I Heart Saturday AND.....tony in town

He is my uncle and much more like a brother. He loves movies, the Lakers, music, a good cigar, wine, his family and most of all the GOSPEL. He lives and breathes it. He teaches it and shares it. He has had a huge impact on my spiritual life.

He is a senior pastor of a church in Illinois - visiting for the week and meeting with church leaders and talking about a possible move back to CA!!!

We are praying.....I miss these girls!

what I liked about idaho

While Nate was away at camp and the kids were enjoying Vacation Bible School actvities, I snuck over to Idaho for quick work related trip to inspect a hotel. I was gone for less than 48 hours, but it made for a little adventure. A change in scenery, even though not a true "vacation" can bring about needed times of reflection.

Traveling alone gave me time to be thankful for blue skies. I took this photo while singing a worship song outloud in my little rental car...just me and the Lord...




reflect on safe crossings...what a crazy year for our little family...



admire how other people live....

(In cool looking black painted houses with sheep in their front yard!)




and pray for pretty valley's...the valley times bring the needed changes and growth. I will try to picture them more like this and less like dark pits.

(If I lived in this valley, I would be tempted to make my little home look like a little hobbit house)



for more reflections and thoughts of everyday people unwrapping their day...visit Chatting at the Sky

Matt and how he "breaks in" new clothes

Matt got a new shirt today. You know how it has that "new" smell and a little stiff...so I told him I will wash it first before he wears it.

He said, "No, Mom, this is what I do, I do this (crumples it up) and then this (twists it on the ground and rolls over it) and then I stuff it into my drawer for at least two days. Then it is ready to wear."

Got it. Silly me.

I Heart Saturday AND......FBC youth going to camp

Praying for an awesome week! We will sure be missing our teenager!

what makes her happy

dance class



really, I can guarantee I will see an especially amazing smile every Tuesday between 5 and 6



What I love is that it is not only because she really loves to dance, but....

* I see her working so hard to get it right

* she puts her ALL into it

* I see her confidence during her evaluations that require her to perform the dance all alone

* I see her want her friends that are stuggling with parts of the dance to get it and

* today during the peer evaluation, I heard her point out wonderfully positive attribute about each team member

what makes me happy... I just watched it again this week

what would make me happy...the C9

cappuccino, mocha or latté at the touch of a button - mine today for only $1,799

I Heart Saturday AND......this graduate

I totally heart her mom too!

puritan picks

We do Netflix and we really love it. I saw this on Tim Challies' twitter and went to check it out.

Puritan Picks - HOW GREAT IS THIS! Christian DVD's (not just "Christian" movies like Fireproof, etc., but cool stuff like "meaty" conferences and lectures by theologians too) available, by mail, like Netflix, for $4.99 per month.

I just signed up to give it a try. Poor family. As if my history documentaries and George Grant DVD's did not bore them enough already. Now I can bring full on theology packed conferences to my home!

hanging out in the backyard

enjoying my lemons! I love this tree and I love sharing my lemons...



my new umbrella..it was a birthday gift from my dad. He picked it out! It is a really cool mustard color and...

he picked out a granite umbrella stand too..

Matt's plant box has one little sunflower that reminds us of the little engine that could.

my tomatoes are coming!

pretty white flowers are popping up

my new grill ready for the pork chops...

neighborhood girls that pop up over the fence to say hi... I love that!

sometimes I wish I was not married in the early '90's

Weddings are so much more creative now than they were when I got married. Really, when Luke and Laura have the hyped up marriage look.....and what boring photography we had!

tule along the pews is as creative as we got...

and the dresses were....well, mostly like this

IF I could have another wedding (don't get me wrong - same man) , it would show more personality. I ran across this blog and quickly saved it to my favorites and titled it "the cutest wedding ever". Casual/adorable outdoor table setting...

a photo booth at the reception! love this!

late night 'smores

anyway, you will have fun looking at their blog with more cuteness, ideas and even a cost breakdown - that is one of the saddest parts for me, my church hall reception cost more!

cutest wedding ever

another little birthday

Today is the birthday of my little blog. I certainly had enough birthday food and fun this past weekend, but hey, what's one more. I started hopes fulfilled blog with the idea of having a place to share my thoughts, my hopes and what makes me happy.

I wanted to blog for one year and then, on my 40th birthday, I would make it into a book as a present to myself. Well, since that time making a blogger blog into a good quality book is a little harder - but I am working on it.

I never kept up with my journal or scrapbooks - but I have with this blog. I have been able to share myself and my little life with people I know and love, people I am just getting know and total strangers, many of whom are not strangers any more.

Looking back...

• My very first post - I could never read that quote too often



• My first "I Heart Saturday..." post



• My most personal post



• My favorite memory of a post - Amy Grant tickets wanted - such sweet friends
• My "day in the life of" post

Sometimes I have a thought that I want to write about and it goes into my "draft" file. In that file today I found posts titled...

• A post on being a homeschooling/working mom



• Junk food for the soul - I think this was to be my thoughts on my TV watching



• Prayer sticks - a post about our family's way of praying for others

How do I have time to blog? Sometimes I blog when the dishes are not yet done, yet I do go back and clean them. I blog while sitting next to my husband while he watches music related videos/blogs or listens to a sermon podcast. Other times I blog late at night when I am supposed to be working on an appraisal report and I just get too bored with that.

Right now I am blogging when everyone is quiet in their rooms, husband is not yet home from work and I am not sure if anyone has had dinner yet. Oops - I better go figure that out.