05-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we had our last club of the year before the end of the year BBQ. It is always so much fun to get together with all the girls and hang out. It is amazing how much changes in a month. Here are some pictures of our fun evening.

One of the mentors Heidi

Cassie and her niece Kylie

One of the mentors Emily and one of the babies Rafa

Miss Madelyn leads our music

Three of my favorite girls

Our fearless childcare leader Sue

Fun Games

This was Erin's last club so we took pictures of her and the girls before we all started crying!

Erin is always a big fan of the silly photo so in honor her we did one last one.

New Closets

2009-05-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Since I am getting married this summer there are a lot of things on my to do list besides the wedding. The main thing is our move to Nate's house. I have started packing up things that we don't need right now so there is not a lot to do later on. One of the main things I wanted to get done in the next month is to get Lexie's new room painted and set up! In order to get that done though we have to move Mandy to the upstairs playroom. Nate's house is a four bedroom but he uses one as his home office so our only option for all three girls to have their own rooms is to convert the upstairs playroom to bedroom. We discussed this issue a lot because the playroom is twice the size of the bedrooms so whoever gets it gets the claim to saying they have the biggest room. We also want to leave the current toys in their so the person who gets this bedroom also has to let the other girls in to play. Mandy fits the mold the best because she is the most willing to share and isn't too concerned with privacy like the older girls. The one drawback to the playroom is there is not a closet in there. This weekend Nate and I headed to Ikea to see what we could find. We wanted to get a closet for Mandy's clothes and also storage for all the toys. I was really excited with what we came home with. Nate liked them so much he put two of them together as soon as we got home!

We got two of these wardrobes and this dresser for between them.

Once we paint we will put together the other wardrobe and it will fill up the wall very nicely!

There is plenty of room in the wardrobes for her clothes and the dresser has deep drawers for toy storage!

Look Who's 4!

2009-04-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow little Amanda Rose turns 4 so yesterday we had her birthday party! It was a perfect day for an outdoor BBQ and Mandy had a lot of fun. It is amazing how she has grown up over this last year.

Mandy was making us all laugh while she opened her presents as she is the slowest present opener ever! She made us wait....

and wait....

and wait....

And gave us dirty looks when we started chanting "Rip it Open!"

Finally though we succeeded!

She got a baby....

and another baby

and another baby! She was in baby heaven!

She was most excited about this though!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-19T21:11:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter! Sorry my post is a little late but things have been crazy around here! I have been non stop planning the wedding, packing things for our move, and planning three little girls birthday parties. Luckily everything has been going very smoothly and I am determined to not let anything stress me out. Here are some pictures of the girls from Easter. Enjoy!

Monterey

2009-04-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Nate and I headed to Monterey to enjoy a weekend trip I had earned at work. It has been quite a few years since I had been in the area so I was super excited to head that way. When we arrived Friday night it was extremely windy and we were worried that was how our whole weekend would turn out. Luckily for us that was not the case. We stayed in the super nice Monterey Plaza Hotel and had amazing service there. I have to say it is probably the nicest place I have ever stayed in my life! We ate a lot of amazing seafood while we were there and did a lot a walking. One of the things I was most excited about was going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I started taking pictures as soon as we got there and realized that I had no idea how to work my camera in that setting! All of the pictures I was attempting to take through the glass were coming out blurry and dark. I called my sister Alyssa in a panic and begged for her help. Lucky for me she is an amazing photographer and has the same camera as I do. She talked me down and helped me pick the proper settings for taking the aquarium pictures! Here are some of my favorites.

We also went down the famous 17 mile drive

Pebble Beach Golf Course

the lone cypress

Oh and I almost forgot...... while we were in Monterey this man......

asked me.......

to marry him! To which I of course answered....... YES!

Happy Birthday!

2009-03-24T20:06:00.001-07:00

Wednesday marked a milestone in my man's life. He finally hit the mid thirties. I keep reminding him how lucky he is to have a young girlfriend in her twenties.

After all not many men his age can pull it off. He is still young at heart though. Actually he can still out wrestle me and the girls.

Four against one isn't really fair anyways.

I am extremely lucky to have this man in my life. He is so good to me and a great example to Lexie. I can't wait to spend many more birthdays with him.

Birthdays where he gets older and I stay young and hot! Love you Nate!

Betty Crocker

2009-03-14T20:49:00.001-07:00

Okay so I am no Betty Crocker but on occasion I like to try and cook new things. Today I decided to try some new baking projects. One of my favorite blogs The Pioneer Woman has been featuring how to bake Cake Balls in her cooking section. She has made cake ball cupcakes and pops but I decided to attempt the basic ball. It was a little time consuming but I was able to get three loads of laundry completed during the different stages of the baking. Mine did not turn out looking as flawless as hers but it was my first time. Also I didn't but enough chocolate so I was trying to be stingy in how much each ball was quoted with! Here are my completed cake ball below.

Valentines Club

2009-03-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we had Young Lives Valentine's Club. In years past we have done a spa club where we pamper the girls with facials and massages. This year we changed it up and hosted a fancy dinner. A high school boys bible study volunteered to serve our dinner and cater to our every whim. The referred to themselves as the Bromans (they are bros studying Romans) and we just snapped our fingers and they were at our sides. When the girls first arrived at club we dressed them in the finest clothes and accessories we had available to us. They all looked at us like we were crazy but that is normal for most clubs. They just never know what is going to happen each club and we have fun surprising them each time. It was a wonderful message and a good time for all. It was nice for them to see how guys there age are supposed to treat you. So many of them are surronded by men who treat them and their kids poorly!

I rocked a bridesmaids dress from my Mom's wedding. Look familiar Aunt Gail? She was a bit smaller than I am but I squeezed into it!

Even Lexie got dressed up

These girls were all smiles

Drama Queens

My Angel Deresa

The Bromans serenading Erin for her birthday!

All of us in our finest! Don't we look awesome???

Tule Goose

2009-02-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ever since Scamp left I have missed having a puppy to cuddle with on the couch. He was only nine pounds so he didn't take up too much room. I have attempted to fill that empty void with Nate's puppy Tule. Nate keeps telling me it is a bad idea and that she is only going to get bigger. I don't listen though. She is just too cute! I started to rethink my invitation to her the other day when she attempted to over whelm me with kisses!

We started out fine......

Then she started looking at me funny and I knew she was up to no good!

Aaaaaahhh!!! Someone save me!

She is too big! I can't stop her! Stop laughing at me Nate. Put the camera down and help!

Okay I think she is done!!

I just love this little dog even if she is getting big. She will love me too...... until it is time to go hunting!

Cool Pictures

2009-02-16T20:25:00.001-08:00

I love to take pictures with my new camera. It is way more camera than I have ever owned and I need serious photography lesson. Still with this camera I have been able to capture some cool pictures of the amazing wildlife in this area. I can't wait to see what other things I may fing I like to photgraph as the seasons change. Lucky for me I have an incredible man in my life who is willing to take me out to take this pictures. Here are some of my favorites!

Deer

And Turkeys

And lots of Geese!

And one of me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! The girls and I had a nice day together while Nate worked. I took advantage of a brief break in the rain to take a picture of the three of them outside in their matching sweaters. It started to rain while I was taking them so they didn't turn out so great. One of these days I will spend some time messing with the pictures but for now you get the straight out of the camera shot. We went to LaComida for lunch then headed to Nate's so we could cook him dinner after his hard day of work. I also took some photo's of the beautiful roses Nate had sent to my work the day before. I am a lucky girl as I was the only one to get flowers at the office!!

It's so hard to say goodbye

2009-02-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

There are many hellos and goodbyes in a lifetime and this week we experienced a goodbye. This week Lexie and I were forced to say goodbye to our constant companion Scamp. After 3 wonderful years with this dog Lexie and I had to make a choice to find a new home for our little guy! It was tough to have to make this decision but my hands were tied when he bit Mandy. I am not sure what happened. I think his vision was impacted after the raccoon attack this summer. Who knows. He wasn't a bad dog though, he just needed a better home. I spent a lot of time interviewing prospective owners over the phone and invited some to meet him. I finally found what I hope to be the perfect home for him. Lexie, Abby, and I have been extremely said about saying goodbye but we are working through it. After all time heals all wounds......

Here are some pictures of Scamp right before he left. I am sure going to miss this little guy!

Long Awaited Hunting Photos

2009-02-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

Okay so maybe all of you have forgotten about my one hunting trip but I haven't. I finally got around to getting the pictures off of Nate's computer so I could share them with. I am sure you are all so excited! I am glad I was able to document my one trip out to the blind. After all it took me forever to walk out there with my over sized waders and boots that were 5 sizes too large. I had to see what all the excitement involved in a day out duck hunting and it was fun....... for one day. I think it was just too much work to have to go through every morning! Nate and his Dad sure seem to enjoy it so it must be fun to some.

Nate checking out the duck situation!

I am ready to go! Nate was kind enough to lend me his jacket. He says all of my clothes are too shiny! He is so picky sometimes!

Check out all the ducks just sitting a few feet from us!!! Okay they are really just decoys.

Remington bringing back the Wood Duck Nate got. He didn't mention to me until this moment that because I was closest to the dog blind I would have to take the ducks out of Remi's mouth! Very sneaky Nate!

Remington is waiting for the next duck to fall. She is out of the blind most times before Nate can even shoot!

No Duck Pictures!

2009-01-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

So my mom had emailed me the other day and said that she was glad that duck season was over as well so that I would post pictures of things other than ducks! So because she requested I am happy to oblige with pictures of her! These are some pictures that I happened to get possession of that she and my Dad took while hiking. I thought they were very nice pictures and for those of you out there stuck in winter storm mode you can see how pleasant it is here. Okay well these pictures are from last year sometime but the weather is wonderful here. Enjoy!

Duck Season is Over

2009-01-28T19:53:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful that duck season is over! I thought that I would never get my boyfriend back. During duck season he lives and breathes duck hunting. The only time I think I existed is when shoot time was done for the evening. I know he enjoys it though. I mean who wouldn't enjoy sitting in the field in the wind and rain. It takes something that you really love to drag you out of bed in the early morn when the rain is coming down. I did enjoy the one time I went out with him. His Dad was out of town and so I was able to snag a seat in the blind. I will have to have Nate find the photos so I can share them with you. I have gone through the hundreds of duck photos and found a few of the different kinds of ducks to share with you.There are quite a variety of ducks and geese in this area. We also get some beautiful swans.

Northern Shoveller

Wigeon and hen Pintail

Mallard

Lots and lots of ducks

Deer at the refuge

I'm still here!

2009-01-24T13:08:00.001-08:00

Here are some more pictures from Christmas. It has been so busy lately I have hardly had anytime to go through them and pick my favorites! I also have them all on Nate's computer and since I am only here on occasion I don't have too much time to spend organizing them. Today happens to be one of those rare days when I am here all by myself. Nate is out saving the world, Lexie is with her Dad and the other girls are at their grandparents. That gives me a few moments between the dogs jumping all over me to try and post!

Nate and his girls in front of the tree

The one picture that was taken of me.

The girls with their grandparents

Sweet Abby. I swear that girls is always smiling!

Mandy is the little snuggler!

Here we are on New Years Eve. Lexie was determined to stay up until Midnight and she succeeded. I on the other hand was dying. The other girls and Nate tried to stay up but just couldn't make it. Nate went to bed at 8:00. Abby made it until 8:30 and Mandy was too tired to stay up past 9:15! I will give Nate credit that he did make it downstairs to ring in the New Year 30 seconds before the ball dropped! Lexie and I set up my camera to take our picture toasting in the new year with our sparkling cider. We had a lot of fun!

Cheers!

I love my girl!

Ducks

2009-01-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas!!!!

2008-12-29T20:33:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Nate gave me an amazing new camera. It is a Canon Rebel and it is way more camera than I have ever had before This camera does more things than I think I will ever learn how to do. It is pretty darn cool. The girls are getting tired of me taking their pictures all the time! I have some pretty cute ones but it is going to take me some time to go through them and I don't think I have the energy to do it tonight. I picked out one of each of the girls and I will try to post some pics of everything we have done the last week. Nate keeps saying that I have replaced him with the camera. I told him that is in no way possible. After all I still need him to take me out so I can take pictures of ducks!

Mandy and Abby like to get really close to the camera from some reason. I think it is super funny because they always make a crazy face. Mandy is the ham of the group. I think I have more pictures of her than anyone else.

Here is Lexie with her new silver kitties that Nate's Dad Mike and his step mom Debbie gave her. Lexie just loves them! They gave her one for her birthday too and she sleeps with it practically every night! I don't have too many pictures of Lexie yet as she has spent most of the weekend with her Dad. (Free Daycare!)

Hunting We will Go

2008-12-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I went on my first hunting outing. Nate asked if I would like to go duck hunting with him after church last Sunday and I of course said Yes! I am always looking for ways to spend more time with it and if that requires spending more time in the outdoors than so be it! It was quite the experience let me tell you. First off there is special attire you need to wear which I do not happen to own. So I of course borrowed some of Nate's hunting clothes which were a million times too big! We drove out to the road his duck blind is located at and then had to walk through a flooded rice field to get there. An hour later (okay not quite that) but it did take a long time to walk out when your boots are too big we arrived at his duck blind. He took off the top and then we climbed down into it. Now I have never been in a duck blind before and though I wasn't expecting the lap of luxury I was unprepared for the metal box we were sitting in. We settled onto our stools and his dog climbed into her box. "Now what?" I asked him "We wait." he replied. We didn't have to wait long. Our neck of the woods is one of the best places in the United States to duck hunt. We were surrounded by all sorts of ducks and geese. There are magnificent swans whose wings are so big you can hear them flapping as they fly overhead. It was amazing to listen to all the different ducks calling to each other. For some reason though the ducks didn't feel like flying over our blind that day. Probably my fault but finally he spotted one. "Bam" the dog took off out of her blind and brought back Nate's spoils. It was a beautiful Wood Duck. He said that it must have gotten lost because the normally don't hang out in rice fields. I don't remember what the next duck was. I think it was a Wiggon??? Is that a kind of duck? I don't know I am still learning! Anyways for hunting in the afternoon and only staying out for an hour I felt he was pretty successful. I would love to go again. There is nothing else like it! I took pictures and hopefully I will get around to posting them soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-12-02T08:26:00.001-08:00

Okay so its a little late but I am a little slow at things! Actually I forgot my camera at the Young Lives Thanksgiving event and so I just got a copy of it! We had 10 girls and 13 babies attend this year! It was so messy when we left but the people at The Well made us feel so blessed and as if they were happy to clean up our mess. We had a lot of fun and had a lot to be thankful for!

Too Cute!

2008-11-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Yup, I am in love with this little puppy! Just look how cute she is! Can you resist those eyes? I sure can't!!!

I'm Still Here!

2008-11-25T08:07:00.000-08:00

I'm still here! Really I am!! I know it has been ages since I posted and really I do have stuff to show you! It has just been soo sooo busy around here. I hardly have a minute to do anything these days. Anyways I promise to get back in the swing of things and update with all the stuff we have been up to the last month. But first I have to tell you I am in love. Puppy love to be exact. Recently a new little girl came in to my life and she is so sweet. I love her soft silky fur and her warm puppy breath. I love how she snuggles up next to me and prances when she plays. Yup I am in love. The only problem.... she is not mine. She is actually Nate's new puppy though my plan is to make her love me more. That is after she quits crying through the night!

This is Tule an AKC Black Labrador Retriever. She is 8 weeks old!

Abandoned

2008-11-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

So I have been abandoned. Nate left me a week and a half ago to go hunting and I miss him like crazy. We normally talk three times a day and since he is somewhere in the woods we haven't been able to communicate hardly at all! It is driving me crazy. The only time I ever get a few minutes with him is when he is driving to some town in the boon docks to get gas. I still have a whole week to wait until he gets home and I don't know if I am going to make it. I am sure it is all fun and games for him and he probably doesn't even realize the insanity he is causing for me here! Oh well! I think he is intentionaly taking a long time to get a deer so he can stay in the woods longer! Yup, I bet that is exactly what he is doing!

Halloween Blues

2008-10-28T19:56:00.001-07:00

So this is the first year since Lexie was born that I don't have her for Halloween. I was on a pretty good streak there for a while and I am bummed that it has ended. It has been kinda weird not preparing for the big day. No costume planning, no trying to make sure it is perfect, and no planning with friends on where were are candy hunting. Yup it feels strange. This year her Dad took her costume shopping and planning to make sure all the pieces are there. I feel a little lost on how I will spend the evening. Sure I could go with my friends but I think I would feel out of place without my own child and maybe a little sad! I am also bummed that there will be no candy bag to dig through at the end of the evening! My waist line isn't sad but I am. Where am I going to get my chocolate fix? Okay well my evening won't be so bad. I am going to the Rocky Horror Show with some friends. Yes, I know what some of you are thinking but I have never been and they swear it is a lot of fun. They said attire is somewhat Gothic and since black is slimming I think I can find something to throw together. It should be interesting to say the least!

Abby's School Picture

2008-10-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

No Where But Up!

2008-10-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

It is easy to get discouraged with mentoring teen moms. It seems like time and time again they make choices that keep them down. You walk beside them and show them the way out of this life and then they turn around and head back. It can be discouraging when you see that potential in them but yet they don't take advantage of it. Deresa isn't one of those girls. Deresa lights up any room she is in. She makes it known loud and clear that she wants better than what her life is now! Deresa wants to be a Dental Hygienist. She wants it so bad she can taste it. We are blessed in our program to have a group of men who beside us as prayer partners. They have each taken on praying for a single girl in our group. Deresa is blessed to have a man praying who really wants to see her dreams come true. When I told him of Deresa's dream to become a dental Hygienist he called his dentist and made arrangements for Deresa to come in and meet them. The hygienist Lana was amazing. She only helped to grow Deresa's excitement for the career path. She told her the steps she needed to take to get there and gave her not only her office number but her home phone number! Deresa felt so special! She even told Deresa she could come hang out and watch them anytime she wants. Deresa called the schools and met with a local counselor to start towards her dreams. She told me she can't wait to get started because one day she is going to be rich and she wants to mentor girls just like I do. Yup, that girl has no where but up to go and I am so proud of her!

Another Sign of Fall

2008-10-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

Look I have my 1st fire! Sure it is really not that cold yet but I just wanted one so bad. My fireplace at my condo just required pushing a button so I was really excited about having one that required wood! It took a few tries but I finally got it going. (See Nate, I told you I could do it!) My house smells a little smoky as it took me a few minutes to figure out the flue (sp?) but I finally got it. Yeah me. I bet Nate is rolling his eyes at me right now.

Also I had an unusual night tonight as some random woman almost punched me! Yup I was surprised too. I was over at our Young Lives house for a Bible study when I heard yelling going on in the living room. I walk out to see some grown woman in one of my teenage girls faces. She was yelling and screaming at her and looked like she was going to hit her. I look around and there are no other mentors to be found so I figure this one is on me. I calmly approached the situation and asked the woman to please step outside the house as there are children present. She didn't even look at me. I tried again by stepping in front of my girl and again asked her to leave the house. She does not stop! She just starts leaning around me pointing at my girl! At this point I had enough and placed my hand on her arm and said "You are not welcome here please leave my house" She pushes my arm back and puts her fist up ready to take a swing and screams "Don't touch me! Who do you think you are?" I said "I am the person telling you to leave and that you are not welcome here!" She looks me up and down for a minute then turns and stalks out of the house. Needless to say I peed my pants a little bit. Okay not really but I was definitely shaking. Okay not really I was ready to take her down in an instant with all those moves I've seen on COPs. Yup I am hard core! Did I ever tell you about the one fight I have been in....... No, well maybe another day! ;)

Still Upgrading

2008-10-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

So my budget has been pretty tight since buying my house but there is so much I want to do to it! I wish I had the money to do more but for now I just have to settle for the small things. One of the things I have really wanted to buy were ceiling fans for the living room and bedrooms. I have been checking them out for a while now but the price for 4 has been pretty high! A couple of weeks ago when I was at Lowe's a guy told me at some point this month they will be going on sale but they never advertise it so I would have to just keep checking in. I decided on Saturday I would check in again which was a challenge considering I had all three girls with me. That is how badly I wish I had ceiling fans! We headed over there in the afternoon and happened to run into Bret which was nice as we hardly see him and Beverly down in our parts! Then after chatting with him for a few minutes we headed over to the fan section. I looked around but they apparently had gone on clearance yet so I decided I would pick up a couple that were reasonably priced at $50 each to see how they looked in the house. When we got to the register the cashier rang them up and they came back as $24.50 each! I was so excited that I ran back and grabbed two more! They aren't exactly what I want but you can't beat 4 fans for $100.00! I figure I can always upgrade them later once I have more room in the budget!

The blades come in two colors dark wood or light. I really wanted black for the living room but I think I will use the dark blades in there. I will probably use the dark in all of the rooms except for Lexie's.

I love this time of year!

2008-10-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

You know the time of year when the air gets crisp.... when the leaves start to change their color. I love the time of year where you can see the season changing. I love watching the leaves float to the ground and the red and gold harvest decoration. I love putting a sweater on in the evening and feeling a chill in the morning. Yup I sure love this time of year!

Most of all though I love this time of year because this is the time of year I get to drink pumpkin beer!

I also bought a pumpkin bread mix today and a woman in the isle said that she just made some and added cranberries and sunflower seeds. She said it was really good so I think I will try it out!

Decorating

2008-10-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

So ever since I moved into my new house I have been wanting to put my own touch on it. I mean I don't think much has been updated since 1962. The age of the house does give it quite a bit of charm though so I don't want to change it too much. I figured the easiest thing to start with is painting the walls. It took me awhile to come up with the colors I want to use but I finally found one that really works with the rooms I want to use it in. I went to the paint store with my mom the other day because I have had a hard time narrowing down the exact shade and needed a second set of eyes. After bringing home two final selections I painted them on the wall and finally settled on the exact shade and I love it! It is called Whispering Smoke. It is a very pale shade of gray. Now comes the fun part painting! Actually before the fun comes the not so fun part ...... prep work. My two coworkers/friends have offered to help me paint as long as I get the prep done ahead of time. So this last weekend has been spent taping and cleaning the walls! Fun Fun Fun! Actually I think I have a neck cramp from all of the looking up while putting tape on the ceilings! After I paint I am going to pull up the carpet to show off my beautiful wood floors and put down new linoleum in the kitchen. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

Here is the one section of wall I painted.

You can see the difference in color on the two sides of the fireplace

Here is part of the taping I have been working on. Ugh!

Too Funny

2008-10-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes conversations with Lexie can be so funny. For example here is the latest couple of conversations:

Lexie: Jill (name has been changed) has been really mean to us at recess
Me: Oh yeah. That's too bad maybe you should find other kids to play with then.
Lexie: Yeah I don't play with her anymore. Yesterday she made Kylie cry.
Me: Wow that's sad.
Lexie: Yeah, I told Kylie that Jill was holding her back
Me: Huh?
Lexie: I told her she was holding her back. You know from having fun at recess
Me: Oh!

Here is another.
Lexie spotting a rug in Home Depot: Oh Mom I just adore that rug!
Me: (silence)
Lexie continuing: I don't really know what adore means but I really adore that rug!

Kids are funny!

R. E. S. P. E. C. T.

2008-09-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

find out what it means to me....

Today Lexie received a character award at school for respect! It was the first character award ceremony of the year so it was very special that she received one. The award she received was for showing respect. Apparently she is much better at this with other people than with me! Just kidding! Her teacher also commented on how well she was at active listening. Here are some pictures from the ceremony. Sorry they are so poor but I never figured out how to take a good picture in the dome.

Lexie's School Pictures

2008-09-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here is my little one's 3rd grade school photo. I just compared it to last years photo and I am amazed at how much older she looks! She is just growing so fast. This photo has a copyright so please don't print it. If you want one just let me know!

Success!

2008-09-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

The stuffed peppers were awesome! They melted in my mouth they were so good. The best part about them is that Lexie loved them! Can you believe it ??? My child who used to refuse to even try anything new loved the peppers. I feel very successful right now. Very successful and full!

Stuffed Peppers

2008-09-22T19:08:00.001-07:00

Well as I have told you all in recent posts I am trying to cook new things. Tonight's recipe is stuffed peppers. My coworkers Mel and Nora were talking about them the other day and they sounded so good. Nora is an amazing cook. Now I haven't tried any of her meals yet but I think that girl knows everything there is to know about cooking. Like she explained to me about shocking the peppers before I stuffed them. This is something I knew nothing about. They take a long time to make and I probably should have done some prep or cooked them on the weekend. Right now they are cooking and they smell so good! This picture is before I popped them in the oven so I will post a picture and let you know how they taste later!

Okay here is the finished product. I haven't tried it yet as I have been too busy rescuing my unintelligent dog (Yes, Nate I know what you are going to say Lab's are smarter.) My dog for some reason insists that my neighbor's yard is much better than ours! He is constantly breaking into their yard. I know they have a pool which I myself can see as a temptation but I think it is always much better to ask before trespassing. Luckily for Scamp my neighbor doesn't seem to mind but I do! Tonight he somehow managed to get his collar stuck on a piece of wire while attempting his escape and was then himself stuck. I then in darkness was attempting to untangle him but couldn't see a darn thing. I finally went in the house and got the flashlight my Aunt Jan gave to Lexie for a present (which she loves by the way) but had to spend a few minutes shaking it up so it had power. I finally realized that I needed to break down part of the fence and remove his collar. With Lexie watching I broke a board in half and saved Scamp. "Wow you are strong Mom!" said Lexie. Ask her really I broke the board! Dumb dog!

Hi Grandma

2008-09-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Grandma its me Lexie. Look how cute I am! That is because I am hoping you see how cute I am and come hang out with me. I promise I will be nice and not talk back. I will be the best behaved Granddaughter you could ever ask for. Look at me don't I look happy? That is because I am thinking of all the fun we will have when we make rice krispie treats together. Don't you want to make rice krispie treats with me Grandma?? Okay well you let me know!

Fried Zucchini

2008-09-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well I decided that I may be partly to blame for my child's unwillingness to try new foods. Partly because its easier and partly because I know she will eat it I have stuck to simple recipes that I rotate. I have now decided that in order to change this up I am going to have to throw new things her way and trick her into eating them. After my Dad tricked her into eating zucchini the other night by telling her it was cooked cucumber I decided to try my own zucchini side dish. One of my favorite things my Mom made for us growing up was fried zucchini so I thought Lexie might enjoy it. It smelled so good while it was cooking and I almost couldn't wait the twenty minutes for it to cook! I knew that I was making progress with Lexie when she said "I don't think I will like this but I will try a little piece." That was way better than the "Ewww! Gross!" response I got last time I attempted something new. She decided she didn't like it but the fact that she even tried it without me prying open her mouth and forcing it down her throat was good. Plus that meant there was more for me! Yea! I love all of that fried goodness. By the way is it still considered a vegetable if it is fried?

Also for those of you have asked here is a picture of my hair. I apologize for looking scared. I think I was scared that I was posting a picture of myself with no makeup on the web! Aaaahh Please don't judge!

Crazy Kid!

2008-09-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

So I wish my camera batteries were not dead because I would have just gotten the funniest picture of Lexie. I heard what I thought was singing coming from her room so I put my ear to the door to listen. Yup she was singing alright! I proceeded to quietly open her door to the sight of her rocking out to Hannah Montana. She was standing on her bed with a microphone dancing and singing along to the song. It was so cute and so funny all at the same time. I really wish I could have taken a picture of it! The next part was even funny. This is the part where she realizes I am watching her and gets super mad!! Get out of my room!!!!! I laughed all the way down the hall. A few minutes later I heard her rocking out again. I set off back down the hall to repeat the scenario when I came upon a sign on her door. Stay out! This means you Mom! Crazy kid!

A new me... okay just my hair

2008-09-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like getting your hair done! I swear I walk out of my salon feeling relaxed and refreshed. I didn't do much different tonight. He just touched up the roots and gave me a fresh cut yet I walked out of there feeling fabulous and new. I always wear a cute outfit when I get my hair done so when I am done I feel like the whole package. I used to get my hair done on a night I was going out on the town but those days have come and gone. Now the only out I get is walking out of the salon to my car and town is driving through downtown to get home! Oh well at least I feel good. I stuck with the dark color again because it is so different from what I have done the last few years. I know in few months I will probably change up the color again but for now I feel good about my look.

Sliping and Sliding

2008-09-08T18:18:00.003-07:00

I don't think people really appreciate what having a yard means until they have to live in an apartment with a child. Though I loved my condo I can't even begin to tell you what a difference having a yard makes. It used to be that we would get home and Lexie would beg to go to the park or take a walk. Now she just goes outside and plays or rides her bike. Today she pulled out the slip and slide I gave her for her birthday. She didn't get to use it most of the summer with her broken arm so she is trying to make up for lost time! Back in my childhood all we had was a tarp, some bricks, and a hose. Come on Alyssa and Cari I know you remember that!! We used to lay it out on a hill and whoosh we were a slipin and a slidin!

Testing out the water

Splash!

She was having so much fun I ran to put on my bathing suit! Water party!!!!! Then my dreams of sliding fun were dashed when I saw this warning! What you can't be over 12??? Is that when fun ends??? That's it! I am going out and getting a tarp and a hose. At least those don't come with warnings!!!

Just call me Betty Crocker!

2008-09-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

I work 40 hours a week and so I don't have a lot of time to cook dinner when I get home. Therefore a lot of my meals are the basics. I like to say a typical meal at my house is a meat entree , a starch, and a veggie. For example chicken, rice, and peas would be a possible dinner choice. I have always wanted to cook something nicer but I just never have the time. I decided today since I didn't work and Lexie was at her Dad's until dinner time that I would try something different. So I browsed the Pioneer Woman's website and came up with Chicken Spaghetti. It wasn't too complicated of a recipe but definitely required more work than I am used too! I invited my Dad over for dinner as an unknowing volunteer to see how he likes it. Lexie's opinion normally consists of "I don't know what that is so I don't like it!". Just in case it doesn't turn out or if no one likes it I have a back up plan...... Brownies..... from a box!

Update: So I enjoyed it. Lexie was an immediate "Ewww! That's gross!" After which I quickly demanded an apology. I than forced her to eat half of it as that is the polite thing to do when someone cooks a meal for you. I am really trying to work on her manners so that she wouldn't have the same response if we were guests at someones house! My Dad gave it a so so and did not have seconds. Sorry mom I think you will have to put this one down on the no list. I will freeze some for you though!

I Hate Yardwork!

2008-09-07T10:26:00.001-07:00

Yard work is the pits! I love having a yard but I despise having to complete all of the chores that come along with it! My mower is "me" powered which apparently means I have to mow my yard at least once a week and my yard is huge! I also don't have sprinklers so I have to go out everyday and water my lawn. I finally got my front one on a timer so I just have to remember to move it around. I have tons of trees that have tons of leaves and it isn't even fall yet. I have a grapefruit tree with lots a grapefruit but they are so high up we can never touch them until they reach the ground and by then the birds have had their way with them. There is also constant pruning to be done as well as ants to be fought! Oh and did I mention the population of wild cats who frequent my yard? There is always something to be done. I never come home to a completed yard. It is always so hot when I get home too but I have to complete it before it gets to dark to see! Does anyone want to do my yard work for me?

Stuck in the Past

2008-09-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Nate and I went camping last month and I never got to post any pictures! This is because my camera was dead and Nate never shares his pictures! He finally emailed me one. YEA! Here we are in front of his trailer. That thing is amazing by the way! I don't think I can ever go camping without one again. I mean it is so nice to take shower with hot water. Nate didn't get to because unfortunately I didn't realize I had to use the water sparingly! Sorry Babe! Anyways we had a really great time and I am bummed I only got to go once this summer. Maybe we will have more time to go next summer. That is if he decides to keep me around. :)

A hunting we will go....

2008-09-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

Monday Nate took Lexie and I on our first hunting excursion. I had a great time and I think Lexie really enjoyed the food! It was opening day of dove season so Nate took Abby, Lexie, and I out on the boys trip. It was really windy which was both bad and good. We kept getting dirt in our eyes yet we were thankful it wasn't 110! Nate kept offering to let me practice with his gun bit after my last time testing out one of his guns I decided I preferred to not do it with an audience. Also the way my shots went I would accidentally shoot a deer and then I would get a ticket from Fish and Game for hunting without a license. The guys all had a good time once the doves started flying but none of them killed their limit. At least we can make an appetizer....

The girls were ready to go with their camo guns. If only it hadn't been so windy!

A man, his dog, and his gun.... nothing better!

Nate got one!

Remington retrieving the dove

Good girl Remi!

Where did the girls go?

Oh here they are in the truck watching Cinderella! Yup they are true hunters in the making!

Lexie found a bird nest on the ground and was so excited!

Abby really wanted a picture with her Daddy and a bird!

Answered Prayers

2008-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who prayed that we would be able to locate Sierra! I am happy to announce the other day we found her and the kids safe and sound! My Young Lives directer had been walking through a park with her boyfriend when she saw a little boy that looked strangely like Sierra's son and then as she got closer she realized it was him. Erin read Sierra the riot act about staying in touch and checking in. She didn't even realize we had been worried. So many of these girls grow up in homes where they aren't accountable to anyone so they just don't think about checking in! I am so happy we know she is okay and I look forward to spending time with her on Wednesday.

The Shack

2008-08-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

I recently started reading a book titled The Shack and I couldn't put it down! The book is so intense and deeply moving. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I started reading it! The book is about the murder of a little girl and how it affects her family. The main part of the story involved the father's questions to God on how and why this happened to his little girl. As the parent of a little girl it definitely tugged at my heart strings. I couldn't get over though how simply the author explained some issues that have always been difficult to understand. I mean who hasn't questioned why God "lets" bad things happen to good people? How does God feel about evil? How does God want us to treat those who have wronged us? It was intense! I have to say that initially the story tormented me and I couldn't stop thinking about the little girl. But once I started reading the conversations with God I felt somewhat better. I highly recommend this book to anyone!

1st Day of School Second Edition

2008-08-25T18:39:00.001-07:00

Well today was Abby's first day of 1st grade. Their school district starts a couple weeks later than Lexie's but they get out later so it is all the same in the long run. Today was her 1st day of having class all day long and she was feeling a little anxious about it. Nate is happy with her teacher and I have heard really good things about her so I am sure Abby did fine! I haven't talked to Nate yet so I don't know how it went so I will have to let you know later.

Abby and her teacher

Friends

2008-08-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

I have realized as I have gotten older that true friends are hard to come by. Friends these days seem to jump in and out of friendships just like dating relationships. I have always considered myself to be a pretty loyal friend so this recent jumping in and out of friendships has left me frustrated. For example after recently sending a friend an email inviting her to get together with our kids I received the following response: "I appreciate the invitation but the last time we were together you hurt my feelings so I think I may have been mistaken when I thought we were friends" Excuse me!!!!! I hurt your feelings so we should now assume we can no longer be friends? Mind you I did not intend to say anything hurtful to my friend but I apparently did not communicate what I was trying to say properly and hurt her feelings. It was not intended to be hurtful and I felt really bad about the whole thing! I quickly issued an apology but apparently it was not well received. Why am I venting you might ask? Well I just finished talking to my best friend ever Jolene and I realized how much I miss her! She is the type of friend who should I have accidentally said something hurtful would have smacked me on the arm and called me out on it. Plus she still would love me. That is what friends are supposed to do! Friends are the one calm and normal thing in your life. Your friends love you in spite of your issues! Friends are supposed to be on your side. Okay now that I have that off of my chest......

I miss you Jolene!!!!!!

Prayers Needed!

2008-08-21T18:51:00.001-07:00

I would really appreciate your prayers for my Young Lives girl Sierra. I haven't heard from her in two weeks and haven't been able to reach her. It is like she has just dropped off the face of the earth and I miss her! Her phone is disconnected, there is no answer at her apartment, and she took a leave from beauty school! We had a normal conversation one day and then the next day her phone was disconnected. This does happen when we work with these girls and actually Sierra did this to me once before when I first met her in 2006. The difference this time is Sierra is different. She was a changed girl and so now I am worried. I love Sierra for her heart. There is not a person on earth Sierra wouldn't try to be a friend too. She also loves without needing to be loved in return. If we have a new girl show up at club you can guarantee that Sierra will be the 1st in the room to go talk to them. I watched her at camp attempt to befriend one girl over and over again in spite of the mean response she received every time. I love Sierra because she gives her all to any situation and is never afraid to try something. I miss her!

I miss her courageous personality

I miss her goofy sense of humor

I miss this little guy and his mowhawk

And this little girl's beautiful blue eyes!

Pray for her safety and that she will contact me soon!

One last camp post

2008-08-18T19:48:00.001-07:00

I know that camp was almost a month ago but I wanted to leave you with one last post. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I was so blessed to get to be a part of their lives. God truly worked in their lives this week.

We got messy.....

and dressed up!

We laughed, cried and bonded during cabin time

We sang and listened to amazing speakers

But the moment that meant the most was the ride home watching Deresa read her new Bible the entire way. Seeing this girls heart transform over that week chokes me up every time!

Miss me?

2008-08-17T19:18:00.001-07:00

So did you miss me? Well I missed blogging! For some reason on Thursday every time I tried to load up my Internet it would shut down! Aaahhh! It was driving me crazy! I have no computer knowledge at all so I just turned off the computer and walked away. Then I thought I will blog this weekend at Nate's house while I am watching the girls as I am sure his computer is working. I had dreams of putting up the infamous Cabella's pictures and pictures from our camping trip the other weekend. Silly me! Ha ha ha! I actually thought I would have a free moment to blog with three little girls running around. I mean for some reason I thought at 8, 6, and 3 they would be well equipped to play nicely and mediate their own fights. I mean that is how it supposed to work right?? They have every toy imaginable to play with but yet the three of them were driving me bonkers. I mean if I hear "She's looking at me!" or " I had it first!" one more time I may actually use it. I don't know if it was the heat or what but they were all equally bad this weekend. I believe there was a point where they all were in timeouts in their rooms and I was hiding in the garage with the dogs! I know none of you can probably relate to this but let me tell you it was crazy! Just kidding Mom! I knew you would read this. Also I am really really sorry for how I behaved in my youth. I honestly can't believe you survived. Oh and the holding of hands on the couch punishment... pure brilliance. Bravo! I did have a funny parenting story to share with you though. It involves Mandy (3), Lexie (8), and poor little Scamp. So Lexie calls Scamp over and it petting him when Mandy comes over and tries to pull Scamp over to her... Lexie pulls Scamp to her and Mandy is tugging him the other direction. Poor Scamp! So I quickly tell them both to release him and that no one may pet him. This turns to tears for Lexie and a I never get my way spiel. So I ponder how to handle this situation and have a brilliant thought of using a Bible story. So I tell her the story of the two women fighting over the baby and how King Solomon orders the baby cut in half and how one woman begged him not to and to give the baby to the other woman. I explained how then the King knew who the true mother was as she would not want harm to come to her child. I told Lexie as Scamp's "mother" it was her job to protect him and not place him in a tug of war situation even if she had him first! Well that backfired! She burst into tears and ran up the stairs screaming "You made me feel horrible!" Oh well I tried!

1st Day

2008-08-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well I am happy to announce that Lexie survived her first day back at school. Of course it was only 3 hours long! Don't they realize how inconvenient that is for parents? I mean give me a break I was barely able to get anything done at the office this morning because I was back and forth to the school. Oh well it couldn't be helped and I am glad school is back in session. Lexie has a really good teacher this year and all of her friends are in her class. I actually did have to switch her to do that but the switch really had more to do with the teaching situation in the other classroom. I can tell Lexie will thrive much better in the new class. She doesn't think so but one of the few pleasures I have is getting to run her life the way I see fit!

She thought taking a picture in front of the car was a good photo opportunity

I thought the back yard would be better....

Here she is at her desk

And here she is with her teacher

Square Dance Anyone?

2008-08-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Well back to camp... yes I know I know this is like the longest story you have ever heard! There is just so much to share though and I don't want you to miss any of it. The next day at camp "Mr. Coalman" stole the deed to the camp and it was our job to figure out how to get it back. They informed us that he had set up a town in the area and the deed might be there. We rounded a corner to find a group of people in western attire frozen in action. Some were square dancing, getting a tooth pulled, trying to escape jail, and chasing each other with guns. Not a one of them blinked. Then all of the sudden we heard a gun shot and the people came alive. The girls watched in amazement. Mr. Coalman showed up and the Mayor of Lost Canyon was able to steal the deed back. Hooray! In honor of getting the deed back the Mayor ordered a "hoe-down". We all ran back to our cabins and got dresses in western attire. The girls loved it. We went to the dining hall ate a western themed meal and then danced the night away. We even did organized square dancing. The evening ended with us dancing to the pool and jumping in with our clothes on! It was so much fun!

Frozen in time!

Oh no they put us in jail!

Deresa tried to make them laugh!

Erin was sure that smelling his arm pits would throw him over the edge!

Hanging at Clarabelle's

Check out my posse!

Two of the cutest cowgirls ever!

Two step anyone?

Dancing the night away! Yeeeeee Hawwwww!

First Day of School

2008-08-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow is the big day... that's right Lexie goes back to school! Yeah I am so excited! I am probably more excited than Lexie. I mean after all summer is tough on us working parents. She is excited too. We did do some play dates this summer but I think she really is excited to see her friends. I can't believe she is going to be in the third grade. Man does time fly! She is so smart and I see her doing really well this year. Of course she has done well every year. Her teachers have always said she is one of the smartest kids in the class. We just finished trying on last years school uniform and I realize she has grown a ton! Hardly anything fits her anymore! Oh well she always likes buying new clothes anyways. I will post some pics tomorrow of her first day.

Camping!

2008-08-10T21:33:00.001-07:00

So this weekend I went camping with Nate, his girls, and the girls grandparents. We had a really good time but it is always nice to be home. I took a few pictures at the end of our trip but my camera is dead right now so I will have to post them later. I was bummed that Lexie couldn't go with us but that is kinda how things go when you live in two different houses. This was the last weekend of her summer vacation as she starts back at school on Wednesday. Some people think it is too soon but I say YEAH!

Camping!

2008-08-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

Rock Star

2008-08-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well I bet most of you never knew it but my Daddy is a rock star. Yup he actually just got back from touring. Okay maybe they only made it to the Siskiyou County Fair but that is actually a big deal. I mean after all these guys originally formed 40 years ago. They had two shows at the fair and both were packed with over 500 people in the audience. He even took a picture of the crowd as he knew we would never believe him. Check out Afterglow on their website and you will see they are the real deal. Also I think everyone should buy their CD as it is awesome. My Dad also emailed me a link to a video but I can't get it to work so I will put it up when I figure it out. Afterglow video Okay I think I have it figured out. Just click on the Afterglow video link and that should get you there. It is the delayed band news story. Anyways I thought this new interest in their band is pretty cool I mean if they make it big things could get pretty good for me. Hey Dad does your band need a manager? Cause I am totally up for the job. We can negotiate my salary later! Buy my Dad's cd!!!!!!!!!

More Camp photos

2008-08-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

For the next day we enlisted safety gear... you can say it.... we make those harnesses look good!

Me and my girls Sierra and Deresa

At the play ground we climbed the pamper pole

to the top!

And each took a turn on the swing

Wheeee!

Then it was time for the ropes course!

Yup I am ready to rock!

Look I can stand on a wire AND pose for a photo

Whoops! Maybe I can't!

Okay Erin stop showing off.....

Can't you see I am over here struggling on this cargo net!

Look I am doing ballet in the trees!!! Okay actually I am trying to undo my lobster claw and I can't reach it! Ahhhh someone help me I'm stuck!!!

Oh look Tom came to rescue me! And no I am not hanging on to the tree for dear life!

Jumping my way down!

Yeah I am on the ground! I am so happy to be here!

Did I mention I am terrified of heights! That's the thing about this camp you can never ask your girls to do something you wouldn't be willing to do yourself. It really stretches you to put a smile on your face and confront your worst fear. Ha Ha they never knew I was scared!

Paris Responds

2008-08-05T19:43:00.001-07:00

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

I am not normally a fan of Paris Hilton but I thought this video was funny!

Concert Tonight!

2008-08-04T13:31:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone just a reminder that we are performing in the downtown plaza tonight at 7:00pm with Urban Impact . If you haven't had a chance to check them out while they have been here you should come and experience them. I can promise you will have a good time!

Meals at Camp

2008-08-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

I know I keep giving you bits and pieces about our trip to Lost Canyon but there is just so much I want to share and I just don't have the time to write it all in one post. One amazing part of camp are the meals. We all sit in this huge dining room and eat family style. That means we have servers who come and bring the dishes out and then we pass them around the table "family style". It is a really good time to relax and feel out how the girls are feeling about their day. It is also neat to watch the servers just love on the girls and their babies. All of the serving staff are high schoolers who volunteer for a month to work at the camp. Our server was named Allie and she was also from Nor Cal. It was so special to watch her bound with the girls. At the end of camp she was also sitting in the club room when the girls stood up and announced they had committed their life to Christ. As we were walking out she was standing waiting with tears running down her face. She hugged the girls and asked for their addresses so she could keep in touch. Then as we were about to climb on the bus she came running over to hug them good-bye one more time. It was incredibly special to watch the interact.

Exhausted!

2008-08-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy since we got back from camp getting ready for the Urban Impact kids and now they are here! They got to my house last night and they are so much fun. The girls that are staying with me are so helpful and polite. They call me Miss Erica and they offer to help with everything. Lexie has also had a lot of fun with them. They play with her and helped her in the pool. They got to my house at 11:00 last night and they were so happy to be here that they stayed up talking until 1:30am. We then had to crawl out of bed at 6:00 so they could get to church by 8:00. We rehearsed until noon and then had a really great BBQ with the Gospel Choir. For those of you in Chico we will be singing in the downtown plaza Monday night at 7pm. It will be really great. Urban Impact will sing with us and perform a drama. Also Full Force Hip Hop will be dancing while we sing and they are absolutely amazing. I hope you all can make it!

We look cute!

2008-07-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

Erin took some pics of us in our team uniforms so I thought I would share them with you! Yes, we know we look cute. The letter they sent us regarding rules for our uniforms said that we could wear anything we wanted except no underwear outside of our clothes. We being the rebel team that we are wore a uniform entirely out of underwear. Yup we are that cool. I mean check out the pictures below and tell me they don't make you smile! Come on.... I'm waiting.. thats right you have nothing! :)

Scamp Update

2008-07-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Scamp is home! I finally brought him home yesterday and he seems to be doing really well. He follows me all over the house and is always laying at my feet. He also no longer is fighting me when I give him his medication. This is a good thing as I am having to give him medicines 3 times a day. He has turned out to be quite the fighter which makes me believe he is meant to be in this family. If any of you know Lexie and my "real life story" you know we are a family of fighters. I ask that you still continue to pray for his recovery as he is still susceptible to infections.

My little guy without his cone

His bag of meds!

Camp Day #2

2008-07-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Well we all struggled to pull ourselves out of bed on camp day 2. I mean after all we had an endless day the day before and probably all got an hours sleep tops due to crying babies. I struggled to wipe the sleep from my eyes then proceeded to stumble down to the coffee shop to try to somewhat energize myself. I remember thinking to myself as I almost ran into the door that there was no way I was going to survive this week! After downing a gallon of coffee I pulled out the days schedule to see how much rest I would be able to get. After reading it twice as I could not believe that they would really make me continue to move until 11:45pm I came to terms with the fact that this was going to be a very long day! Then I truly opened my eyes and noticed what a beautiful place this was. I couldn't believe how blue the sky was! I know that I have been a little deprived with all of the smoke we have had here at home but still this sky was so blue! Day 2 was filled with a ton a fun activities. We started off the day with a competition against the other Young Lives clubs. We all had team uniforms that we created and I have to say that our teams was the best. We then competed in different activities like crab soccer, water balloon toss, fill the bucket, dodge ball, and many more. We were teamed up against the club from San Diego and I have to say we rocked them! Though they did kill us in Dodge Ball! It was such a blast and really taught us all how to work together as a team!

Camp Day #1

2008-07-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well our first morning started off bright and early as we headed to the airport. Let me tell you that getting 8 adults, 6 babies and all their luggage checked in and through security is quite the challenge! We made it though and only 1 girl had a melt down as we walked down the ramp to the plane. Her little boy was so cute as he patted her arm in an attempt to calm her down. We landed in Las Vegas and climbed on a charter bus with the Young Lives clubs from Reno and Las Vegas. Now that is a lot of babies!!! Twenty minutes into our four hour drive though one of the girls from Vegas cut her hand on the garbage can and started losing blood at a very serious rate. One of the mentors from the other club wrapped her hand in a maxi pad and called ahead to have an EMT ready when we arrived at Lost Canyon. When we turned down the road to the camp there was a coal miner and two cowboys dressed in black shaking signs and yelling "No Young Lives!" The girls looked at them and turned to us and asked if those guys were for real. We just shrugged our shoulders. As we rounded the bend we could see a group of people all dresses in red shirts waving and cheering at the bus. They formed two lines by the bus doors and the girls exited between them. They were cheering for the girls and giving them high fives. That's right Nate I said it .... I gave high fives to random people I didn't know and I am proud of it!!! We entered the bus depot where music was playing an a man in a white cowboy hat introduced himself as the mayor of Lost Canyon. He explained to the girls that "Mr. Coalman" was trying to steal the deed to Lost Canyon so he could make it into a mine. Thus setting the mood for the rest of camp. He then ended his spiel by saying "Because we are so happy you are here we are giving free ice cream to everyone! Head on down to the Whistlestop Cafe!" The girls were made to feel so welcome at this camp. I have to say that it may rival Disney Land as the happiest place on earth. People all over camp would yell welcome and how happy they were that we were here! We went through quite a lot of events after arriving at camp the last one being an obstacle course in the dark. We all dressed up in camo and ended up crawling through dirt on our bellies, helping each other over and under things, jumping into a pit of slim, and finally being blasted by water from a fireman's hose. It was complete chaos! All the time the girls are supposed to be protecting us from water ballons that are being launched at us! It was a great bonding time for us. We collapsed into bed exhausted at midnight. This completed our 19 hour day! Of course when night hits and you have 6 babies in one room you can imagine how much sleep we all got before we had to be up at 7am the next morning......

Deresa and Roger

Janisa and Travon

Amanda and Savanna

Jessica and Tyson

Melinda (one of the other mentors)

The bus!

Loved!

2008-07-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

So I abandon my boyfriend for a week and what does he do???? He leaves two dozen beautiful red roses at my house to welcome me home!!! How wonderful is he? So wonderful. I know all you girls out there are jealous but I am sorry he is all mine! He also left me a grass trimmer so I can clean up my lawn! Whoop whoop! Isn't he the greatest? I think so! Thanks Babe!

Poor Puppy!

2008-07-27T22:10:00.001-07:00

Warning! The following pictures are a bit graphic. Of course they do not do justice to the amount of wounds my little dog really has. He is still staying at my parents house as I am still unable to deal with the reality of his injuries. He wants to come home so bad but every time I look at him I want to cry. He is one of "my boys" and I hate to see him like this! It also takes two people to give him his medication and it is not something I can ask Lexie to help me with. Tomorrow he has another vet appointment and I will be taking him home after that. I am praying that tomorrow will hold good news for him and that I will be able to give him his medication all by myself. Really my biggest prayer is that my little dog not be in pain. I really don't want him to suffer. Hopefully I can update all of you tomorrow with good news!

I'm Home!

2008-07-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Wow it is so good to be home! I can't believe how quickly my week went by! I had such a great time with my girls and I can't wait to share all of the amazing stories from my week. I also have a lot of great pictures but it is going to take awhile to search through all 200 of them. I am incredibly tired so I won't post too much right now. The news I do want to share is that we had 4 girls make a commitment to Christ this week and all of them stood up in front of the entire camp to proclaim their commitment to this new relationship with God. I feel so blessed to have been able to witness the change in these girls lives. I am also extremely excited to walk with them as they start this new life. I see many great things to come for these girls.

Things did not go as well here on the home front while I was gone. It started when I got two urgent messages from work. It turned out that while I was away one of my coworkers decided to quit. She was the one who was handling most of my work load while I was gone which made me extremely concerned. Next I found out that my dog decided to take on a raccoon at my parents house and barely survived. My parents had to make some hard decisions regarding his care while I was gone and thanks to them he is still alive! Scamp is not out of the woods yet so please pray for my little miracle dog. I saw him for the first time last night and completely lost it. There is not an inch on him that does not have a wound. His medication had worn off when I was there and listening to him cry in pain broke my heart! I will let you know as he progresses.

Arizona or Bust!

2008-07-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

Well we leave tomorrow! I can't believe it is finally time for camp. I am so nervous and excited at the same time. Camp is always a lot of fun but there is a lot riding on it when it comes to our girls. This is the time when we see the real impact we have had on these girls. I know we all go to camp hoping that this is the year that changes our girls hearts and this is the year she turns her life around but ultimately it isn't in our hands. These girls have choices of their own and sadly enough we have watched some of them make a decision for Jesus and then a year later walk away. Our goal is to plant the seed and let God do the rest. I know from my own life experience that once that seed is planted it is only a matter of God's time before we see it bear fruit. What we really need is prayer for this next week. Prayer that our travel goes smoothly and that everyone stays safe. This is a time for our girls to be kids again and not have to worry about being moms so I really hope that our childcare workers step up to the plate. I am going to be gone for a week so don't expect a new post until then! I hope all of you have a great next week and I will update soon!

Not Forgotten

2008-07-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

So I have not forgotten that I would post the pictures from our trip to Reno its just that for some reason Nate feels the need to sabotage the pictures! First he went through and picked out the pictures that he liked the best then he emailed them to me so small that you need a microscope to see what is going on in them! He claims he meant no ill will but I am not so sure..... For example see the following picture.

Do you see what I am talking about??? I mean really Nate, how is everyone supposed to see how amazing our trip was??? They do not all have the amazing spotting scope you have that allows you to see 10 miles away!!!

Well I am heading over to his house tomorrow so I will try and post the pictures from there. That is if he has not triple locked the computer and put it in his safe!

To be continued......

New Look

2008-07-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

This week Lexie and I decided to update our looks. Lexie's hair was getting out of control. That girl has the thickest hair I have ever seen and as it gets longer it becomes harder and harder to tame. I finally said enough and my mom took her to get her hair cut. I was hoping that she would choose to go shorter but the style she picked out is really cute. I keep saying it is her first big girl hair cut because it is the first one she has ever had with some real style. It is layered around her face in the front and has more layers in the back. It is super cute!

I decided it was time for a change of color myself. I have been blonder for quite some time and I was ready for a change. I went to see Vince today and said make me dark! I absolutely LOVE the color he chose. This is exactly the look I was going for!!!! Yea!!! Excuse the blotchiness (Is that a word? Oh well it is now!) in my photo but I had just finished my 45 minutes of aerobics. More on that later.

Did I mention I love my new hair color???? :)

Armed and dangerous

2008-07-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well I had planned to post some of the pictures from our trip to Reno but for some reason I keep getting an error message so I will have to try again tomorrow. I hope you noticed that I wrote some of the pictures. The reason for that is because Nate decided against emailing all of them to me!! I think he is holding out on the really good ones! So instead you will get to hear about my Sunday.

Since neither of us had our kids on Sunday we took a drive around the county to see what wildlife we could come across and so Nate could teach me how to shoot my first gun!!! He promised me we would find a buck and after an hour of driving I was beginning to have my doubts that he would deliver. Luckily for him a small buck wandered into our path just as I was about to give up hope that my man would deliver. He was beautiful! (The buck! Though my man is very good looking as well.) Then a few minutes later we came across a young doe and her cute little fawn. He had wandered down into the water and was eating some grass. He was truly precious. We almost got a picture but then Nate scared him away by moving! After that we went to find a good spot for my first time handling a firearm. Preferably as far away from any living creature as possible. We finally found a good spot and prepared. I put on the extremely attractive ear muffs. Yup I looked good. Then he handed over his Glock... unloaded of course and gave me a brief course in gun safety. After that he loaded it and attempted to hand it over. I then took three steps back and stammered You first! He then showed me how it was done and he looked good. He turned to me and asked if I was ready and with sweat pouring down me I said yes. He carefully handed it over to me and I assumed the position , aimed at my target, and pulled the trigger.

Here is the conversation we had following my first shot:
Nate: How did you feel?
Me: Good...
Nate: Did you see where your shot went?
Me: Uuuuhhhh.....
Nate: You closed your eyes didn't you!
Me (sheepishly): Yeah.

Well after that I took a few more shots and after some excellent coaching by Nate I finally hit where I was aiming! Yeah me!

Nate: So you ready to try the shot gun?
Me: NO!!!!

I think we will try a smaller gun next time.

Getting out of Dodge!

2008-07-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

Well with all of the smoke in the area Nate and I decided we would take a road trip. Now there are not many places that our within a days drive to escape the smoke but we thought we would make a try of it. There is one place that Nate had been itching to get to as long as I have known him so Saturday we took a drive to Reno to visit the amazing Cabela's ! Also we have now shared a kiss in three states so that was a good reason to go as well! Awwww! As the store appeared in the horizon Nate started to shake with excitement and I knew that this was going to be a long day. I was up for the challenge and intrigued to see this store that every outdoors man dreams of visiting. Just looking at the outside of the store I knew this was an all day event. Being the extremely intelligent people we are we decided to come up with a game plan before entering the store... get it... "game plan"...... you know because we were going into a store that sells stuff related to wild game.... ha ha ha.. oh never mind you people never get my jokes! So we decided we would first make a run through the store just looking. At that time we would use a map to chart the store into grids and then.... okay just kidding about the grids but we really did decide to walk through the store and then do any shopping afterwards. We walked in and stood for a few moments in awe at all of the wild game that was stuffed and displayed around the Costco sized store of goods. Then we started out. We made the initial circle around the store then headed back a second time to do the actual shopping. I was very impressed with Nate's ability to keep his head in the midst of all of these toys and to walk away with only a few items! After we were done at Cabela's we decided to head to the strip and give some money to the casinos. We walked into the first one and I took a deep breath "Aaah I said it smells just like home!" So much for escaping the smoke! Nate played a good game of Black Jack before some people who didn't know how to play showed up and ruined his game. He then insisted that I play a slot before we go. I balked at first because I am cheap but finally he wore me down. We walked around until I found a machine I wanted to play. I picked the wheel of fortune because the last time I played that slot years ago I won $500. So anyways we put in the $20 and preceded to play for a while it was just back in forth winning a little then losing a little then suddenly I heard it "Wheel of Fortune"! That sound means you get to spin the wheel and low and behold I won $62.50 then it happened 2 more times and I got up to $200.00 I was ready to cash out but Nate said you can't leave a hot machine so we played a little bit more then cashed out. We had discussed having a nice steak dinner while we were there but then we both had a sudden craving for ice cream so we ditched the steaks and had brownie sundaes at Circus Circus. They were so good! Then we hit the road to head home stopping at Sportsman's Warehouse in Roseville first so we could say we made the full circuit! I have pictures of the day but I used Nate's camera so I will have to wait for him to email them to me before I can post them.

Dante's Inferno

2008-07-10T17:56:00.001-07:00

I am so sick of all of this smoke! I can't believe what a mess these fires have become. It feels like we are living inside the belly of a fire with all of this heat and smoke. It is bad enough we have heat around 108 without having to deal with this smoke. I really hope they are able to get these fires out soon. It is extremely sad to sit and talk with my clients who have lost everything in a matter of moments! I don't even no where I would start if I had to evacuate. I mean I know everyone says to grab photos and important papers but there are so many other things I have that are important too! I am just thankful that our home is not in danger. Here are some pictures from around my house so those of you out of town can see what we have been dealing with day in and day out.

Can you see all of the smoke in the air?

You can feel it in your lungs when you breathe!

This glowing orange ball is what we can see of the sun...

There is ash on everything outside and you can see it floating through the air like snow!

Pretty Pretty Princess

2008-07-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

Lexie is in V.B.S. this week and they have daily theme's. Today's theme was to dress like your favorite theme park charactor. Seeing as we only had a few hours notice the best I could do was run to the Dollar store and buy a cheap plastic crown. I paired it with one of her dresses and told her she looked just like Cinderella. She replied "Not really Mom!" I still thought she looked pretty!

Happy Fourth of July

2008-07-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Vacations are fun but it is always good to be home! We went to Lake Almanor this weekend with Nate and his girls. We had a lot of fun but Nate and I are a bit drained at the moment. We stayed at Nate's Dad's cabin and had a fun packed weekend. The weather was nice other than the smoke from all of the wildfires! I will be so happy when those are out and we can breath clean air again! I am too tired to do much writing tonight so I will let the pictures tell our weekend for us. I hope everyone had a great Fourth!

Abby, Mandy, and Lexie at the parade

The American flag starting off the parade

There were some beautiful horses. (Can you see the smoke?)

Can you see it now? It wasn't even dark yet!

Nate's step sister Heather and her boyfriend Dave getting ready to watch the fireworks

Mandy, Nate's Dad Mike, step mom Debbie, and Abby

Me and Nate! (This is the only picture I have of me from the weekend!)

We went fishing the next morning

Lexie took the boat for a spin

Nate helping Lexie almost catch a fish!

Lexie debating if the cold water was worth the swim....

But cold didn't bother the girls! Well actually Mandy did complain "I told! I told!" when she get out and she shivered to show us!

A blog all her own

2008-07-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

So some of you may know by now but for those of you who don't I thought I would let you know that my little one has decided she would like her own blog to share her thoughts with the world. We set it up a couple months ago but I have delayed sharing it as I wanted to see if she would continue on with it. She told me exactly how she wanted it to look even as far as the background and then I set it all up. I think she had a really cute idea and I am excited to see where she takes it. I think it will be fun to watch how her writing and computer skills improve while working on it. I have linked it to my blog but you can click here to check it out............ Dear Diary

Freedom!

2008-06-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well I am happy to inform everyone that Lexie got her cast off today! She was so excited to finally be able to move it. Her arm is still a little stiff and the doctor says it still has a some more healing to do but he didn't see the need for her to continue wearing a cast. Guess what the first thing she wanted to do was... (besides scratching it of course).... swimming! She had put her suit in the car just in the hope that she might be able to go swimming. I dropped her off at my mom's after her appointment and she was able to get her first swim in and was so happy!

Look Tinker Bell made it! We all wondered if her temporary tattoo would survive the cast and it came through perfectly! The doctor has said that Tinker Bell is pointing to the exact spot where her arm broke!

Busy as a Bee

2008-06-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how busy we have been as of late. I always thought you slowed down in the summer but not me. I am as busy as a bee. First I am trying to get ready for Young Lives camp! Yea!!! I am so excited. Camp is so much fun and it is truly amazing when you get to see the impact you have made in these girls lives. I am really excited because one of the girls going to camp is the first girl I started mentoring two years ago. This is the first year we are attending camp together and I can't wait. She is right there sitting on the edge and I really feel this will be the year she gives her life to Christ. Please be in prayer for us as we have 5 girls, 6 babies, and 3 mentors flying to camp in Arizona. Flying to camp is a first for us and these girls have never flown before. Please pray for the girls hearts and that the Lord will speak to them. Also please keep all of the mentors in your prayers as there is always some spiritual warfare going into these things. We leave July 20th.
The second big thing I have going on is with the Gospel Choir. We have the amazing opportunity to sing with some kids from Urban Impact . This is such a wonderful time for us to reach out to these high schoolers who come from troubled homes. These kids will be flying for the 1st time from Pittsburgh to sing with our choir. Having them here will also give us on opportunity to reach out to the community as we will be singing in the city plaza with them. I am really excited to have the opportunity to host 3 of the girls in my home so please pray that all goes smoothly. I think it is going to be a lot of fun!

Poor Scamp

2008-06-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Poor Scamp is feeling a little down these days.

You see at the current moment he is not top dog in the house. Nate's dog Remington is visiting for a couple days while he is camping and she has proceeded to put Scamp in his place.

You see not only is Remi bigger but she is faster and a wee bit smarter if I don't say so myself.

"Get the ball Remi"

"I want a turn"

"Throw it again!"

It is so funny to watch her steal his toys right out from under him and then taunt him with them! He is just beside himself with worry. It is nice having a bigger dog around though. I feel a little more safe with a big dog in the house except for when she barks at 5am and scares the living daylights out of me.

Even after Scamp gave up she still taunted him!

You snooze you lose!

Even though I am sure she is having way more fun at our house than she would be having at home I think she misses her Dad!

New cast

2008-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday since we were back on the main land I had made an appointment for Lexie to see an orthopedic surgeon. He took some more x rays and after looking the arm over said it looked to be healing very nicely. The unfortunate thing is she is still going to require a cast! :( The good news is because she is so young he said that she should only have to wear it for 3 more weeks. This means she could have it off by July and still be able to enjoy the summer. She was so cute in the doctors office yesterday... when they asked her what color she wanted she hesitated before saying pink but only if it was signable. The nurse winked at me as she assured Lexie with a completely straight face that the pink cast was indeed signable!

Aloha and Home Sweet Home

2008-06-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well I have been a bit delayed in posting as we have been vacationing in Hawaii. We finally got home Tuesday evening or I guess more accurately on Wednesday morning. It was a great vacation but it is always nice to be home. The one bummer to our trip was Lexie fell on the 1st day and broke her arm. Poor thing! That ruled out all swims in the ocean for her. We got creative though and managed to find some fun things to do.

We played chess in the state park with Papa

We checked out a volcano

Explored a lava tube

Had lunch and dinner at Bubba Gumps

Took a ride in a submarine

Saw a sunken ship

Watched Dolphins play

We went as far North as the windy cliffs

Went south....

to the black sand beach

We watched manta rays swim, turtles glide through the water and on the last day Nate, Dan, Alyssa and I swam with wild dolphins. Over all I think we had a really good trip..... broken arm and all.

Aloha!