delayed

so sad today.........we have had to postpone our trip to great wolf lodge! we were suppose to head out for some family fun. this time we had reserved a big suite because we were going with my brother and his family. but alas.......the piggie flu hit their family just in time to delay our trip. but we rebooked it for thanksgiving week.........so we still get to go enjoy our time! and maybe they will have it decorated in their winter wonderland!!!

trick or treat

the clone trooper and the kitty

this is her third year as a cat...at least the boots spiced it up a bit!

she was so excited to put makeup on!

this is his 4 year year as a star wars person!

another year, more candy and fun costumes! this year was a mellow year for us, since we had just been sick the rest of the gang......ryen and luke, grandma and grandpa decided to stay home and not get sick. so it was just the four of us! it was nice.

as we do every year, the candy fairy visited us again. luckily i remembered at 8pm that i had to go buy some CF gifts! so while the kids sorted their candy, i ran up to target and bought some small gifts for the fairy to exchange for candy!

it amazes me that they are getting so old and they still look forward to the fairy coming! i am pretty sure that they know by now, but they enjoy it still!

the dreaded piggie flu

has arrived out our house! it has been an interesting week. one full of flu facts, doctors that contradicted each other and lots and lots of clorox wipes!

noah started showing signs last saturday and by sunday he was into a low grade temp with lots and lots of coughing. we finally ended up calling in to the peds clinic because of his asthma and of course they told us to go to an er.........needless to say, i did not want/need to do that!!! but we did take him in to be seen on monday morning, just to make sure that it had not hit his lungs. and all was well. he was started on a new inhaler and it really helped a lot.

he pretty much stayed low grade fever for 3 days and then was fine, except for the coughing. we decided to brave school for a day......we made it four hours! by that evening his coughing was worse, so we went back into the clinic and again all was well.

i will say that the most frustrating part for me was the mis-information given to me by the doctors. our normal doctor told us it was a virus, not swine flu. that there were lots of other things going around out there. the next doctor told us it was the swine flu, nothing else going around! i asked why the first doctor told me what he did and was informed that due to hysteria some doctors were trying to minimize the information being told! hmmmmmmm????? i appreciated being told the truth, no matter what. it made me more secure in knowing what we were dealing with and which symptoms to look for next.

in the end........it truly was not as bad as i expected it to be. we were lucky.
i think we have all had it and we all survived!

rememberances

i was driving to woodburn on saturday, it was a beautiful day. the sun was shining, it was a great drive and the radio was blasting.

then i saw it. the roadside rememberance of a family who had lost their mom on that very road, in that very spot, several years ago. i know because i was in a car with family members on our way to my sister in laws book signing, when we drove by a white suv..........upside down on I-5. the first responders were not even there yet and there were kids hanging upside down in the back of the car, screaming. it is a horrible feeling, this helplessness. there was nothing that i could have done. there were motorists that had stopped and were helping. as we drove slowly past......i saw her. the mom. there was no way that she had survived. her image is burned into my memory. i started praying for the people in the car immediately and to this day i still do! i pray for the kids and husband who have lost their mother and their wife. i pray for their healing. i pray that God has used a horrible, tragic situation to draw more near to Him. i pray that the family can release their anger, remorse and grief.

are there people in your lives that have touched you that through the years you continue to pray for? people that you did not even know? people who you spoke with once? or loved ones and friends?

I have several people in my life that i pray for..........some i had never met, like the mom. or the budhist grandma that i sat next to on a flight home from chicago. we struck up a conversation about our faith........and in the end i promised to pray for her! i look forward to seeing her glorious face in heaven one day. i believe that God has placed people in her life that drew her to Him.

my awana friend from way back when....who died of sickle cell anemia. who's favorite song was "it only takes a spark to get a fire going!" i think of her from time to time and the way she touched my life. because of her my empathy for friends in need became what it is today. she has always touched my heart.

these people that are put in our lives for a reason............God knows why. God uses these experiences to touch us, to grow us closer to him.

i am not a great evangalist. in fact it is my true hold up. i am not comfortable speaking to others. but i belive that God has used me anyway. I just continue to pray.............for the people i don't know, the people i have only spoken too and family and friends.

mine is in the mail!

cannot wait to get my cookbook tomorrow!!! i love to thumb through the pages of a new cookbook and find all recipes that i want to make! this is a cute segment from today''s bonnie hunt show with my favorite blogger...the pioneer woman. love the audience guy who comes up to taste the taters!

dear reality show contestants

please stop proclaiming in your intro videos that you are christians.....talking about your purity and your faith and all of these things that you feel like you need to put out into the reality universe. because here is what breaks the deal for me.............

when you use the Lord's name in vain while you are on the show.

so does that mean that you are a sometimes christian. because i don't recall a verse that says it is okay to use His name while yelling at your teammate. i am pretty sure it says to NOT, NOT, NOT take God's name in vain.

the other thing that irks me is when the cute little "christian" brothers proclaim loudly to the universe that they are christians.........but suddenly they turn to one another and say that last year they came out to each other!!! so what you are gay? and you felt it was important and part of your agenda to put the two together???

and it also upsets me when "christians" talk about karma or saying things like i am so mad i want to rip her head off right now????

i think that while you are on game shows you
should just model the walk, not talk some talk!!!

Explosion Volleyball 2009

sydnie and her friends, ready for their first game

their super fun volleyball socks!

ready to play

almost, but not quite there

ready for the ball



sydnie had her first volleyball game this past saturday. she was a little apprehensive for the first game, but she really did a great job. she had been having some problems with her serve in practice, but she got several over the net and was excited. my favorite play was a bump that ended up being an assist for her friend. the whole crowd went wild and she turned to me and game me a slight shoulder lift....."like what just happened....i was trying to get it over the net...why is everyone cheering?"

so adorable. so we talked afterwards about how somethings in life don't even go the way we expect, just like the ball........but God can do amazing things with it when we are faithful! it ended up being a great life lesson, as well as a great volleyball play!