Malibu, CA

Marshall & I got to go away for a couple of days to my favorite place in the world, Malibu.  It was so beautiful, so relaxing, just such a blessing!  I'd forgotten how much I liked my husband!  We had a great time together, reconnecting, and laughing, and laughing, and laughing.  Plus, we started dating in that city while attending school at Pepperdine so there's many places that bring back a lot of great memories for us.  I took a lot of pictures, of course!  Here's a few...

I got up before the sun, as I always do.  It's my favorite part of the day.  I took one these pictures from our hotel window and the other was at the beach because I couldn't help myself from heading down there to watch the sun come over the mountains. You know Malibu is where the "mountains meet the sea".   

We shopped, we read, we talked, we ate, we walked, we slept, and yadda, yadda, yadda, it was a great trip!

The second day that we were there I found this letter in my purse.  It was from Jackson and he was referencing the movie "Elf" by writing "To Someone Special" on the front of it.  If you've watched that movie as many times as we have then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The note was to both Marshall & me.  Jackson, being the thoughtful, sweet boy that he is, wrote us a note telling us what great parents we were.  Apparently my prayers are working.  I always pray that my kids will just remember my good points, and forget the days when I have major PMS.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Malibu twice while we were there.  Both times we got the best seat in the house, (thank you, God).  The seat right in front of the window. 

Our table was beautifully placed right in front of the window where we had a delightful view of the Pacific as the sun was slowly setting.  It was heaven for me!  Then, this little guy showed up and started staring at us.  I wondered what his little bird brain was thinking about as he looked me up one side and down the other.  

He's thinking about joining us for some crab won tons.  In & out, in & out.  He can't make up his mind. 

Here he finally got his courage up, and joined us for dinner.  The chair you see in the picture was at our table.  He was about 2 1/2 feet away from Marshall.  He just stared at us.  I felt like he needed to tell us something important, but sadly, he never did.

And this was at night.  Do you see how the water is reflecting the color of the sky?!!  Oh, I love the ocean!!

Jonah's Eight!

Jonah turned 8 on December 8th in 2008.  

He's smart, handsome, very gifted athletically,(he's never tried a sport that he wasn't good at), sensitive, nurturing towards Ezekiel, manipulative, difficult, sly, crafty, quite witty, humorous, and a wonderful conversationalist.  

When he was born it was sincerely the happiest day of my life (so far).  Perhaps I shouldn't say that, but it was.  I had been terrified of dying when he was born because I'd almost died when Jackson was born.  I went into the operating room for my C-section at 8 am on December 8, 2000 wondering if I was getting ready to go to heaven.  I know that sounds ridiculously dramatic, but I'm serious when I say that I wondered if this time around I wasn't going to be so fortunate.  Obviously the Lord knew of my terror and anguish and he used my two year old son Jackson to comfort me.  I was packing my bag to go to the hospital, praying while I packed. Jackson, who was playing with some cars down by my feet, looked up at me while I was packing and said: "Mom, it's going to be OK." 

"What's going to be OK?" I asked.  He just repeated "Mom, it's going to be OK."  Then, he went back to playing with his cars.  

God had used the mouth of babes to speak to one anxious mama.  He still speaks to me through my children.  He speaks to me through His Word.  He speaks to me in my spirit.  I'm so grateful that He still speaks!  

Jonah's birth healed a part of me that had been deeply wounded 2 years, and 9 months earlier.  Jonah was a joy as a baby.  He was so easy!  He was by far the easiest baby of my four boys!  He was always happy.  Jonah is a mama's boy, and to put it simply I'm crazy about him!!!  He loves me in such a special way.  He's very quiet about it.  One wouldn't notice if they weren't really looking, but in the times when no ones around, he comes to me, checking on me, opening up to me, complimenting me, just loving me.  He's so tender about it.  He won't even do it if Marshall's around.  He's a private person.  Most people in his life really don't know him very well because he doesn't let them know him.  He's guarded.  I'm not all together sure why, but he just is.  He doesn't reveal anything that he doesn't have to.  He's SO precious to me!  He's a treasure, and now.................he's eight!

The dreaded family photo!

Well, I didn't have the patience to try to get a good family photo in time for Christmas cards, but I did still want to get one.  So, I forced my family to dress nice, and smile for me this morning between first service & second service.  We took a gagillion pictures and got a couple of decent ones.  Its so much easier to get good pictures when you only have adults or only have ONE child in the picture.  I included one of the really bad ones, as I feel that it better represents reality.  Just tryin' to keep it real.  Here are the results:

A Surprise Hot Chocolate Evening

My parents surprised the boys by coming by Sunday night so that we could all enjoy some hot chocolate together.  It was such a nice treat for all!  We played the "question game" that Ethan created.  We laughed A LOT through the game.  It was such a fun time.  However, I never cease to be amazed at how chaotic it is to try to do anything with four children who all want to talk at the same time.  It was a loud evening...........a really lovely evening.  After the kids went to bed the adults had a wonderful time talking and cherishing each other & our conversation with one another.  How grateful I am that I have two parents who are still married to one another!  They're so much better together!  As we talked my dad shared about how this is the first Christmas where he hasn't had a deep sadness in his heart.  It's taken a lot of healing, a lot of counseling, a lot of work, patience, and determination to be whole for him to reach this point!  I'm so proud of  his desire to be a healthy, whole, man of God.  Here's some pictures from our evening.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel,

Thank you for bringing so much joy into our lives!  You make us laugh a lot.  You're so cute & so much fun to be around.  Thanks for being so flexible and easy.  Thanks for be so tenderhearted towards anyone that's hurting.  

We love you!!

Love,

Your Family

My Ethan

My little Ethan has been struggling so much lately.  I've been storming the gates of heaven like only a mother can, that is with a mother's heart & passion for her child's well-being.  I've been seeing breakthroughs, and I'm so grateful to God!  I'm so grateful that even though I can't be with my child 24,7, God can and IS!!  Then it got me thinking about all the little ones of the world that don't have a mama praying for them.  

Moms, this is a call to action: Ask God to give you another child (that's not your own) to pray for.  Once God gives you a child to pray for, pray for them as though they were your own.  Call out God's power over their life.  Unfortunately, every child does not have a mom that is fervently praying for them.  Moms, lets starting praying for them!!

My birthday gift from God

After we went out to dinner for my birthday last Monday night we came home and washed the car as a family (per my request).  As we worked on the car this sunset developed into a stunning piece of art.  Then it dawned on me, it was my birthday gift from God!  I took some pictures of God's gift.  It only seemed right.

The Pumpkin Patch

Ezekiel & I went with Ethan to Cobb Ranch Pumpkin Patch for his field trip.  It was nice.  Here's a few pictures....

The Cutest #40 that you've ever seen!!

Jackson is playing football at Fresno Christian this year.  It's REALLY cute!  I love watching him play.  He loves playing.  It's been fun for our family.  It's been a huge commitment though!  He practices from 5:30-7:30PM Tues, Wed, & Thurs. nights.  With games every Saturday night & most of the games are out of town!  It's dominating our time right now, but seems to be worth it.  Jackson is making some good friends on the team and that was the whole reason that we decided to sign him up to play.  We're thankful for some good boys who've invited him over and are hanging out with him at school.  He even spent the night with a friend (for the first time).  I just thought you'd like to see some pics of him in his football attire.

Avila Beach

Last Friday we decided to drive over to Avila Beach for the day.  We really didn't get a family vacation this Summer or last Summer.  We were missing the beach. I guess our year at Hume was kind of like a year-long vacation, so don't feel too sorry for us.  Nonetheless, we wanted a day at the beach before everyone started school.  We had such a delightful time as a family!  Marshall & I are having so much with our boys.  They're getting so big & so caring for them is not nearly as hard as it used to be!  Honestly, now they serve us a lot.  It's been such a great time lately just enjoying the people that they are becoming!  To those of you who still have real little ones, just know that the training you do now DOES PAY OFF!! 

We had a blast together........some more memories to add to our mental files.  It was good.  Thank you, Lord, for my family!!