Auntie Flo's Visit!

 Auntie Flo and Annalina take a sledding run!!

 The kiddos love their Auntie Flo a lot.

 Everyone happy but Carson who didn't get a nap and was miffed about something!

Auntie Flo, Myself, and Annalina at our church's Mother/Daughter Tea

On Tuesday Auntie Flo flew in for a visit after a school year studying for her Doctor's degree in education and music at Bob Jones University!! It was GREAT to see her and catch up with her. The kids went sledding with her and played UNO, Monopoly, and CLUE, took a long walk to get the much desired Wheat Thins for a special soup supper. She bought the kids CLUE for their birthdays and they had a great time learning how to play it from her! Flo ran around with us to wrestling practice, swim team practice, and rock climbing. It was so nice to have her along!

Today she played her violin for our church's Mother/Daughter Tea and did a beautiful job. How amazing we could have her there! I was really thankful she was able to meet the church family we love so much.

We are blessed she would make such an effort to come see us on her much needed break. Coming to a house full of kiddos for a break is something! We pray for her and love her. I am so excited to see what God has for her after she gets her degree!! DR. FONG! :-)

Sweet Note

Really thankful for my church. It is a RARE find. We would know since we searched high and low for one! Anyway, haven't been able to make it to church lately due to my pregnancy but a family friend of ours sent this note to tell how the kids did singing their special in church which was so sweet of her. I had heard her practice with the kids from my bedroom they were down in the basement and thought they were singing so well. So glad for the opportunity they have to minister through music even though they are just little. Also thankful for our family friend who has almost been acting as a grandparent lately with our kiddos! They took the 3 oldest to church for weeks and this past Sunday had them for a hymn sing at their house and had the kids sing for the people that came to the hymn sing. The kids enjoy Mrs. W so much. Her husband is a wonderful person too and has helped us out MANY times around the house with projects.

I'm hopeful I'll be back in church on Sunday but won't know until the time comes. I'm hopeful though! :-) My church is an encouraging place to be. Praise the Lord I can say that.

Update: I was out Saturday A LOT and able to go to church on Sunday! A BIG step! The people at church were coming up and hugging me and so excited. We are the ONLY young people in the church. These women have already raised their families, etc. They are sweet and loving. Next week we celebrate pastors birthday of 80 yrs.!

 Did I say I have an amazing church? We told the kids we are blessed with our church that our pastor seeks truth but also there is Christ like love in the church. So many times there is one without the other. Not many churches like this left. Blessed to be in one.

Mrs. W is teaching the kids about the tabernacle and they all love it. Carson asked me as church was getting started if Mrs. W was going to teach about the tabernacle. Ross filled me in in our Bible class the other day for school what a picture was of something in the tabernacle. I didn't know the name! He learned it with Mrs. W.

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Dear Abigail,

I just wanted to tell you how well the kids did with their song this morning . . .  The people LOVED it
and were clapping along with them.   We are starting on some more songs to be
sung as they are needed.

Take care of yourself!

Love,
Esther

We prayed for you again today in church.

January

For a number of years now I haven't really relished January. I don't think it is the whole holidays are over thing. I don't think that really bothers me. I just always feel like January DRAGS on for so long! Maybe, it is the fast paced days of December are gone and January puts on the brakes. Who knows, whatever it is I need to not dread it. I did do better this year!!

January this year was an extremely interesting and eventful month. On the lighter side . . . Annalina and Ross started new classes (More on Ross's class later). Aside from morning family devotions Annalina and I started Mommy/Daughter devotions at night before bed with a one year mommy/daughter devotional that has already touched Annalina's and I's life. Babe started Father/Son Devotions at night with Gabers and Ross. It is written military style and they all enjoy it. Funny the devotional book was written by people out of Colorado Springs! Jedidiah cut 2 teeth. We had friends over for lefse making and eating! They wanted Babe to tutor their family in the art of lefse making! Very fun! Get memories and laughter.

The heavier events of the months are not for writing but needless to say so much joy and tears of sadness. Our Lord works in so many ways and more often then not contrary to the way we'd work things out because His ways are so much better. As my friend M. N. said it is like the disciples getting scared when they saw something coming towards them on the water and then in their fear they realized it was Christ and he spoke to them! Oh, now it is all better Christ is in this and then peace comes! I love that picture. A book (Guns of Thunder-Douglas Bond) I am reading the kids right now said it so well. The grandfather was speaking to his grandson and said "Ay, no ye cannot, and so ye must learn to wait upon the Lord, lad. Ye'll find it easier to put fear aside and wait upon God the more ye come to love God's sovereignty, to know his goodness, to hope in his gracious power to save."

February will continue in fun. My sister-in-law and her two daughters are coming to spend some time hanging out and then our BIG plans are to go to a castle (Glen Eerie) for a tour and then all of us girls are going to a REAL tea party at the castle!  The castle is run by a Christian organization. I really look forward to this! We've been wanting to do this for awhile! We are also going to our friends home this month where they are going to teach us how to make fried ice cream (funny story as to why). That will be so fun. Babe will be winding down in his current job and in March starting to train to go on watch which is shift work with 6 days on, so many days off, etc. Our schedule for family life will really be changing.  We've got some big decisions to make too this month. Also, I've been reading a book about Bonhoeffer and have been challenged to start memorizing the Sermon on the Mount with the kids. A bit intimidating, but slow and easy wins the race. I have no idea how long it will take. As Christians, my family and I need the attributes preached about in those 3 chapters and what better way to learn to live them then by memorizing and meditating on them. Wait, how can I forget it's my BIRTHDAY this month too!!

I love how God is continually teaching me to rest in His sovereignty. I don't always enjoy the journey but the destination is worth it.

Fun With Friends

Last Saturday we had our friends over for dinner and had a great time. We met them awhile back in a most unusual way which both families chalk up to God's providence. I meant to write about them sooner. We were both at a Costco eating and Babe decided he wanted to talk to them so walked over and struck up a conversation and well we have the blessing of some very special friends. They are most unique and I mean that in the best possible way. The whole family has such a sweet gentle spirit. They have been a blessing to us in a big way and they are pure joy to be around. They are so real and loving. My favorite things in a friend.

M and I have a number of things in common: homeschooling, growing up with a father that was principal of a Christian school (mine was for a few years), and both our husbands call us "Sunshine" (she said I have never heard another husband do that before!), and most of all we love being with our kids and hubbies.

The kids had a great time running around. The girls sewed on the sewing machine and the boys fought battles and got wounded!! Yep, pretty fun! Jedidiah was spoiled rotten by their teenage daughters who love to tote him around.

Hymn Sing with the Ferrins=BLESSING!!

Sunday was the Hymn Sing I had blogged about a little while back. Annalina did get the song (Arise, My Soul, Arise) memorized and was able to sing it with the others. It sounded great.

Mr. Ferrin LOVED it and wants them to sing again at a Hymn Sing in April at another church. I am going to try to get Gabriel, Ross, and Carson up to speed so they can be apart of it too!

Brian and I got to talk with Mr. Ferrin a fair amount at the fellowship time afterwards and realized we had a lot of similar walkings in life. It was a lot of fun to talk and figure this all out! He went to college in Minneapolis, MN which is near where my dad went to seminary and near where Babe and I were married. He and his wife had a church ministry in San Jose, CA and he was excited that we had just come from Monterey, CA. His dad was a pastor in Lakewood, CO and my dad was assoc. pastor VERY close to there (now we are different generations. They are about my parents age.) Later in life he was pianist at the church where my dad was assoc. pastor (Beth Eden Baptist Church) but way before that time. His dad was part of the conservative Baptist split which would be extremely interesting to my dad since one of his doctorate's is in baptist history (Minnesota though). Mr. Ferrin and his wife were such sweet people and it was fun meeting them.

The service they did was a blessing to Babe and I. What a blessing to just sing and listen to hymns and hear the history! We thoroughly enjoyed our morning of hymns and fellowship. Just what I needed to start out this week.

Blessing

This past Sunday was such a blessing for Babe and I. The church service and music really touched us and challenged us for stronger living by refocusing us to look to Jesus. I love how God knows just what we need and when. I walked out so ready for the school year!

As I was sitting in the service feeling so blessed I thought of my friend Heather. Thanks for being a blessing Heather! I haven't seen you in probably 14 years (thankful for email!) but I count you as a blessing. Thanks for being so real and so caring and so prayerful. You're a blessing to me.

Our Summer # 5

 Aunti Flo and Auntie Grace came to visit us from California.

Flo was my roomate in college and I got to know her sister Grace. Flo is soon headed to Bob Jones

to get her Dr.'s degree! I know she is going to do great

and have a super time there! It was so nice to be able to catch up with them again and hang out.

 Annalina went with them to the Olympics training center for another tour

and she had fun with her Aunties.

 Whew!!! What a strong girl!!

 Auntie Flo is a LOVER of LEGOS. She and the kids built 

this castle while she was here!

Auntie Grace with Jedidiah.

Memorial Day at Naval Postgraduate School

Ross, Carson, and I cuddled up and
listening to the fun music. Ross was giving Carson a smooch!

We had such a super fun and relaxing Memorial Day at NPS. Our friends Flo and Grace came down for the day from San Francisco. On base they had such fun things for the kids to see and do. The kids got to hold and see different animals. One place they got to make musical instruments out of household items that were instruments I had never seen done before. Carson really enjoyed the instrument station too. After the fun things to see we grabbed a cookout lunch and had a picnic on the lawn and listened to patriotic band music, barbershop choral, and the Monterey Symphony Orchestra! So relaxing and fun!

Gabriel LOVES, LOVES birds so it was so fun to him to get
to hold this bird. Gabriel especially loves Toucans.

I like Ross's look on his face! He thinks this is pretty neat!

Carson was so quiet and LOVED holding the bird. I was surprised the man let Carson hold a bird and I know Carson appreciated it. Carson is so gentle with animals, not always his siblings though! :-)

I really like this picture of Carson.
He is not sure about it all but he enjoys the opportunity!

I wish I had gotten it on video but every once in awhile this bird would flap its wings and the kids got a kick out of it and would flap their arms trying to get the bird to flap its wings again.

Annalina is so funny. She loves creepy crawlies EXCEPT spiders which she is absolutely terrified of (so is Carson he doesn't like anything resembling a spider, like daddy!). Anyway, the snake guy was so impressed with Annalina's calm handling of the constrictor that he wanted to put us on a list to take in snakes needing homes because they needed people like that. NOT ON YOUR LIFE BUDDY! That is crazy to bring constrictors into homes with children actually its crazy to bring them into any home! He was a nice guy though and the kids thought it so fun. Gabriel passed on this activity! Don't blame him one bit!

Ross made me nervous,
he was not afraid of that snake unfortunately.

We had such a relaxed time with our picnic and then lounging in the grass listening to music.
Is was so, so, so relaxing! Wonderful!

Carson cuddling with Auntie Flo!

Gabriel got to control a robot used on the battlefield to pick up wounded soldiers that medics can't get to because it may still be to dangerous to get to them. Usually it would have a sled in back for the soldier to roll over on to be evacuated.

Carson LOVES fire engines and he was so thrilled
he really did not want out of the driver's seat!

These firemen were so kind and the kids enjoyed the
time they spent letting the kids explore the fire engine.

Another List of Blessings

This was a HARD week to say the least. It was a hard week in parenting for one. The kids were a little renegade especially one particular day! YIKES! But there was more going on than just that. One of those weeks where I needed to breathe in and breathe out and repeat. Actually, my mom even told me to breathe! Despite the craziness and stress there is always blessings to be seen amid the stresses.

Also, sometimes I hesitate with my blog because I go on about the kids. Please remember this blog is for my OWN memory bank. Believe me I am not blind to my children's faults. :-) I see them quite clearly and this week I got GREAT view of them all!

OK, back to my blessings of the week . . .

*My sister-in-law called the other day. My blessing here is . . . I love my sister-in-law . . . when we get to talk like we did it is like having a sister. That is a blessing even though I do have great brothers!

*My friend in Washington state emailed me and said she thought of me in REI the other day and picked out in her mind what she thought would be the water bottle that I would like and then emailed me a picture. My blessing here is . . . my friend has shown through the years she is just that a real life-long friend. Isn't it nice to know someone thought of you and that they know you well enough to pick out what you like?

*We had talked in devotions not to long ago (I think I blogged about it) about how we could share Christ. Gabriel decided to give it a try in swimming and got a very short conversation started. He wants to continue but really he doesn't have time to talk much or talk at any extent about salvation through Jesus. I found a children's tract that came from the Creation Museum and it walks a reading child through coming to know Christ! Gabriel is so excited to give it to him at his next swim lesson. My blessing . . . watching a child that listens and then wants to be a doer.

*Annalina displayed an excellent spirit at the AWANA awards ceremony. She had finished her 3 books in the last 2 school years and had earned the Sparky award plaque but instead they presented her with a certificate of participation in AWANA. She never even flinched. In fact, I thought she didn't even realize the mistake. When we talked about it later she told me she did notice and she said "I thought maybe they just got confused because I had used the old book." Which is exactly what happened! She wanted to use the old AWANA book because as she told the AWANA workers the verses are longer. After the ceremony Babe inquired about it, it was remedied and she received her plaque and thought the night was just the best! My blessing . . . a little girl that isn't concerned about recognition in front of everyone and had an excellent spirit about being overlooked.

*Carson is starting to use more words. I love it. I love hearing "Ma, Ma" and I love his hugs. My blessing . . . love from my little munchkin, of course. He is definitely in that terrible 2's stage but we all love him and he adds so much to life. He LOVES the book Green Eggs and Ham!!

*I have a neat story about Ross but I will write about that later.

Weekend with Auntie Flo

Flo was my room mate in college and after Babe and I started having kids they adopted Flo as their Auntie. She came down and spent much of last weekend with us and the kids were thrilled! We really enjoyed our walk down by Monterey Bay. This time of year there is BEAUTIFUL flowers lining the bay.

How often do you get to walk almost literally on a carpet of flowers?! The kids LOVED running through the beauty! There is no carpet as stunning as this!

Not only is it beautiful but so soft too!

God sure knows how design doesn't He?

Evolution, hrumph and ba humbug!

Ross enjoying his time by the bay.

Annalina almost blending in with the flowers!

She is our flower!

Playing Monopoly with Auntie Flo!

The kids playing Uno with Auntie Flo.

The kids really, really

enjoyed

their weekend with their Auntie Flo!

Blessed Week

Here are blessings from my week!

1. Some dear Christian friends of ours came to visit for 2 days! It was so wonderful catching up and relaxing and getting to talk with a Sister-in-Christ and the kids getting to play with friends.

2. Another dear Christian friend of mine emailed about them looking into the possibility of them being near us in the future and I am praying!

2.Yesterday the kids were outside enjoying the beautiful spring weather. I saw Gabriel was riding his bike and Annalina and Ross were running and the 3 of them were having races. I thought that was all it was was racing. At dinner I asked them to tell Daddy what they were doing outside and then I found out the details. Gabriel was playing Mr. McGregor on his bike and Ross was Peter Rabbit :-) and Annalina was Benjamin Bunny. Gabriel was trying to get ahead of them to block them from leaving the garden! Tooo cute! They had a BLAST. Ross came in TIRED! It is a blessing to be able to have the kids home and play like that. That is what memories are made out of.

3.Saturday morning I was in the living room opening the shades for the day and I hear a faint "Mommy, Mommy." I thought it was Gabriel but he doesn' t usually call to me in the morning and I thought maybe he was not feeling well or something. When I got in there he obviously just awakened and said still quietly "I love you your the best Mommy in the world. I also have the best Daddy in the world. I just wanted to say that . . . I just feel like I don't say that about you enough." Ok, my day is made. God's goodness is new every morning and sometimes His blessings come through our children.

4. Gabriel had a day he just didn't feel like going to swim class but he went anyway. But he was anxious to tell me about the class when I came to pick him up. It came time for the relay race and a boy that had never talked to him before (Gabriel is probably the youngest in the class or close to it) said to him "You can do it!" Gabriel was thrilled with this validation and didn't have time to say thank you to him he said because it was his turn to swim. He said as he was swimming he could see that he was not going to win but he swam better because of what that boy had said to him. Later on the side of the pool he said to the boy "Thank you" and the boy said "For what?" and Gabriel said "For the encouragement". He said "Thank you for saying Thank you!" Gabriel was so encouraged and uplifted by that word of kindness. It not only made his class but made the day for him! I am thankful for the blessing Gabriel got and thankful for Gabriel's response to the blessing. He had gratitude.

5. I so much enjoy reading to the kids at lunch time. Now we have it down so we go into Carson's room with him and as I read he falls asleep. There is not much going on in Carson's room (not fancily decorated, etc. well, there is a mess of laundry though :-) Anyway, as we were walking out of the room today Annalina told me she liked being in that room when we read because it made it more easy to imagine things. I loved hearing that. I love how the kids say "Read more, Read more!" We read all the way through Carson's nap the other day! I am loving going on adventures with my kids through books. Do the kids have to grow up? *Sigh*

6. Carson started trying to say two words together this week. That was a blessing to my heart. He is such a cuddle bug. He is enjoying cars and books and his ride on schooters.

What A Blessing . . . . Christian Friends

Our kids with Eric and Kristen's kids. (not using the kids names on here!)

Oh, the kids thought this was SUPER one BIG slumber party! 6 kids in one room!

Getting ready to say goodbye after a wonderful visit.

On Monday of this week our super wonderful friends from Washington state came for a visit! We were all thrilled to have them come and for us to get to spend time with them. Kristen and I met when we where both pregnant with our first and our husbands were going to be deploying on the same boat. We were deployment buddies and went through the joyful and hard together. Kristen is a sister in Christ that I greatly respect and she sharpens me. She is a doer and she has such a humility and love for her Lord. I am thankful I can call her my friend and thankful for how she has sharpened me.

Eric and Kristen's children are so sweet and fun. My kids just love them. After they left Gabriel commented that it was nice that they "believed like we do". How true, it is very refreshing to be around people that have such similar values and beliefs!!

Another thing to be thankful for this week: Time with Good Friends!

Thanks Kristen for taking the effort to come see us!!