O God, You are my God

Psalm 63: 1-8

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thristy land
Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sancturary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on you in the night watches.
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice,
My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.


We had two people close to our family pass away this past week and it got me thinking about heaven.
Oh, how I long to be with Jesus. And, oh I long to bless Him while I live.

10 years together!!

I have loved this man for most of my life. We were kids when we first started dating(17 & 20) and have practically grown-up together. Seriously, how could I have known what I was getting myself into...only God could have granted me the desires of my heart in human form...Josh. He is honorable, has truly great character. He loves Jesus, and takes my kids and I to church every Sunday. He makes me laugh and always catches me off guard. He gets me out of my head, and breaks me when I am taking life and myself to seriously. He tries to hold on while I talk about 29 different subjects in 2 minutes. :) He NEVER complains. He LISTENS. He loves me with his eyes. He protects me, and provides for our family. He plays with our kids and makes our home JOYFUL.
I could seriously go on and on...so I will... He is my KNIGHT in shining armor, my HERO that daily stands along side me, takes my hand, and quietly leads me through the craziness. He is a rock...so SMART and steady when my emotions are all over the place. He is my BEST FRIEND and I'm better for being married to him for these wonderful 10 years. What an incredibly blessed girl I am!



Our anniversary weekend!!!
We GOT AWAY!!! HOORAY!!
Thanks to amazing moms who watched ALL 3 of our kids, we were able to get away for a night in Marina Del Rey. The weekend started early Saturday morning as we drove into Pasadena to catch a UCLA football game at the Rose Bowl. They WON with 0 seconds on the clock and it was a blast to watch! yay!
Next we were off to Marina Del Rey Marriott. We relaxed all of Sunday, lounged around, watched a movie, read ,went in the spa. The extra hour from daylight savings time, relaxation and quiet were little gifts from heaven that day. We headed into Hollywood for yummy yummy Sushi and then made our way home.
It was so wonderful to have that time away to reconnect and come back refreshed, ready to tackle the next 10 years. :)

A Halloween Open House

Psalm 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.


We invited our neighbors over!! Something we have been wanting to do since the day we moved in, and it finally happened. We love our home and we love where God has put us and we are so excited to be involved in our community. So, a bunch of families came over, we ate pie and drank cider, roamed the neighborhood, and returned home with bags full of loot. All in all it was a great night. Even Bo made a new friend...Jacob, a new neighbor that is only 4 weeks older than him! Hooray!
Gavin wanted us all to be ninjas...easier said than done. There are NO ninja girl costumes, I wonder why! :) So, we ended up all being ninjas...except Bo, he was a ninja monkey, and Gracie a strawberry. :) HAHA
We definitely had fun and thats all that matters.

A Halloween Parade

"He shall feed HIs flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with his arm."
-Isaiah 40:11

Our little ninja had a parade at school today!

Her new trick!

September

Here are a few fun things that happened this month!
Gavin started Preschool! He absolutely loves it. And the hug that comes along with "Mommy" as he runs towards me at the end of the day is the best part. Well...the break is nice too. :) Its funny how school has changed him. He is more disciplined and gets it when he has to wait his turn! So nice.




We bid farewell to Scotty. He is off to begin college life at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We are so thrilled for him but will miss him terribly. We will miss hearing the piano and constant ukulele playing and Gavin will miss his favorite playmate!



Dinner with The Young fam! We met to celebrate G-pops & Uncle Sean's birthdays. Dinner was so great, but the bowling afterwards was even better! We love our family so much!!!



My poor mom has been having health problems for 2 years now. This week was especially tough with 2 trips to the ER. We were so glad that she was ok and wanted to just spend some time with her and show her we love her. We tried to make it relaxing as possible. Gavin and I made Oatmeal cookies and served them on the "good" dishes. Gavin and Nanny played Where's Waldo around the house for about an hour! It was so much fun! We love you Nana!



This is Gavin on Picture day, Grace with her favorite toy right now, and Bo with his beautiful new smiles!!




I also came across my new 'life verse'...

Underneath are the Everlasting Arms.
Duet. 33:27B

Thank you Lord for an amazing month.

My turn

So today was one of those days where It felt like I took care of everyone but myself. If your a mom, I'm sure most days feel like that...today was especially draining. So hear I am, its 11pm and I'm having a pity party. I'm racking my brain as to how I could've done this day 'better', how I could've taken care of myself along the way. So I'm tired and in my pity party I say, "So who is supposed to take care of me? When is it my turn?"
I know I sound 4...I mentioned pity party. yuk.
I need to unwind, so I grab the remotes, which happen to be resting on my bible. And I know that what I really need is my bible not the TV. So I decide to read a few verses before I unwind in front of the TV. :) ha
I open God's word and just like it promises...it always delivers, it grabs me. God grabs me and as I'm reading a Psalm, I'm humbled. I feel the embarrassing selfishness melt away. Nothing like talking to the God of the universe to give you a little perspective.
That song comes into my head...
I lift my eyes up to the mountains
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from You
Maker of heaven
Creator of the earth
Oh how I need you Lord
You are my only hope.
You're my only prayer.
So I will wait for you to come and rescue me
Come and give me life.

I bow my head and realize this is "my turn"
He is the one to take care of me.
101 verses flood my mind of all the promises God has made to love and take care of me.

Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those that have a broken heart

Psalm 139:10
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;

Thank you Lord. May I always run to You first to give me what I need, so that I can serve those you've given me.


P.S.
Thought these pics of Josh and the kids were too precious! What a great dad!

Christmas Portraits

My business partner Becky and I are doing Christmas Portraits again this year! Last year was such a success and SO much fun that we couldn't wait to do it again!
Please pass on the news to anyone in the Orange County area!!!


REFER A FRIEND!

2 months old

Psalm 92
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

5 How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!


11.5 lbs 24.5 inches
A healthy and happier baby boy!

A fun day

My friend Shanna rocked the playdate today. She is so creative. She showed up with fresh veggies & fruit for a paint playdate and the results were adorable. The kids had so much fun. Then after hours of laziness, mommy and the boys had a bowling date that Gavin had been anticipating & begging for for weeks! Nana stopped by too! What a treat. P.S. Tustin Lanes has Kids Rock N Bowl every Friday from 3-5pm for $8 including shoes. I think we'll try that next. :)