Happy Anniversary!

Today, Richard and I are celebrating 19 years of marriage. As I look back at our marriage I am overwhelmed with gratitude to God for His love, grace and mercy in our marriage. The road to today has not always been easy, but I honestly can say I wouldn't have wanted to walk it with anyone else.

On October 7, 1989, I thought I knew what marriage was. I know now, I didn't have a clue. I thought we would say "I do," KISS, eat cake, open presents and live happily ever after. 

On that day I thought I was saying, "I do" to just a husband, but in reality Richard is so much more than that. By God's grace, He has opened my eyes to the treasure He gave me so many years ago.

Richard, thank you for being my husband and best friend. Thank you for your patience and love. You have made so many of my dreams come true already. But, even more than dreams you have given me life with you and our girls as we serve God together. On our wedding day, I couldn't have even imagined how happy I would be 19 years later.  I am perfectly content to live with you, no matter where the Lord has us (Hey, we lived in the valley for 5 years). Thank you for holding my hand, touching me gently, and even watching the Broncos' games with me.

As we learned in Bible study this year our marriage has a purpose and that is to bring glory to God. I pray that as we grow closer and stronger each day, we would bring honor and glory to God through our marriage. I pray that each day I would become more submissive to God and you.

I love you with all me heart and I thank you for 19 amazing years!

Quiet Please

Today, was a slow day for us. I must say it was a welcome change to our schedule recently. We are heading into a very busy month. October will have at least one engagement per weekend. I know today is a rare quiet treat; I am really enjoying it before the storm.
Today, as I cooked lunch Richard played golf in our living room. The girls got in on the fun too. They were rooting for him like he was Tiger Woods. I absolutely love the fact that my girls have fun with their Daddy no matter what they are doing.

Have a great day!

Being Fumigated Out

Hello everybody, this will be a short update. 

At 3:00pm yesterday we were notified that exterminators were coming to our apartment early this morning. We had to empty our kitchen (EVERYTHING!), linen closet and bathroom in three hours. We needed to leave for church at 6:00pm. After church we came home and went to bed. We got up at 5:00am, Richard left for work at 6:00 and I did some last minute things around the house.  The girls and I left a little after 8:00am. We needed to be gone while they sprayed, then we had to stay out for four hours after. I called our landlord at 12:00pm, the exterminators had just finished. So, we were at church until almost 6:00 tonight. We walked into the apartment and the smell was so strong, we walked to Subway for dinner. We decided to let the kitchen air out until tomorrow morning.

Here is what our kitchen looks like tonight.

Hopefully it will be back together tomorrow.

I didn't take a picture of my  living room, because that depresses me. I would rather look at a clean room.

Have a great day!

Welcome Fall

I knew I was going to have a good day yesterday. The first thing I heard on the news was it was the first day of fall. I LOVE FALL! 

Though when I looked out my window the trees were still all green. I told Richard I wanted to go and spray paint the trees orange.
We decided to take our girls on a field trip since they are studying life cycles and classifications. Richard found this little wilderness center in Redondo Beach. We packed a lunch and headed out the door. Now, the internet says this place is 11 acres. I either have no clue how big 11 acres are or they lost a few of their acres.
We still had a great time. There was a lot to see. The girls were able to see ducks, koi, turtles and many little fish.

The girls looking at the turtles.

Feeding "Queenie"

My Little Abby

The weather was perfect yesterday it was a clear warm day with a slight breeze. While we were in the wilderness center, we were in shade most of the time. There were hundreds of trees to keep us cool and also allow us the opportunity to hear the wind blow through the trees. Among, all these green trees was a beautiful gift from God just for me. 

A sugar gum tree that realized it was the first day of fall.

After our excursion to the wilderness center, Richard decided we would drive down to the beach for a walk, since it was such a beautiful day. We were blessed to even find free parking.

This picture is important, because they were

just supposed to get there feet wet.

The girls  with their Daddy.

Tonight I made this cake for dessert to celebrate everything fall. It is a Caramel-Apple Walnut Cake. I used apples from my father-in-law's tree. It was delicious. You can find the recipe here.

A Flower for a Friend

As I walk out my front door I am blessed to have a daily reminder of my sweet friend Gracie. You see one time when I wanted to smell a plumeria flower, and my plant was not blooming she brought a bloom from her home for me to smell. Now that my plant is finally blooming after many years, I have a wonderful gift on my porch. Not only a wonderful smelling plant with many blooms, but a reminder of my friend's kindness and love.

So my friend Gracie this is for you.

I love you and miss you.

Saying Goodbye Again

Recently, Richard and I had to make a tough decision to release our new friends Izzy and Robin. We really struggled with this decision, because of how it would affect our girls. Our girls have had to say many hard goodbyes this year already. We didn't want to see them hurt again.

On January 1st we received a call in the morning, that we needed to go say goodbye to our dog at Richard's parents' house. It was so hard for all of us. Richard and I had bought Jelly Bean when he was only six weeks old. We had him for 4 years before we had children. The girls all loved him too. Bekah played with him for the years that she was an only child.

Then in May, Heather (Richard's little sister), Aaron and their new son Benjamin, left to move out of state. It was not only hard for them to say goodbye to their auntie and uncle, but their new cousin who was only two weeks old at the time.

The girls with their auntie and new cousin.

In August we said goodbye to our good friend Gracie. It is so hard to hear your children weep as a friend says goodbye. 

A picture from last Christmas. One of my favorites of Gracie.

Now we are in September and my girls are saying goodbye again; this time to animals we caught right outside our door--their new friends Izzy and Robin.

The walk to release Izzy and Robin.

Notice Hannah has a paper and pencil with her; 

she drew the animals being released.

Izzy walking out of Richard's hand. Surprisingly, 

Izzy walked out of his hand very slowly.

Robin being released in a tree.

These are hard lessons for our girls, but they also provide an opportunity to talk about eternity and the need for salvation. 

Hello Again

I can't believe I have not posted in over two weeks. Life just seems so busy right now. I think about posting often, but I always seem to get side-tracked. So I will let you know what has been happening in our world. School is going great this year. The girls are still having fun after a month. As part of my school day I am also making it a point to spend time with Abigail to do "school" things with her. She loves puzzles so I am doing that quite a bit with her right now. I found this great website called Chasing Cheerios with so many simple ideas for teaching children. One of the ideas was to make homemade puzzles from the front of boxes (cereal, crackers, granola bars, etc.).

Abby working on puzzle.

Abby with her first completion.

Hannah and Rachel really excited to do the puzzles too.

Rich teaching the girl's about life cycles of plants.

My first attempt at making my daughters clothes. 

Back to the drawing board.