My Girls, My Heros

They never cease to amaze me....
Yes, this is another I-can't-live-without-my-older-girls story! The other day I had my first OB appt with my midwife. My appt was at 4:00pm and Greg was working so I had the girls babysit the little ones! Since it was my first appt, I knew it would be a long one but I didn't think it would be three hours long.

Before I left for my appt, I had pre-baked some potatoes in preparation for dinner, but had told Cheyenne that I would finish dinner once I got home. Well, as my appt went on I got hungrier and hungrier and was PRAYING that the girls had at least begun dinner.

I called Cheyenne at 6pm to let her know I was on my way home. I asked her if they happened to have started dinner and her response was, "Dinner's ready and we're keeping it warm in the oven!"

I was so happy I could cry (remember, I'm pregnant). Then I asked her if she would mind feeding Ethan (the baby) because I'm sure he was starving by then.  She responded with, "We already fed him!"

What topped things off was when I got home.  The house was spotless, all the kids were fed, and they had my place at the table neatly set and ready for me to sit down! I'm about to cry again just thinking about it! Talk about a blessing!

Although my girls do sweet things like this on a regular basis, I'm still always so amazed by their sweet spirits and servant's hearts!

To show them my love and appreciation, I took them out and treated them to Starbucks last night! We had a great time!

On another note.......as I'm writing this post, I hear Celeste upstairs teaching the four little ones about what to do in case of a fire! So funny....she's quizzing them! Very cute!

Vacation-Modesto

Visit with the Hess'

After a wonderful visit with Greg's grandparents, we began working our way back down south. We made the short drive from Sacramento to Modesto.....about an hour and a half. In Modesto, we spent time with the Hess family, long time friends of Greg's. In fact, they are really like family! Ron, Patsy, Adam, and Samantha were like a second family to Greg growing up and now they're my family too! We love them so much! They are a really TALL family so it's easy to think that Greg belongs to them! Adam, Greg's best friend in high school, stands at seven feet, two inches. At least, that's how tall he was in high school.....he may have passed that up. Anyway, we had a superb visit with them.

We also spent time with Greg's mom, Judy! I am so upset that we don't have any pictures of Greg with his mom. We ended up running out of memory on our camera, so pics from this segment of our trip are sparse. Greg's mom was able to download all of our pics onto a disk so that we could empty our camera, but that was the last time Greg saw her! Bummer!

At the Hess', we celebrated Ethan's birthday again. It was a wonderful party and we were so grateful for their thoughtfulness! The kids also spent time playing pool and swimming in their pool. They had a blast!

It was wonderful getting to be with Greg's mom. We hung out all over Modesto, revisiting old hangouts. We walked around the mall, went to the park, ate lunch and ended our day at Funworks, a place with tubes and tunnels, go-carts, a golf course, and bumper boats! The kids didn't want to leave Modesto......they just had too much fun!

Well, here are the few pics we have from that visit. The first one is of Sam and me! Didn't I tell you she was TALL!!! ;-)

Happy Birthday Celeste

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELESTE!

On this day, June 22, 1995, at 9:46pm, our sweet Celeste was born at Shannon Hospital in San Angelo, TX.

We are so blessed to have this precious girl as our second daughter. It has been a privilege to watch her grow into a young lady with such a sweet and sensitive spirit. There are many qualities about her that have richly blessed us as parents, for which we are truly grateful. We love you Celeste and pray that this day will bring you much joy and happiness!
HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY, BABY!
Psalm 139:14

Another Agape Story

Yesterday, while counseling at Agape, Linda (our new director) shared with me this wonderful story!

Last week a young lady came into the center knowing she was already pregnant. She was DEAD SET on having an abortion for pretty much every reason you can think of. Amazingly enough, she had already been to Planned Parenthood, but was not satisfied with the vague information given to her. It's a blessing in itself that she came into the center seeking more information even though she was determined to have an abortion.

Linda spent time giving her lots of info and lots of love and understanding. Although we do NOT refer for abortions, we do give abortion-minded clients a patient's rights form. We tell them that if the doctor performing the abortion is not willing to sign this form, taking responsibility for any complications, she needs to get out of there. Linda also let her know that she could have a free ultrasound to find out how far along she was.

The girl was very interested in finding this out, so Linda called Dr. Chen and got her an appt for that same morning. (We LOVE Dr. Chen!) Later on that day, Linda called Dr. Chen's office to find out if the girl had made the appt. They told her that she had just left, but that they couldn't give any further information. Linda tried calling the girl but could not get a hold of her. Linda spent the rest of the day and weekend praying for this young lady and asked others to pray too!

Finally, on Monday morning, in walks this young lady. Linda was SO happy to see her. She asked her how the ultrasound went and to her surprise, the girl announced that she found out she was having TWINS! Linda reluctantly asked her what she was going to do, and with a smile on her face she replied, "I'm keeping them!"

God is so good! I can't tell you how exciting it is when we get to hear these stories or be directly involved with these girls, seeing first-hand, how God can change their hearts. Please keep praying for this ministry always! And also, pray for Dr. Chen! God has used him in mighty ways and we are privileged to have him working with us! We are so thankful for all that he does!

To God be the Glory!

Photo Credit

Sacramento Zoo

More Vacation Pictures

After having a great time at Uncle Gary's, we headed about seven hours north to Greg's grandfather and step grandmother's house in Sacramento. We had a wonderful visit with them. The kids played outside most of the time while the adults spent time catching up. We BBQ'd, played games and visited the Sacramento zoo. It was quite nostalgic being there because that's the zoo I grew up visiting. We also celebrated Ethan's first birthday. He ended up with two birthday parties on the trip. Here are some pics of our two days in Sacramento!

The Beach

Better Late Than Never.....Hermosa Beach

We ended up going to the beach three separate times, so these pics are from each trip. The first day we went, it was kind of cool and windy, so we just walked in the sand and let the kids put their feet in the water. We had a great time and we already miss the beach....and Uncle Gary!

Hermosa Beach...

First day on the beach....

Daddy and the crew...

The girls weren't bothered by the COLD water...

Uncle Gary had fun with Ethan...

Ethan loved the sand...especially eating it!

Seth enjoyed being buried by Gramie...

Hermosa Pier...

A friendly beachcomber took our picture..

Home Sweet Home

Ahhh........Home Sweet Home


After a wonderful, fun-filled vacation, it sure does feel great to be home. We made it in at about midnight last night. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed and being in your own environment after living the vagabond's life for two weeks.

We had an AMAZING time seeing our precious family and friends. We SO appreciated every one's hospitality and love. It's not easy putting up a family of eight, but they did it and did it with love and generosity. Thank you to those who welcomed us into your homes and took such great care of us!

In the next day or two, I will begin posting pics of our trip and writing about some of the highlights (like the beach and Yosemite National Park)! We'll have to weed through them all and pick the best ones. So until next time....

New ticker........It's exciting to be able to delete one ticker and exchange it for a new one. We look forward to meeting this precious baby in January. I'm just about 10 weeks along and this pregnancy has been much different from the others. My morning sickness has been very minimal. I usually feel pretty good in the morning, and then by mid day it starts to creep up and I usually feel sick in the evenings, but still mild compared to what I usually feel. I've only had one bad night so far so I am thankful. I pray that the rest of the pregnancy will be the same and that the sickness will taper off in the coming weeks. God has been so merciful and gracious and I thank you for your prayers!

Having a Blast

Wow.....I can't believe that this is the first time I've had the chance to sit down and write. We have had such a great time so far and have been kept quite busy.

Yesterday, we arrived at my brother Jason's house in Sonora, CA. It's absolutely beautiful up here and we're so enjoying our time with Jason and his family.

Our first stop was Redondo Beach to see Uncle Gary. My mom flew in and we picked her up from the airport. We had a BLAST at Uncle Gary's! We spent three days at the beach where pretty much all of us left with sunburns! I'm still waiting for mine to turn into a tan! ;-) The ocean was amazing and it was so hard to drive away from the coast. I understand why people pay the money they do to live near the ocean..........I would too if we could afford it!

We also had a sweet time with Greg's grandparent's and our close friends, the Hess'. We had the opportunity to take the kids to the Sacramento Zoo, and they enjoyed hours of swim time in the Hess' pool. The kids have been surprisingly wonderful on this trip. All the little ones have adjusted well to all of the changes and have had great attitudes and manners. Hopefully, they'll maintain this throughout the remainder of the trip. Ethan is the only one who has a meltdown every time we get back in the car. I guess I can't blame him!

Shortly after arriving at Jason's yesterday, we headed up to Mariposa to see my grandma. We're going up there again later in the week, but my dad and grandpa wanted the whole family to gather while my parents were still in town. It was so special seeing my grandma and the rest of my family. We all enjoyed a huge meal and just spent time catching up with everyone. My Uncle got a beautiful photo of everyone that was there. I'll have him email it to me so I can post it later.

Well, that's all for now........I can't wait until I'm able to post pictures of the trip.......probably not until we get home. We miss all of our dear San Antonio family and thank you for your prayers while we're away. Oh yeah, I have not been too sick at all. I'm feeling a bit yucky in the evening, but NOTHING compared to how I normally feel. I am praising God every day for His mercy and grace and thank you all specifically for praying for my morning sickness while I'm away!

Until next time..........