Saturday, August 27, 2011
lotus land!!!
while i was away, nate took the kids and grandma to this beautiful donated estate in montecito called lotus land. the pictures will prove the beauty here! admission was free for the children's annual art draw. the kids had a blast and grandma was in awe. she had always wanted to go to lotus land! she loved it!and, nate took advantage of his photography skills!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Amtrak Fun!!!
growing old graceFULLY!!!!
a tribute to grandma. grandma went to heaven this past may. i haven't updated my blog in forever, but, here is a little something the kids made for her last Christmas.
grandma...at almost 93, you were an incredible example to our children. you loved freely, gave selflessly, and ALWAYS welcomed our children with open arms! you always had a smile on your face. you took great pleasure in the simple & most important things, and made sure to always give glory to Him. you allowed our kids to completely cover your living room in forts and make mud castles on your patio...never once with even a slight frown or grimace. you loved sneaking cookies to our kids, and letting them climb in bed with you before the sunrise. you taught them how to make cheesy eggs and fostered the tradition of jammies and cinnamon/sugar toast on saturday mornings. you served our family up until the very end, folding my endless piles of laundry meticulously!
grandma, you blessed us more than you will ever know. we are so thankful to have had 8 and half joy filled years with you! you are deeply missed! grandma...you will be proud. i'm keeping it simple :) sure love you. enjoy dancing with grandpa inside those pearly gates!
grandma...at almost 93, you were an incredible example to our children. you loved freely, gave selflessly, and ALWAYS welcomed our children with open arms! you always had a smile on your face. you took great pleasure in the simple & most important things, and made sure to always give glory to Him. you allowed our kids to completely cover your living room in forts and make mud castles on your patio...never once with even a slight frown or grimace. you loved sneaking cookies to our kids, and letting them climb in bed with you before the sunrise. you taught them how to make cheesy eggs and fostered the tradition of jammies and cinnamon/sugar toast on saturday mornings. you served our family up until the very end, folding my endless piles of laundry meticulously!
grandma, you blessed us more than you will ever know. we are so thankful to have had 8 and half joy filled years with you! you are deeply missed! grandma...you will be proud. i'm keeping it simple :) sure love you. enjoy dancing with grandpa inside those pearly gates!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
You Rock Jesus!!!
Christmas 2 0 1 0
2010!!!! Christmas this year has had more meaning than ever for our children, and probably for us too! Since I have been home schooling, I asked the children, "If Jesus were here in the flesh, what do you think would be the greatest gift that we could give Him or that He would want to receive?" "Would it be gold, toys, food?" And, the kids thought, and thought... Then, we examined His life. He gave in His actions, His hands, His hands and ultimately His life was given away with LOVE and for LOVE! Wow! What a great example!
So, we came up with "25 DAYS OF GIVING!" For the month of December leading up the Jesus' Birthday, we have tried to 'give' to others each day. This has really grown our kids hearts for giving.
1. Daisy (give her a toy/card, pray for her)
2. Friends without homes (backbacks with necessities)
3. Salvation Army (gifts for kids, get tags off trees)
4. Card for Chrystal's father who has cancer
5. Grandmas and Grandpas-cookies and card
6. Bunnies-veggies
7. Teachers-cakes
8. Pastors gifts
9. Random acts-flowers delivered to random homes
10. A Rocha
11. Picking up trash in neighborhood
12. Neighbors-treats
13. Unity Shoppe-help out
14. Westmont-canned food for friends without homes
15. Grandma-Christmas card
16. Nana-chocolate
17. Daddy- make gift
18. Grandpa-jelly bellies, make gift
19. Papa-make gift
20. Riley and Mrs. Courtney-card
21. Awana-cookies
22. Music teacher-treats
23. Fire Fighters-treats
24. Christmas cards to friends
25. Teachers-homemade gifts
Let me just tell you, we were busy little bee's. While we hit a lot of these 'gifts,' we didn't hit them all, and that's okay. It wasn't intended to be a stressful activity but one that taught our children the true gift of the season...To Give As Christ Gave!
The true gift this season is JESUS! He is the greatest gift ever given and His gift to us is unending forgiveness, grace and His kingdom everlasting. We give to others because He first gave to us and it is a way to spread His love. What an honor and a privilege to be His hands to the needy, poor and suffering. It IS better to give than to receive.
This act of serving others, I believe, is among one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. This year our boys are 7 and our daughter is 5...the perfect teach-able age. We didn't want to miss this opportunity to plant seeds of giving!
The joy on their faces, seeing others filled with so much joy from their giving was the greatest Christmas gift for me. It was simple, it was pure and it wasn't about them!!! It was about Him!
2010!!!! Christmas this year has had more meaning than ever for our children, and probably for us too! Since I have been home schooling, I asked the children, "If Jesus were here in the flesh, what do you think would be the greatest gift that we could give Him or that He would want to receive?" "Would it be gold, toys, food?" And, the kids thought, and thought... Then, we examined His life. He gave in His actions, His hands, His hands and ultimately His life was given away with LOVE and for LOVE! Wow! What a great example!
So, we came up with "25 DAYS OF GIVING!" For the month of December leading up the Jesus' Birthday, we have tried to 'give' to others each day. This has really grown our kids hearts for giving.
1. Daisy (give her a toy/card, pray for her)
2. Friends without homes (backbacks with necessities)
3. Salvation Army (gifts for kids, get tags off trees)
4. Card for Chrystal's father who has cancer
5. Grandmas and Grandpas-cookies and card
6. Bunnies-veggies
7. Teachers-cakes
8. Pastors gifts
9. Random acts-flowers delivered to random homes
10. A Rocha
11. Picking up trash in neighborhood
12. Neighbors-treats
13. Unity Shoppe-help out
14. Westmont-canned food for friends without homes
15. Grandma-Christmas card
16. Nana-chocolate
17. Daddy- make gift
18. Grandpa-jelly bellies, make gift
19. Papa-make gift
20. Riley and Mrs. Courtney-card
21. Awana-cookies
22. Music teacher-treats
23. Fire Fighters-treats
24. Christmas cards to friends
25. Teachers-homemade gifts
Let me just tell you, we were busy little bee's. While we hit a lot of these 'gifts,' we didn't hit them all, and that's okay. It wasn't intended to be a stressful activity but one that taught our children the true gift of the season...To Give As Christ Gave!
The true gift this season is JESUS! He is the greatest gift ever given and His gift to us is unending forgiveness, grace and His kingdom everlasting. We give to others because He first gave to us and it is a way to spread His love. What an honor and a privilege to be His hands to the needy, poor and suffering. It IS better to give than to receive.
This act of serving others, I believe, is among one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. This year our boys are 7 and our daughter is 5...the perfect teach-able age. We didn't want to miss this opportunity to plant seeds of giving!
The joy on their faces, seeing others filled with so much joy from their giving was the greatest Christmas gift for me. It was simple, it was pure and it wasn't about them!!! It was about Him!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
CHRISTmas!
Christmas! It is our families most favorite time of year! We have so many traditions. As you can see, we enjoy making gingerbread houses, baking, the annual Christmas musical performance, making gifts, dressing up silly while decorating our Christmas tree, making our Advent Wreath, sleeping under the tree (not on Christmas Eve, not yet at least), playing lots and lots of Christmas music (which starts in oh, say October), and Westmont's annual lighting of the "Pickle" and sitting on Santa's lap.
But, Christmas wouldn't have the same JOY if we perhaps left out the most important reason why we celebrate this season. We celebrate baby Jesus, our Savior, coming into this world! As we pondered this amazing event, we deeply desired our kids to begin to grasp this miracle. So, in tangible ways we began to teach them about the heart of Jesus, who He was (and is) and what He stood for. That is when we came up with the 25 Days of Giving Project. Our prayer is that our childrens hearts and our will become more and more like His. That we would develop a heart and a passion for the things in this world that break His. It is in those moments that I believe we truly begin to see His great power at work!
But, Christmas wouldn't have the same JOY if we perhaps left out the most important reason why we celebrate this season. We celebrate baby Jesus, our Savior, coming into this world! As we pondered this amazing event, we deeply desired our kids to begin to grasp this miracle. So, in tangible ways we began to teach them about the heart of Jesus, who He was (and is) and what He stood for. That is when we came up with the 25 Days of Giving Project. Our prayer is that our childrens hearts and our will become more and more like His. That we would develop a heart and a passion for the things in this world that break His. It is in those moments that I believe we truly begin to see His great power at work!
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