Heart to Heart

A letter to my husband

2011-09-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Happy 10th Anniversary!

To say that I love you doesn't really begin to explain my feelings for you. Our love has grown deeper with each passing year. When we got married ten years ago, we were young and in love. We didn't know what the future would hold, but we were excited and confident that whatever it was, we would do it together. And we have! But it hasn't always been easy. When I think back to our wedding day I think about how full of hope and love and excitement we were. I think of how we envisioned our lives--and there was nothing hard about it! We were so naive! We had no idea!

What I love most about you is how grounded you are. That in the midst of turmoil in our lives, I can lean on you and feel comfort and safety in your arms. You are my rock, you are my safe place. I can trust you with my life, the lives of our children, my crazy feelings, my fears, my dreams. And you are worthy of that trust.

As I look back over the past ten years (can you believe it's been ten years already?!) I smile over the joys we've experienced and tears well up as I think of the hard times. But it's been a beautiful life. I like to think that the joys we experience are made that much sweeter by the diffiulties we've faced. We've been through so much together--we've traveled to new places, bought and sold homes, adopted & trained pets, gone through work and grad school and research projects and thesis writing, had two amazing, beautiful children, gone through 3 open-heart surgeries with our son, endured countless other hospitalizations, procedures and appointments, coached multiple soccer and baseball teams, supported other heart families through MLH, gone through preschool and now gradeschool with our kids, worried about, loved and cared for our children in each stage of their lives so far, moved our family and dealt with umemployment and we've grown in our faith individually, as a couple and as a family. I'd like to say that we always did it perfectly, but that wouldn't be true. But we have always approached each situation together, as a team. And when feelings have been hurt we have apologized and made things right in our relationship.

Today, on our tenth annivesary I realize that we are once again completely unaware of what the next ten years may hold. But as we continue to walk down that road I know that we will be together and you will be right there holding my hand as we walk through the valleys and reach the beautiful mountaintops. And I couldn't imagine my life any other way.

I love you and respect you now and forever.
All my love,
Andrea

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First Day of School!

2011-08-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 24th was the kids first day of school!

They were both so excited the night before. We laid out our school clothes, had our backpacks ready and went to bed on time so we'd be ready for a great first day.

Ava is starting kindergarten with Miss Shawn and Drew is starting second grade with Miss Arnout. They both have been making friends and enjoying school. I'm so happy! It's been hard to move them to a new school where we don't know anyone, but they seem to be adjusting really well.

Ava gets out of school at 12 so I took her to celebrate her first day of kindergarten with a yummy pizza lunch. There is a place on California that we can walk to from our house so that was a fun little adventure for us. When Drew got out at 2:45 we had to continue with our first day of school tradition-ice cream! I got to hear about how their days went-Ava's highlight was petting Spike the class bunny. Drew's was playing on the spider climb at recess. I hope they both have a great school year!

It's so hard to say goodbye...

2011-08-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

It's official. We are now Palo Alto residents.

The last week or two before we moved was filled with many goodbyes...and lots of packing! Sometimes we mixed the two.

We of course had to say goodbye to our favorite doctor and nurse team: Dr. Bullen and Nurse Sheri. My how we love them! I could not have asked for a better team. I think what I love about them most is that they listen to me and my cocnerns. They understand that I know my kids best and if something seems off to me, they take it seriously. It just so happened that Ava needed her 5-year well check anyway, so we headed in to get that taken care of and say goodbye.

Drew and Ava with Dr. Bullen (doesn't he look like the perfect pediatrician?)

Drew and Ava with Sheri-she always spoils them with stickers!

I also had to say goodbye to my fabulous and fun Bunco ladies! I am really going to miss hanging out with all of you once a month and just being silly! You should call me on the first Monday of the month and shout "Traveler!!" into the phone. :)

Jen made me this cute Bunco cake :)

All 12 crazy Bunco Ladies!

We also got to say goodbye to some of Drew's school friends at a swim party. It was bittersweet. It was hard to see the kids have to say goodbye to each other.

Some of Drew's school buddies and their siblings

Of course we couldn't leave Sacramento without saying goodbye to our amazing pediatric cardiologist! Dr. Parrish has been with us from the very beginning and has seen Drew through all of his surgeries. He is never too busy to answer my questions and sincerely has Drew's best interests at heart. He also has been a supporter of Mended Little Hearts. He will be truly missed! There may have been some tears as we walked out of his office...

Drew and Dr. Parrish

I also got the chance to have one more night with my ladies dinner club--we got out once a month for some yummy food and great conversation! This time Britni, Darcy, Lindsay, Jen and I went out to Ernesto's and then had dessert at TresB Cakes. Mmm!

One of the saddest goodbyes was to our dog, Bibby. Grandma Kathy just had her backyard landscaped and Bibby is a bit of an anxious (digging) dog. She is so sweet though and just loves people. We knew it wouldn't be a good idea to bring her with us to Palo Alto, but we love her so much, it was hard to come up with a good solution for her. We ended up finding her a new home on 2 acres with two other dogs and she now has chickens to chase and lots of space to run around. We know she will be happy there. As an illustration of how different my kids are, Drew was teary when it was time to say goodbye to Bibby and Ava just asked if we could get a goldfish now. :)

Drew and Ava say goodbye to Bibby

On our last Sunday at church the congregation brought us up to the front and prayed for us. It was so sweet and touching to have our church family pray for us as we begin this new journey. They also gave us some very sweet gifts--moving snacks and entertainment for the kids, a Haiti book signed by the Haiti Team and some heart balloons just like the ones we bring to the hospital for heart kids. After that, there was an open mike so people could wish us well. That was a bit overwhelming and there were lots of tears. But it was so nice to hear people expressing their love and appreciation of our family. We will really miss our Sanctuary Church Family!

Hearing from Pastor David and the rest of the congregation

Our church family praying over us

Finally, it was moving day and we had to say goodbye to many of our wonderful friends who came over to help load up the U-Haul. Pastor David and his wife Susan, as well as the Scott Family, stayed late to load the very last items and then we got to hang out in our empty garage with just our camping chairs. The kids had a great time running around the empty house and eventually all ended up in David's lap. It was a fun way to end the evening.

Drew, Ava, Ella, and Eben sit with Pastor David

Finally, on Monday morning, we loaded up all of our last minute items and drove the U-Haul out of Sacramento and into the Bay Area. Goodbye house! We loved living here for the past six years and all the memories (both good and bad) that we've had here.

Saying goodbye to our house

We're Still Here!

2011-07-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been MONTHS since I've posted an update, but we are still here!

I actually have been keeping up with blog posts, but haven't published them yet...I still need to choose which photos to post with each topic. Be on the look out for a lot of posts coming soon!

We have been busy as usual since February...

We have celebrated 3 birthdays (Drew's, mine and Ava's--and Dan's is this week), we have taken family vacations to Tahoe, Trinity Lake and Monterey, I had an amazing mission trip to Haiti, there have been many Mended Little Hearts events, including our national coordinators training in New Orleans. We celebrated the end of the school year, Easter, Mother's day and Father's day, finished basketball AND baseball season, Drew lost his first teeth and Ava learned how to ride a two-wheeler!

We have more big changes coming too. We are moving to the bay area in one week! Things have been crazy as we've been preparing for our move. I am torn between wanting to spend each moment being with people and doing things I enjoy here in Sacramento and knowing that I need to pack up everything in the house and there isn't a lot of time to do it.

We have known that moving was a possibility for about 5-6 months, but we were hoping to be able to avoid it. We are moving for Dan's work. Things have been really slow at his company for a while now, and it was finally time for him to start looking for another job. We have been looking in Sacramento and unfortunately, there is just nothing available here. Every job that Dan has applied for or interviewed for has been in the bay area. So, although he doesn't officially have a new job in the bay yet, we felt that it would be best for the kids to move now before school starts instead of sometime in the middle of the school year. School starts August 23, so that means we need to get going! We are moving in with Dan's mom for now with a plan that either she or we will find our own place in the next year or so.We are planning to be in Palo Alto on August 8th.

It has been very difficult to say goodbye...We love living here and have really established a wonderful life in Sacramento. We have amazing friends, a wonderful church family, a great school for our kids, a nice big yard for the kids and dogs, close access to the river...It's funny how much more I appreciate Sacramento now that I know my days are numbered here. There are so many things I'm going to miss...even the idea of finding new doctors and dentists for the kids makes me want to cry!

Anyway, that is the big news in our household! I will try to be better at being a more regular blogger from now on so you can follow our journey as we transition to the bay area.

Enjoying Sacramento

Haiti-Peterson

2011-05-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Peterson

On Sunday, when we were playing at the church with all the kids, I met a sweet boy with a beautiful smile named Peterson. He told me he was 11 years old. He spoke a little English, I spoke a little Creole, and we taught each other a few words. He called me his sister, his mama. I told him I was his sister in “Jezi” and he nodded and smiled. He told me he knew Jesus. We hung out for a while until it was time to walk the kids back to the boys home. As we walked back, he didn’t go with the others. With our communication barrier, I found out that he wasn’t one of the MDL kids, he lived in a nearby tent city. I tried to ask who he lived with, but I never found out. One of our team members had brought candy for the kids in the orphanage. We are not supposed to give anything to any of the street kids, and Peterson hadn’t received any candy. I asked our pastor if I could give him some and he gave me a couple of pieces and said I could give them to him only right when we got to the gate of the guesthouse and only if no one else was around. As we walked through the streets, Peterson eventually just walked away, before I had a chance to give him his candy. As I held that candy in my hand, I cried the whole way back to the guesthouse. I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again, I didn’t know what kind of a life he was going back to, and I was very very sad.

I did some investigating (and crying) at the guest house with some of the nurses that were there. They told me that they think his parents died in the earthquake (more crying), but that he has clean clothes and looks like he is taken care of by someone. They also said that I would see him again, he hangs out around the houses and waits. I asked if he was in the feeding program—he’s not (more crying), but he waits outside the gates and when there is enough food they let more kids in to eat.

Well…I did see him again. Actually almost every day we were there, he was waiting for us outside the guest house and he would walk with us to wherever we were going. He would call out “Sister!” and I would reply “Brother!” and we would walk and talk together. On Monday they had extra food and so he got to come in to eat at the feeding program. I was very glad to see him and gave him hugs and told him so. He wanted me to take a picture of him eating. On Wednesday, I saw him at the feeding program again. This time he got to be one of the helpers. They have older kids and kids who aren’t in the program who are trustworthy and good helpers be table leaders. They are responsible to help set up the tables and benches, serve the food to the kids at their table, and keep order at their table. Then they help clean up afterwards, and in return they get to be a part of the feeding program and enjoy a meal. After the program was over for the day I asked him if I could pray for him. He smiled and said yes. So I asked him “What would you like me to pray for?” His answer broke my heart: “I want to go to school.” I prayed for him right there. Later as I was praying by myself I asked God to help me find a way to make that happen. As I started asking people about how to do that, it seemed that God opened a door. I talked to the principal of the school about it, and he agreed to evaluate Peterson and see what level he was at. Then he could tutor him for the summer so that when school starts again in the fall he’ll be ready.

Me and Peterson, the day he was able to be a table leader at the Feeding Program

On Friday, the principal brought me Peterson’s evaluation—he tested at a third grade level, and with tutoring he thought he could be ready for fourth grade in the fall! I was so proud of my little friend! I was saddened too though—testing at a third grade level means that he probably used to go to school. I am guessing that he was in school until the earthquake happened, and hadn’t been able to go since then. But it is a good thing too, because there is more room in the higher grades and it is more likely that he’ll be able to go to school. I made arrangements with the principal to tutor Peterson and get him supplies(backpack, books, pencils). Sometime this summer we’ll talk about a plan for the new school year. If you are interested in helping a Port au Prince neighborhood child go to school, please visit this link: http://www.childhope.org/help/sponsorship/education.html

UPDATE: Peterson has been admitted to the MDL school! Myself and some friends from church are sponsoring him and paying his tuition. I am so excited about this! In Haiti, school is very important. In a country where there is 80% unemployment, it will surely help him to be able to get a job and support himself later. But it also means that he will be in a safe environment for the 7 hours that he is at school, and it means that he will have at least two meals a day at school. Please join me in praying for Peterson.

Haiti-Feeding Program

2011-05-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

One of the things I was looking forward to doing while were at Child Hope, was helping with the Feeding Program. Three days a week the staff and older kids from Child Hope put on a feeding program for the children from the surrounding neighborhood. Over 100 kids come to the program each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The kids have an hour to play games in a safe environment, sing worship songs in Creole and in English, hear a Bible lesson and enjoy a big meal and clean water. Unfortunately for many of these kids, this is the only meal they eat that day, or maybe until the next day of the feeding program.

100+ kids at the Feeding Program

The food is prepared for the kids-this day was rice with beans, bean sauce and a piece of sausage

Every child gets a glass of clean water to drink-something that is hard to come by in Haiti

About 10-12 kids are seated per table

Our team participated all three days, but Monday had the biggest impact on us. Going in, we knew that we were going to be with hungry, maybe even starving children. But seeing them in person—seeing the visible signs of their malnutrition, and holding their frail bodies in our arms—was powerfully heartbreaking. There was one little girl in particular who climbed into a team member’s arms and immediately fell asleep, she was so exhausted. She woke up a few times having bad dreams, but otherwise completely missed the games and the songs. When it was time to eat we tried to wake her and had a very difficult time doing so. When we finally got her awake, she was too weak to feed herself. Julie helped feed her and she couldn’t even finish half of what was on her plate. This poor little girl was starving. I’m so glad that the Child Hope feeding program is in place—they are actually saving lives. But I also know that this one child represents many others just like her, some that aren’t being taken care of in a feeding program.

The kids in the program line up outside and are led in by older helpers

First they play games

The younger kids color

Many of the kids want to be picked up and loved on

Dafka wanted Julie to pick her up, then she fell asleep in her arms

Moise, one of the helpers I got to know

Julie helping to feed Dafka--after I took this picture I had to stop to pray for these children.

Rose playing games with the girls

Our clean-up crew: the dishes get cleaner as they go down the line

Memos, one of the feeding program cooks, and her son

On Wednesday I had another powerful experience there. I had learned a little bit of Haitian Creole before our trip and sometimes other team members asked me to translate (funny, because I didn’t really know that much!). Anyway, there was another little girl who kept saying “dlo, dlo” during playtime. Rose asked me to listen to see what she was saying. She was saying water. She was very thirsty. It wasn’t time for food yet, so I asked one of the staff if I could get her some water. She went over to talk to her and asked her if she could wait until it was time for the meal. The little girl just looked at her sweetly, and then said it again. The staff member said she should wait if she could. I know there are reasons why things are done in a certain way, but it was so hard for me not to give this thirsty little girl water. I felt so helpless, all I could do was pray. She got distracted when the singing and lesson started and she was able to wait…but this image was burned into my mind and will stay with me forever. There are so many things that I take for granted in my life. What an incredible reminder that I should be thankful for something as simple as clean, cold drinking water available from the faucet whenever I might want it.

This is the little girl who was thirsty, coloring with Rose

Erick plays games with the kids

Another little one falls asleep on Julie

One of the older girls from the girls home helps to feed a hungry child

Julie and Emily helping Dafka to eat her meal

Haiti-Sunday

2011-05-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday, was probably my favorite day in Haiti. We got to attend church with the Manassero Family and all the kids at Port au Prince Fellowship. The church was packed with people and there was no air conditioning, but a few fans blew air through the building. We sat up front, in the first two rows. After we all sat down, we were excited to see all the MDL kids coming up to sit in the front with us. We got to sing worship songs with them. It was the most amazing experience. I don’t think I can describe it. We were singing praises to God with children who had incredibly difficult life experiences—and they sang out with all their hearts, really worshipping God. I spent much of our worship time in tears, so grateful to be there among them and experiencing such genuine, authentic faith, even in the face of intense suffering.

It's not a great picture, but the only one I have of church

The pastor preached a challenging sermon that morning as well. He talked about how good it was for us to help others. He said if we give someone rice, or build them a house, we are doing something good. But there is something better: Sharing the gospel. If we do those things without sharing our hope in Jesus, we are not doing the best thing. It was very good for us to hear as a team.

After church, the sweet Manasseros had us and all their staff over for lunch at their house as they do each Sunday. They had a full house and they filled our bellies with delicious Haitian dishes. We had great conversations with them, their staff and each other.

After lunch and some rest time, we went with all the kids over to a big church in the neighborhood with large open spaces for playing. We brought jumpropes and bubbles to play with the smaller kids, the older girls played soccer and the older boys played basketball. It was such a fun afternoon spent playing and loving on the kids and getting to know them better.

Seriously my favorite day!

My friend Adnaika remembered me. Isn't she the cutest!

Dave talking Schneider (Ti-Schi) to the church to play

Rob gives Emmanuel a ride and David gives Wilson a ride

Ti-you and Stanely on the swings

A lot of little boys on an ATV (this would never fly in the US)

Ti-Schi blowing bubbles

Sweet Richard playing guess who with Rose

Some jump rope action

Some of the guys playing basketball

Some soccer

Jim and Wilson blowing bubbles

Peterson and Dawnelle

Haiti-Arrival and First Impressions

2011-05-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

We made it! We all met at the airport early on Friday morning to get the whole team and all of our bags checked in. We flew from Sacramento to LAX to Miami. We spent a very short night in Miami and then got on a very early flight to Port Au Prince. I was kind of nervous about making it out of the airport with all of our bags after reading all the specifics in our manual. It made it sound very chaotic! It was, but not nearly as bad as I thought. We made it through security and customs, got all of our bags and found Big, our airport guide. Then we went outside to wait for our ride to Child Hope. It was very hot and humid, even early in the morning. And there were lots of people walking around.

Ready to go--at the Sacramento Airport

Early morning at Miami Airport

We're going to Port au Prince!

Made it! At PAP Airport

We've got all our stuff and all our people, just waiting for the truck to pick us up!

When Bill and Susette arrived to pick us up in the cage truck we were all excited that it was really happening!

Right away as we drove through the major city, the poverty was apparent. We drove by huge tent cities that have been around since the earthquake a year and a half ago. To me it looked like little had been done since then. There were many collapsing buildings, rubble and lots of trash in the streets. But our pastor, who had been there right after the earthquake happened, said things looked much better than he remembered.

Ann, Pam, Erick, Jim and Chuck inside the cage truck

A view of one of the tent cities from the truck

When we arrived at the guest house (which was just finished and looked beautiful) the armed guard had to open the gate and let us in. It was a reminder that we were in a dangerous place and needed to be careful.

Armed guard-There was a guard at each building

After we got all of our bags unloaded and into the house, we had our team orientation meeting. Then we got to tour the programs/buildings of Child Hope. Child Hope has a girls home, a boys home, a primary school, a medical clinic and a transition house as well as the guest house. We got to visit each place and meet some of the kids for the first time. We spent a good amount of time playing with the little boys at the boys home. I got to meet Wilson, Ti-You, Schneider, Fan-Fan and Lukenson—we played Frisbee.

A house right next door to the girls home that collapsed during the earthquake

Anderson with some of his artwork.

Sweet Wilson

Schneider-he is a great soccer player!

I got to play frisbee with Wilson and Fan-Fan

Lukenson played with us too

Emmanuel-love his smile!

Some of the boys playing drip, drip, drench (a variation of duck, duck, goose)

I got to read with Adnaika at the girls home

Around 6 o’clock it was time to head back to the guest house for dinner. One of our rules was not to be out after dark, and it gets dark about 6:30. We had a delicious meal prepared for us by our wonderful cooks, Venice and Janette, followed by a debrief meeting and early bed time. We were all very tired and looking forward to our week in Port au Prince.

Haiti-Preparation

2011-05-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am going to Haiti!

Sanctuary praying over our Haiti Team

A team from my church is going to be making a trip to Port au Prince to work with Child Hope International at the Maison de Lumiere Orphanage. I have been praying about it since I first heard about the trip in January and felt that God was leading me to go. Once we had our team assembled, we began meeting every couple of weeks to prepare for our trip. There were many details to be attended to: airfare and travel accommodations for 13 team members, deciding what supplies to collect and bring, discussing what kinds of projects we might be interested in doing while we are there, fundraising, making sure everyone gets the appropriate vaccinations and prescriptions before we go, and lots of prayer.

This week we got together and held our packing party. We are each bringing one suitcase of our own belongings and one bag full of supplies to be donated to the orphanage. We had to meet weight and size limitations so we brought everything over to one house and got everything packed, tagged and documented.

Ann loading up a very large bag

Dawnelle and Pam distributing supplies to the many bags

Once packed, the bags were tagged and inventoried

More tagging

Here is a picture of our team, all packed and ready to go. Would you be praying for us as we go? We leave on Friday. We will be posting updates at http://www.esperehaiti.blogspot.com/

Sanctuary 2011 Haiti Team

Ava Riding her Bike!

2011-05-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

On Mother’s Day, we took the kids to the park in the afternoon to ride their bikes. Ava got a new bike for her birthday and we wanted her to try it out. She is very coordinated and we knew she’d be able to do it, but she kept telling us that she would ride without training wheels when she was 7. We convinced her to at least try it, and once she did she was a natural! She seriously got it the first time she tried. She is an excellent balancer, but she needs to work on steering. She would take off and ride right into the planters! I’m so proud of my big girl!

Getting a little help from Dad

Dad running alongside for moral support

Doing great!

Riding all by herself!

And she's off!

Ava and her Daddy

Drew can ride his bike too :)

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have the best family! They totally spoiled me on Mother’s Day.

It started off with breakfast in bed. Dan, Drew and Ava made me a breakfast burrito—my favorite!—and brought me my coffee on a tray with a rose picked from our garden and their cards and gifts. Ava made me a puzzle at school and Drew gave me….We went to church where they prayed for our Haiti team, which leaves next Friday! The kids also got roses to give to their moms and made cards. Drew’s said “Happy Mother’s Day” on the outside and on the inside it said “I like you Mom.” I thought it was so cute!

After church we went to the park and played and then went to Lickety Split. The kids had Awana so then Dan and I had a few quiet hours at home and he went and picked up Indian food for dinner. Yum! I’m so glad I get to be a Mommy!

Me and my beautiful kids

Ava's 5th Birthday!

2011-05-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

My baby is 5 years old!

When she woke up, she got to pick whatever she wanted for breakfast—she picked a sunshine breakfast (scrambled eggs with toast cut into triangles to look like the sun). Then she got to open presents from our family, including a new big girl bike! After she got to play with her presents for a while, it was time to go to Drew’s baseball game. She is such a sweetheart, she didn’t mind sharing her day with her brother at all. In fact, while we were at the game she asked for a slurpee. I normally say no, but I said, since it’s your birthday, you can have one. She thought about it for a minute and then said, “but I’m going to have cake and ice cream at my party, so that will be too much sugar.” I am impressed by her growing responsibility—only 5 and making healthy eating choices.

Ava woke up to birthday decorations!

Sunshine breakfast for my sunshine girl

Opening Presents

A big girl bike!

This year Ava’s birthday fell on a Saturday, so we got to have her party on her actual birthday. She wanted to have a Barbie party with a piñata. So, we invited some friends from school and church over to celebrate. We had necklaces, bracelets and rings for the girls to wear, as well as little tiaras, hair glitter and shimmery eye shadow and lip gloss. Then we had a Barbie fashion show! We also played a couple of games before going outside to do the piñata! Everyone had a turn to hit the piñata blindfolded, then without the blindfold, then finally Drew finished it off for us. After the girls collected their goodies, it was time to go back inside for Barbie cake and ice cream, and then more presents!

Party Food

Party Girls

Ava walking the Barbie Fashion Show Runway

Keilani walking the runway

Playing "Barbie Says"

Pinata Time!

Molly takes a swing

Ava wanted to help Daddy work the pinata

Drew finishes it off for us

Barbie Cake

Ava blowing out the candles

The girls eating their cake and ice cream

One of Ava’s favorite gifts was her very own camera from Grandma and Grandpa. She has been wanting one for a while now. She enjoys helping cousin Adam when he comes to take pictures, and she even uses my phone to take pictures of things around the house. She even told me that she wants to quit gymnastics so she can take photography lessons! So, she was very excited when she opened her present from them and it was her own pink camera with a pink case!

Ava opening presents

Of course, there were some Barbie things

Ava and Mommy

Ava's new pink camera!

Another favorite gift-this sweet potato plant from Grandma Honey

Drew hanging out with Grandpa Steve

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

This year, things were so busy leading up to Easter, that we didn’t have time to dye eggs until the day before. But I’m glad we found time, because it’s always so fun to do with the kids. We used bright colors and glitter eggs and the kids enjoyed using the magic crayon to write their names or draw pictures on the eggs before we dyed them.

On Easter Morning, we went through our Resurrection Eggs and told the story of Easter. Then we opened our Easter baskets and looked for eggs in the house. We also had some yummy homemade blueberry scones for breakfast, before going to church early to help set-up. We had a really nice morning and heard a great message about the Prodigal Son from our pastor. After church we had an Easter Egg Hunt. The kids really enjoy doing this at church every year and went home with lots of goodies!

Resurrection Eggs

Ava with her Easter basket

Drew with his Easter basket

Finding some eggs that the bunny left

Ava and Keilani at the church egg hunt

Drew, Jacob, Ty and Tommy at the church egg hunt

Ava finding eggs

Drew finding eggs

Eben and Drew with their loot

We celebrated Easter with our good friends, the Quayles again this year. It’s so nice to have friends that are like family! Each family made a contribution to dinner and we had a really nice spread! The kids loved playing together in the backyard and got to do another egg hunt. The adults enjoyed spending time together and we got to play too—we played cornhole! It was such a nice, relaxing holiday. I hope your Easter was just as blessed!

The Quayle Family

Our Family

Drew and Ava ready for Egg Hunt #3

All the kids ready to look for eggs

Checking out their baskets

Our yummy Easter spread

Ava, Keilani and Molly

Drew and Jacob

Lunch with Grandma Honey

2011-04-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

On Friday, since the kids were still on spring break, I took them up to Sutter Creek to take my Grandma out to lunch. We are members of a wine club up there and I needed to pick up my wine and my Grandma lives very close to the winery. So we picked her up and headed to Villa Toscana for their members luncheon. She loves seeing the kids, and they love seeing her! We had a great little pasta lunch and got to enjoy beautiful views of the grapevines all around us. We all had a great time! We love you Grandma Honey!

Sledding (Spring Break)

2011-04-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Since we just had an awesome vacation during President’s Week, we didn’t do a whole lot for spring break. We did some fun things close to home, and on Wednesday we took the kids up to Adventure Mountain to do some sledding. It was a really nice place with lots of groomed trails, a snack bar and bathrooms. We all had a lot of fun sledding and I was so glad that both kids had the energy to drag their sleds back up the mountain again and again.

Ava sledding

Drew sledding

After some sledding, the kids wanted to build a snowman. We all worked together to build one and were just putting the finishing touches on, when Drew accidently pushed the head off when he was trying to put the mouth on the snowman. I thought it was funny, but he was upset. He didn’t want to take a picture with our headless snowman, but Ava was willing. I eventually convinced him to come back and join us. Then we had a really fun family snowball fight! We were just about ready to go home when it started to snow and sleet on us, so we packed up and headed down the hill for home. It was a really fun little trip!

Working on our snowman

Sad snowman-maybe he knew his fate?

Ava with her headless snowman :)

Drew didn't want to be in the picture

Both kids with our 2/3 of a snowman

Palm Sunday Trip

2011-04-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

My mom’s whole side of the family gathered together for a pre-Easter celebration at my grandma and grandpa’s house in Burbank. We had a great time together with family that we don’t get to see much. The kids loved being there. They even put an Easter egg hunt together for the kids. The adults played bag- it . We all enjoyed visiting and being together. We had a delicious dinner, prepared by my Italian grandmother—so you know we had so much food we could hardly walk! It was a a great way to spend the weekend before Easter!

Our whole family!

Baby Amalia with Uncle Adam and her Mama

Amalia, Andrea, Ava

Great Grandpa and GG

Delicious Italian Feast

Ava and Drew with their Auntie

While we were in the area we also visited with our friends Matt and Jamie and their beautiful girls, Ashely and Lexi. They are such sweet, smart girls, and I wish we could see them more often!

Ava and Baby Lexi

Sweet Ashley

Ava's Field Trip to the Zoo

2011-04-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Ava’s preschool class got to take a field trip the Folsom Zoo. I love this little zoo. It’s actually an animal sanctuary and all the animals there have been rescued. It’s relatively small and its easy to see everything in a short amount of time. We got to go through the zoo with a docent, so it was a very educational field trip. The kids loved seeing all the animals and learning their names. They got to play a fun game of animal bingo too, using a sticker to cover each animal on the card that we visited. One of the highlights was getting to see the baby bear trying to get a treat out of a butternut squash that the zookeeper had hidden there. Ava could also tell you that it’s not a good idea to pet the deer there because they like to eat poison oak and you could get it on your hands if you touched the deer. After our tour of the zoo, the kids got to play in the park and enjoy their picnic lunches. They all had such a great time at the zoo!

Ava and her friends listening to the docent and marking off their bingo sheets

Baby Bear trying to get a treat

Don't pet the deer!

Ava, Keilani and Molly-Best Buddies

Ava playing in the park

Baseball Season

2011-03-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

This year Drew is playing farm baseball for the A’s.

We have a lot of the same kids from last year on our team, and our same (amazing) coaches. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of games rained out already, but we finally got to play our first game today. It was a lot of fun to see the kids playing, and this year is much different than t-ball. In farm, the kids pitch to each other. There is no walking though, so if the pitcher throws 4 balls, the coach comes in to pitch whatever remaining strikes are left. It will be interesting to see how many times the coaches are called in! It was a lot for this first game!

Drew batting

Drew pitching

We enjoy being involved in baseball and this year Dan is assistant coaching again, and I am the official scorekeeper for our team. That leaves Ava mostly unsupervised during games, but we have grown close with the other families on our team (we’ve been on the same teams for years now) and they help watch her. She mostly just spends her time playing with Catie, who is also the younger sister of a player. Dan and I also worked on our banner together again this year. We think it turned our pretty good! We are looking forward to another great season of baseball!

Drew ready to play ball

Mom Scorekeeping

Coach Dan

The winning banner!

Drew Lost a Tooth!

2011-03-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

My big boy finally lost his first tooth!

It had been wiggly for a while now and was literally hanging out of his mouth! I finally convinced him to let me try to pull it and I hardly had to touch it and it just came right out! Now he’s got that adorable toothless grin!

Signs of Spring

2011-03-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

Spring is on its way!

A magnolia blossom in our front yard

Grape Hyacinth blooming in our mailbox planter

Flowering plum flowering in the backyard

Camellia trees blooming in the back

Peach tree blossoms

Daffodils at the park

Baptism

2011-03-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

Today we got to celebrate a special day with our church family! Four members of our church were baptized today! Two of them were our close friends, Pete and Jen Scott. It was such a privilege to be a part of this special occasion! The church gathered as a body over at the Quayle’s house (another set of close friends of ours). We heard from each person why they wanted to be baptized and then our pastor, David, read some scripture about baptism to us. Then it was time for them to get into the water as we watched the symbolic cleansing of their sins and rebirth in Christ. Congratulations and many blessings to everyone who was baptized!

Pete and Jen before the baptism

Ken, Pete, Jen and Ellen with Pastor David

David sharing about baptism

Jen ready to be baptized

Pete and Jen-just baptized

The Scott Family

Basketball Party

2011-03-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

Drew has really been enjoying playing Upwards basketball again this year. They had their last game and team party on Saturday. He scored three baskets during the game and was so proud of himself! Good job Buddy! Afterwards the whole team celebrated with trophies and pizza at Mountain Mike’s. Great season Cheetahs!

Ready to play some defense

Playing point guard

Nice Shot

My little guy is proud of himself

Good game!

Pizza Party

Drew with his trophy

Cousins

2011-02-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

My cousin Heather and her family live in Oakland and we don’t get to see them too often, so we decided to meet halfway in Fairfield to go mini-golfing with the kids. Baby Amalia is so adorable and we loved spending some time with them. The cousins love each other! I hope we can get together again soon!

Kids playing mini golf

Dandrea playing mini golf

Ava and Amalia

Drew and Amalia

President's Week Vacation

2011-02-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

After all the craziness of the first half of the month, I was really looking forward to our President’s Week Vacation. The kids have the week off of school and we rented a cabin in Tahoe with our friends the Scotts. We really wanted the kids to have a chance to get some skiing and snowboarding in. We drove up on Monday and took the kids to Soda Springs. We love it there! It’s awesome because there is access to a bunny hill with carpet lift, but also tubing with a lift, a giant snow mountain to climb on and a tubing carousel. That way the kids can take a break and do something different and then come back to the mountain, without ever having to leave. By the end of the day, it was looking like our kids are ready for something a little more challenging. It’s a great place to teach your kids though.

Drew snowboarding

Ava ready to ski

Family Photo

Ava enjoying the mountain of snow

Drew sliding down the snow mountain

Drew, Eben and Ava ready to tube down the hill

Tuesday, we went to Boreal and put the kids in lessons so Dan and I could have a chance to do some snowboarding together. They both did awesome and we had a great time!

Snowboarding together-so fun!

Drew after his lesson-they taught him to jump!

Ava wanted some hot chocolate to warm up after her lesson

Wednesday we went to Donner. It was cheap and had a great learning hill for the kids. We put them each in one more one-hour lesson. I was really impressed by how much they were learning. By the end of that day I took Ava down a green run with me and she rocked it! Drew wasn’t quite ready for a green run, but he could navigate the beginner hill without any help. Yay!

Dan and Drew riding the lift together

Ava riding the lift with her Daddy

That day also happened to be my birthday. Jen’s mom came with us to the cabin and she graciously watched all four kids while we went out for a birthday dinner at a Thai restaurant. It was a great birthday!

I'm 33 today and still celebrating!

Our friends, Jen and Pete

Thursday it started snowing and a large storm was coming in. The Scotts headed home to avoid the big storm. We stayed at the cabin and played in the snow, went in the spa and played board games. It snowed more than 2 feet overnight, and by Friday morning, we were snowed in! But we had to leave because apparently the next renter was to arrive at the cabin that day (I seriously doubt they could have made it up). We shoveled snow for 2 hours just to get out of the driveway! 80 was closed so we had to find somewhere to go. Luckily, our friends happened to be staying nearby and allowed us to crash with them at their gorgeous condo! It was the perfect place to be rescued! The kids got to sled, the adults played cards, and we all had a great dinner and smores at the clubhouse. Thank you Thompsons!

The kids having fun in the snow storm

Doing a little sledding

Drew makes a snow angel

Ava makes a snow angel

Warming up in the hot tub

Our snowed in cabin

We were lucky to find this snowmobile to follow

The cabin that rescued us!

Drew and Ava roasting marshmallows at the clubhouse

The next day, Saturday, Dan had planned to go snowboarding with some guys from church. Since we were still up there, I took the kids back to Donner while the guys went to Boreal. It was too beautiful of a day with fresh powder to go home! Since I was alone with the kids, Ava had to ride up the chair lift by herself, and I helped Drew (it’s harder to get off the lift on a snowboard). They were awesome! I love the ages that they are at right now. It’s so much easier and more fun to do things with them now. They are little mini people!

Drew and Ava ready for another fun day in the snow

My tiny girl riding the lift all by herself

This week was the perfect way to recover from a busy few months!

Gymnastics Celebration

2011-02-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

Ava has been taking gymnastics at Fliptastic for quite a while now and loves it! She finally got a chance to showcase some of her skills at her gymnastics celebration today. She is awesome! We got to watch her on the floor, the bars, the vault, the trampoline and the balance beam. She is really getting quite good! Congratulations Ava, you are a great gymnast!

On the floor

On the bars-she is really good at this!

On the trampoline

Straddle jump off the vault

Pencil jump off the high beam

Our little gymnastics superstar!

CHD Awareness Event

2011-02-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

Wow, February is such a busy month for us! The culmination of all of our events was our CHD Awareness Valentine’s Party for Mended Little Hearts and the community. Over 120 people came to our party. We put together a slideshow of our kids and some information about MLH and congenital heart defects. We also made posters that we put around the room with pictures of our kids and a CHD fact. The kids got to make crafts—a picture frame with a photo from our “photo booth,” and a beautiful stained glass heart. They also got to see and explore an ambulance (Thank you AMR). We had some delicious food and beautiful Valentine’s cupcakes. And, the blood source blood mobile was there and we were able to donate 25 units of blood for us in our community. It was a such a great success and we are so grateful to the Sierra Health Foundation for granting us the use of their facility and for providing the children’s food and dessert at no cost to us.

The spread

The room with Drew's slide from the slideshow

Our Awareness Table

One of our Awareness Posters, featuring Drew

One of our member families enjoying the craft table

AMR brought an ambulance for the kids to explore

We donated 25 units of blood to BloodSource!

Carey, Gina and Andrea-MLH Leadership Team

My Valentines

2011-02-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from my favorite Valentines!

I took the kids out to play with my camera and I just can't decide which ones are my favorites. I love them all!

Valentine's Balloons 2011

2011-02-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

We were excited to continue our Valentine’s tradition again this year, bringing heart balloons to all the kids in the hospital at UC Davis, where Drew was born and spent ten weeks in the NICU in February 2004. We started this tradition when Drew was 1, so this was our seventh year in a row of visiting families in the hospital near Valentine’s Day.

Once again our church, Sanctuary Covenant, partnered with our family to help with the event. I invited the women of our church to come and hear our story and learn a little bit about heart defects and then help assemble the balloons and treats for the kids. Then we went in small groups to the pediatric floor, the pediatric ICU and the neonatal ICU to deliver the balloons to over 80 children. Dan and the kids met us for the delivery of the balloons. The kids love going to visit the babies and there are still some nurses in the NICU who remember Drew from when he was a tiny patient there.

Me and Jen bringing in all 100 balloons!

The ladies ready to assemble the balloons and treats for the kids

Our Family visits the NICU

Drew ready to visit the babies

Ava ready to visit the babies

Drew's Birthday Celebration at School

2011-02-09T20:56:00.000-08:00

Since his actual birthday fell on a Wednesday, we got to celebrate Drew’s birthday at school too!

First, when he woke up he woke up to the house decorated for his birthday with balloons and banners. Then he got to open presents from us and have his favorite breakfast—chocolate chip pancakes and sausage.

Birthday Decorations

Birthday Cake

At school, his class was taking a field trip to see a play, so I got to drive and go with him. When the class got back to school Drew got to share chocolate Star Wars cupcakes with his friends after they sang Happy Birthday.

Fieldtrip to the theater (with best buddy Alex)

Cupcakes with Mrs. Wallace's First Grade

Birthday Boy

But that’s not all! We kept the celebration going and invited some friends for a playdate at the park after school…and we brought more cupcakes!

Cupcakes at the park with Keilani, Ava, Alex, Eben, Drew, Jacob and Chloe

After that, Drew got to take a special trip to Toys R Us to spend a giftcard he got for his birthday. He picked out three transformers and a remote control car! We had his favorite dinner—pasta and then, you guessed it, MORE cake! Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

More Star Wars Cake!

Gift card presents!

New Star Wars stuff for his room!

Happy 7-year-old!

Happy Birthday Drew!

2011-02-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today is Drew's 7th birthday.

Seven seems so old. He is really growing up right before our eyes.

The awesome privilege and responsiblity of raising this child has been something I've been thinking about lately. I am shaping a person. He is watching me, listening to the words I say, seeing how I interact with people. My every action is a lesson to him in how to behave, how to love. That is a huge responsibility. I thank God that he has equipped me to be a mother to Drew. That He chose me for Drew and Drew for me. That He has gifted me this miracle child who makes me want to be a better person, who has taught me more than I could ever hope to teach him.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy. I am so very proud of you. I know God has great plans for your life.

The words of this song from Sidewalk Prophets remind me of you:
Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say.

Drew's 7th Birthday Party

2011-02-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

This year Drew wanted to have a Star Wars themed birthday party at Sunsplash.

He loves mini golf and he loves Star Wars, so it was perfect for him! He invited some kids from his class, some from church, and some from baseball. But no girls—except his sister! First they had some time in the arcade, then it was pizza and cake, followed by mini golf. We had 15 kids so we split them into two teams and had a great time on the course! After golfing was over, we handed out our party favors-homemade Star Wars cookies.

Drew enjoying his pizza

All the boys eating pizza

Drew blowing out the candles on his Star Wars cake

Jonah, Eben, Tommy, Jacob, Drew, Cameron and Connor

Shane, Matthew, Hayden, Jackson, Mateo, Austin and Daniel

Drew taking his shot

Eben, Jacob, Tommy and Drew enjoying their cookies

Star Wars cookies

Drew had a basketball game right after the party, so we headed right over to basketball, then had family over for birthday dinner and more cake and presents. Drew got hooked up with some awesome Star Wars books, clothes and toys. What a lucky boy!

Star Wars shirt

Star Wars book

Star Wars cake

Drew with his Dad and Mom...

...who love him very much!

Gymnastics

2011-01-18T22:58:00.000-08:00

Just a few more pictures of my little gymnast. She loves gymnastics at Fliptastic and does such a great job. It’s so fun to watch her doing something she really enjoys.

Ava ready for class

Practicing hand stands

On the beam

Ready to dismount

On the bars-her favorite!

Snow Day

2011-01-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

We decided to take the kids up to the snow to go sledding on MLK Day. We have been having really foggy weather lately so I hoped that we wouldn’t freeze up there. But once we got up the hill far enough, the fog disappeared and we got to enjoy some sunny, warm weather! We had planned to do some sledding, but we soon found that the kids much preferred making snowballs with our snowball maker and having snowball fights. We probably spent most of our time doing just that! I think we only ended up doing 3 or 4 sled runs each. It was still a really fun day spent in the snow! Can’t wait to go up again!

Drew making a snowball

Abandoned sleds in the background

Finally Ava agrees to sled with me

Drew takes a run by himself

Ava and Daddy go down the hill

Action shot!

Drew and Daddy

Woah! That was a steep one!

Dan lobs a snowball at me

Drew defends his mom and throws a counter attack!

Eating snow (ew)

Me and Dan

Drew's mini snowman

Glasses

2011-01-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

Last week Drew came home with a note from school. They had done vision tests and they said his vision was 20/100 in both eyes! I found that hard to believe, but it spurred me to take both kids to have their vision tested. At Ava’s 4-year check up they said she should have her eyes checked too, but I never did it, mostly because I didn’t know where to take her. So I made appointments for them at Costco and took them in. To my complete surprise, it turns out that Drew needs glasses. He is far-sighted. I feel so bad that I had no idea! The doctor said that if we don’t get him glasses, he’ll start having headaches—something he has been complaining about lately. It should help him with his schoolwork as well. He often has trouble getting started on his work—maybe it’s because it’s hard for him to see! Ava’s vision is not great either, but she is near-sighted. Just another example of how my children are total opposites! She doesn’t need glasses yet, but we will have her checked again next year. I think Drew looks pretty handsome in his new glasses…

2024

2011-01-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe it. I registered my baby for kindergarten. My last baby. I seriously can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. It was just yesterday that we brought this precious bundle home from the hospital. How could she possibly be starting kindergarten?! She is excited to start school though and I know she will love kindergarten! She is such a precocious learner! She is already reading and doing simple math. She is an amazing artist and just loves soaking up new facts. She often tells me little factoids at dinner time-like “did you know that some bats eat mango and some eat insects?” or “snakes eat rats without even chewing and then they take a rest.” I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself next year, when I am the mother of two school age children.

As I looked over the paperwork at the registration office I noticed that they have Ava listed as the Class of 2024. I remarked to the woman helping me, “Wow 2024! That’s hard to believe.” And she said “2024 will be here before you know it.”

I suppose it will…

Basketball

2011-01-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

Basketball season is upon us again! Drew is playing Upwards Basketball again this year and really enjoying it! We’ve had a few games so far and our team is doing great, learning how to play the game and having fun! Go Cheetahs!

The pre-game faceoff

Drew takes the ball down the court

A fast break!

Cheetahs ready to high-five the other team

A couple of my attempts at a basketball portrait

New Year's Eve in Denver

2011-01-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

It finally snowed the day before New Year's Eve and we were all so excited! While the boys were out bowling, Ava went outside to play in the snow with Aunt Jennifer and Grandma Kathy. Mommy was too cold to go outside (it was only 3 degrees!) so she stayed inside and drank hot chocolate instead. Ava helped to shovel snow to make a snowman and made beautiful snow angels. I ran outside just to snap a few pictures, and then we all came inside to warm up before our NYE dinner at Three Margaritas.

Ava's such a good helper!

Snow Angel!

Aunt Jennifer's snow angel

Aunt Jennifer and Grandma Kathy with their snow ball gown

Isn't she lovely?

Once again, I was amazed at how well behaved all the kids were and how well they all got along. They all got to sit together at the restaurant, which allowed the adults to have some adult conversation as well. We all enjoyed a delicious meal and endeavored to live up to the name of the restaurant. Even if that meant taking some margarita to go! Once we got home we had a dance party with the kids until about 9. Unfortunately that seemed to take all of our energy because once they were in bed, we were all kind of tired. We tried to rally and popped some champagne and played some games. But we were unsuccessful. By 11:30 we gave up and went to bed!

Happy New Year!

Dan and Uncle Scott

The kids table

Me and Laura with our margarita to go

Aunt Jennifer and Grandma Kathy celebrating 2011

Dance Party!

Everyone dancing

The men take a break for some poker

Rob and Laura, our gracious hosts

We're starting to lose steam...

We tried to stay awake by playing Hedbanz

Laura and I getting sleepy

We went to bed before midnight, and it was -3 degrees outside!

Red Rocks and Dinosaur Ridge

2010-12-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we went to visit Red Rocks Amphitheater and Dinosaur Ridge. The amphitheater is gorgeous and has great natural acoustics—they have concerts there. We walked all the way down to the bottom to the stage and the view from there is pretty cool too. Of course, Drew had no trouble getting down to the bottom, but needed a little help on the way back up. We took lots of neat pictures—I’m still having fun with my camera.

View from the top

View from the bottom

Ava and Drew

Drew gets a little help from Dad

Uncle Scott and Daddy

Dandrea

Ron and Kelley

Drew with a T-rex jaw

Drew and Ava

Ava with Uncle Scott

After the amphitheater we headed over to Dinosaur Ridge to check out real fossils. It was pretty cool, although I couldn’t tell you exactly what we were looking at. Thank goodness for the signs with arrows pointing out all the important things!

A fossil at Dinosaur Ridge

Dino Footprint

Ava and Drew with a stegosaurus

Denver

2010-12-29T23:29:00.000-08:00

We flew out to Denver, CO to be with Dan’s side of the family the week after Christmas. We had such a great time there! Rob & Laura had enough space for all of us to stay with them—there were 18 of us total! They had an awesome finished basement too, with two extra bedrooms and a bathroom. I have basement envy now.

The first full day in Denver, we went up to the mountains to go skiing/snowboarding. It was a good effort, but just not our day. Drew had a hard time adjusting to the altitude and when we got to the resort he was too exhausted to even walk from the car to the lodge. :( He wasn’t able to snowboard at all. He ended up staying with Aunt Connie, Uncle Bill and cousin Daniel in the lodge. The rest of us rented equipment and bought half day tickets. We took Ava up on the easiest lift—she loved riding the chairlift, she didn’t love trying to ski back down. It was the longest run of my life! She cried, pouted, whined, etc. It probably reminded Dan a lot of how I acted when he was teaching me how to snowboard. After about thirty minutes of that he just took her skis off and handed them to me, then she stood on his board and they both rode down the rest of the way together. We dropped her off at the lodge too. That left us with enough time to do 3-4 runs on our own. Not our best day on the slopes, but we were just excited to get a couple of runs in.

Daniel, Drew and Ava ready for the snow

Mountain View

Kids enjoying the snow

That night after our family dinner, all the kids were begging to open presents. We agreed to open some that night, and the rest in the morning. The five kids got along so well, it was wonderful to see them playing and having a great time together. They had a lot of fun opening their presents and then much more fun playing with everything together over the next few days.

Christmas Day

2010-12-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Later on Christmas Day, Grandpa Mark arrived. And of course, there were more presents to open! We had fun just playing together and relaxing at home and eating some more lasagna and ham. We made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang Happy Birthday to him. And I got to play with my new toy, a new SLR camera! I took some pictures of us with Grandpa Mark. I think they turned out pretty good. :) I look forward to learning more about photography and how to take nice pictures with my new camera.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-25T22:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning came around 7:15 at our house. Drew came and woke us up, then he woke Ava up and we all wandered into the living room together to see if Santa had come. He had and he even ate the cookies! He brought each child just what they wanted! Drew got his Star Wars General Greivous light saber and Ava got her Mulan princess. We all opened up our stockings while our breakfast pastry baked. Once it was ready, we took a break to eat something and Drew read the story of Jesus’s birth from the Bible. Afterwards we opened our presents to and from each other and the rest of our family. It was such a nice, relaxing morning, with no rushing around having to be somewhere. We opened our presents, enjoyed each other’s company and played together. It was the best Christmas ever!

Drew opening his stocking

Ava with her stocking

Drew with his light saber from Santa

Ava with her Mulan doll from Santa

Happy Family

Santa ate our cookies!

Drew with his new skateboard

Ava with some her new Rapunzel toys

Drew's new basketball hoop

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Christmas at home as a family. Dan and I have decided that it is important for us to establish our own Christmas traditions with our children and part of that is having Christmas Eve at home so that we can wake up in our own beds on Christmas morning. We started off the day by going to Sky High so the kids could jump some of their energy out. What a fun place! The kids loved it and I had a great time doing flips into the foam pit too! After a fun morning we went home to prepare our Christmas Eve dinner-lasagna in honor of my Italian heritage and ham because Dan loves it. I made enough so that we’d have leftovers for dinner on Christmas Day-one less thing to do! We all enjoyed our meal and then it was time to get ready for church. The kids each got to open one present before we went-they couldn’t wait! Poor Drew had been asking to open presents since the first wrapped present appeared under the tree! Then we went to celebrate the birth of Christ, the greatest gift of all, with our church family. It was a nice service, complete with candlelight. Afterwards we headed home to get ready for bed, put out Santa’s cookies and spread the reindeer food on the front lawn. The last thing we did before bed was check Santa’s position on NORAD. The kids went to bed easily, excited to wake up and see if Santa had come.

Ready for Christmas Eve dinner

Dan and Andrea

Ready to open one present!

At Christmas Eve service

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa and an apple for the reindeer

Tracking Santa before bed

Christmas Cheer

2010-12-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

It’s been a year or two since we make goodies for our neighbors and this year we decided to do it in the spirit of Christmas. I think Jesus would bring gifts to his neighbors. :) So we made goodie baskets for each one of our surrounding neighbors, even the not-so-nice ones. We made carmel pretzel twists, peppermint bark, rumballs and chocolate chip cookies and packaged them all up nicely. Then, as a family, we delivered each package to our neighbors. What an experience that was! I was struck by how much these people appreciated a visit from us. We don’t know any of our neighbors very well and we’ve lived here for 5 years! Part of that is because they are all older people, there are no young kids near us—and that is usually an easy way to befriend your neighbors. But part of it is just laziness and the natural impulse to just stick close to home. At each home we visited we spent time talking to our neighbors. They invited us in and gave us treats and shared a little of what is going on in their lives. Many of them invited us to come back again and visit with them, and one even came the next day with treats for us. And the not-so-nice neighbors. Guess what they did? They came over the next day and offered to watch our dogs for us while we were gone! I guess they just needed us to be nice first. After seeing how much joy we can bring to some of our elderly neighbors with just a simple visit, I plan to take the kids around to say hi more often. What an easy way to show people that we care about them.

Grandpa Dave's Visit

2010-12-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Dave came to visit us, and guess what he brought? Presents! One present in particular was making noise, so it had to be opened immediately. Drew was the very happy recipient of a double sided light saber, complete with glowing blue lights and sound effects. Thanks a lot Grandpa! ;) We had a very nice visit with Grandpa Dave and the kids enjoyed playing with him, having light saber fights and going out to eat. Thank you for spending the day with us Grandpa!

Grandpa Dave, Drew and Daddy

Light Saber Battle

Grandpa Dave and Ava

Bayside Christmas Eve

2010-12-22T17:01:00.000-08:00

Another one of our family traditions is attending Bayside for their Christmas Eve service. Their church is so large that they have 18 Christmas Eve services the week before Christmas. We decided to attend with our friends the Quayles and the Scotts and we went on Tuesday. It was a great performance, a little loud for the kids, but awesome Christmas music and my favorite part—the lighting of the candles. I love when we all lift our candles up high, letting our light shine and seeing how bright the room becomes. It was a great experience really getting us in the spirit for Christmas.

Ava and Mommy

Daddy and Drew

Our Family

Drew

Ava

Some Christmas Traditions

2010-12-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Last year we started a family tradition of sleeping under the lights of the Christmas tree. The kids have been wanting to do it for a while, but our month has been so busy, we had to find a free night to do it. We finally found a free night only 4 days before Christmas! Of course, we also had to make and decorate some cookies for Santa, so we did that the same night. It turned out to be a great family night! We all had fun frosting our sugar cookies and of course, the sprinkles were the most exciting part for the kids. We each chose one to eat before getting cozy underneath the Christmas tree.

Daddy helping Drew decorate a cookie

Drew with his creation

Mommy and Ava decorating

Ava's Christmas tree

Lots of cookies, lots of smiles!

After we were all ready with our sleeping bags, pillows and blankets we watched a short Christmas movie. The kids chose Prep & Landing, about how the elves get each home ready for Santa’s arrival. Dan was so tired, he didn’t make it through the movie and was the first to fall asleep! Drew and Ava both watched the whole thing, then got snuggled into their sleeping bags. They were very excited that we were all sleeping under the tree together. We had a good night and in the morning we celebrated with a delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and orange juice. I love making memories with with my family!

Ava's excited to sleep under the tree

Ready for bed!

The Christmas tree

Asleep under the tree

Gingerbread House

2010-12-21T23:25:00.000-08:00

We continued our yearly tradition of making gingerbread houses with the Smith Family. It was harder to coordinate our schedules this year, but we got it in right before Christmas! Jen, Todd and Darby came to our house to work on the gingerbread creation. This year the set from Costco came with the gingerbread house already assembled-bonus! We just had to frost and decorate. Our kids enjoyed placing the candy pieces just where they wanted them, and Darby had fun making a gingerbread man and emptying and refilling a bag of candy. Drew and Ava wanted to start eating the house immediately upon its completion. I let them have a few pieces. After the house was assembled we enjoyed a meal together. Thanks for joining us again this year Smiths!

Jen, Darby and Ava

Drew and Ava decorating the house

Jen helping Darby decorate her cookie

Posing with the house

The final product

Kids Church Performance

2010-12-20T09:06:00.000-08:00

Ava and friends ready to sing

Drew ready to sing

My little angel

Drew and friends rocking out

This Sunday our children’s program was performing for the entire church.

The littlest kids sang Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star, the big kids rocked out to Joy to the World (All Creation Sing) and everyone sang Away in a Manger. It was certainly adorable, especially with the kids in their angel costumes and rocking out with their inflatable guitars. Enjoy!

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star

Three Days of Christmas Fun

2010-12-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

Day 1-Seeing Christmas Lights at Dovewood Court
We have a yearly tradition of bringing the kids to see the Christmas lights on Dovewood Court. Every house on the cul-de-sac is completely covered in lights and they collect food for the Food Bank. We bring a few cans with us every year, pick up some hot chocolate on the way and walk around the neighborhood enjoying the lights. The kids love it, and so do we!

Drew and Ava all bundled up and ready to see the lights

Me and Dan with our coffee

The Grinch-one of their favorite displays

Drew and Ava in front of the nativity scene

Another fun house

Check out this video--an incredible light show set to music

Day 2-Caroling with the GreenHouse teens

This year our church was invited to carol around the apartment complexes near the GreenHouse, a community enrichment center that we partner with. I love caroling, so I couldn’t say no! Again, we got all bundled up and headed over to the South Natomas neighborhood. Drew and Ava were both excited to sing and also to see their friends. We walked around the complexes singing and bringing cheer to the families that live there. My favorite part was our final song—Carol of the Bells. Trust me, you would have enjoyed it! After we were finished, one of the moms who we sang to brought Mexican hot chocolate for all of us to enjoy. What a sweet evening!

The kids having some hot chocolate before we got started

Our family preparing to carol

Singing in the courtyard of one of the apartment complexes

Tony (our worship leader) and David (our pastor) and me photobombing in the background

Day 3-Polar Express

I was so excited to get tickets to the Polar Express train ride this year! The tickets always sell out the same day they go on sale so it’s hard to get them. The kids got to wear their pajamas on the train for our journey to the North Pole. There are performers who dance in the aisles, there is hot chocolate and cookies for everyone, the conductor reads the story of the Polar Exress to the kids and at the end Santa visits the train and gives out bells to everyone who believes! It was a fun night and we all enjoyed our visit to the North Pole.

All jammied up and ready for our train ride

Drew having his hot chocolate and cookie

Ava with her hot chocolate and cookie

Santa joined us on the train!

I just had to post this funny picture of me and Santa!

We believe!

Drew and me with our bells

Christmas Party

2010-12-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

We held our 9th annual christmas party and ornament exchange this year. We invited all of our friends and had a great time eating, drinking and being merry. I made artichoke dip, tuxedo brownie bites, and cream cheese with jalapeno jelly. We also provided beer, wine and champagne cocktails—sparkling stars and crimson sippers. Our friends each brought something to share as well, so there was plenty of delicious food and drinks and lots of good conversation.

The ornament exchange was a lot of fun again this year! Some highlights were a blues playing snowman, a handmade Grinch on a gourd, and Pete’s homemade reindeer. There was some stealing going on and the reappearance of the Tiger ornament. Everyone left with something new to hang on their tree and a chocolate dipped pretzel. Merry Christmas from the Himmelbergers!

Jesus with the singing snowman

Erik with his pink ballet slippers

Darcy, me, Britni and Faye

Jen and the Grinch-hand painted by Chuck

Lindsay and a pink flamingo

Julie with Pete's reindeer

Rob with a pooping monkey

Me and Jen

Faye got chocolate with her ornament

Jeff, Dan and Pete

Singing at Winding Commons

2010-12-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Ava’s preschool class took a field trip to Winding Commons to sing to the grandmas and grandpas that live there. Ava had been practicing her songs for weeks and was excited to sing to the people. It was very sweet to see and the residents loved seeing the children perform. At the end of the performance—three songs I believe—the kids handed out some artwork they had created to each resident in attendance. What a sweet idea! I’m so glad that her preschool did this!

Ava ready to sing

By the Christmas tree after her performance

A video of one of their songs

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree

How lovely are your branches…

Between our very busy (and fun) December schedule plus the fact that there are only three weekends in December before Christmas, we had to plan when we could get our Christmas tree this year. The only day that we could do it was Friday. We have been getting our tree at Costco lately, but we wanted to go to Apple Hill and cut one down this year. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and with all the mud from the pouring rain the last few days we decided to scrap our Apple Hill plans and just go back to Costco. But we still took our tree pictures!

We picked out a beautiful tree and paid probably half of what it would have cost from a tree farm. Drew held onto the tree the whole way home, so it wouldn’t fall out the back of the van. Once we got it home we noticed that it was very full. Maybe slightly bigger than it looked at the store. Not a problem though, we got it right into it’s spot in the living room. We decorated it over the next few days and it was fun to see each ornament and tell the kids about the meaning behind each one. This year their favorites were the ones they got from our Disneyland trip. Ava’s is Princess Aurora and Drew’s is a Toy Story 3 ornament. My favorite is super cheesey—it’s a plastic ball filled with sand and shells. We got it on our honeymoon in Saint Lucia and I knew it was cheesey when we bought it, but I thought it would always remind us of when we were first married.

Picking out our perfect tree

Loading it up...

and decorating it!

MLH Holiday Party

2010-12-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of December was our Mended Little Hearts holiday party. This is the first year that I have been in charge of planning the entire event and I could not have done it without the help of some very special people. My leadership team, Carey and Gina, have been wonderful to work with! We planned the party for Saturday December 3 from 4-7 pm. We thought that would be a good time for the kids-not so late for them, but still early enough that parents could go out if they had another party to get to. We held the event at Sutter Memorial on the 7th floor. One room was for our catered dinner and slide show, the other was for our craft tables, dessert and photos with Santa.

I think everyone had a great time. I was pleased with our turnout and that everything went so smoothly. The kids got to decorate sugar cookies, make foam picture frames and color holiday pictures. They were also all very excited to see Santa and my cousin volunteered his time to take photos of the kids with the Big Guy. Dinner was donated by Tres Hermanas in Davis, and it was so good! It was great to see so many families and so many heart children doing well. It’s always heartwarming to see these special children and their families. Even thought it is a lot of work, I love being the coordinator of MLH and am so glad that I can provide some support and hope to other families touched by congenital heart defects.

Decorating cookies

Craft Table

Coloring

The yummy food

Visiting with Santa

My friends Chuck and Debbe serving dessert

MLH Leadership team-Carey, me and Gina

Disneyland!!

2010-11-30T22:10:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a great trip to Disneyland. We had free passes for three of us from Disney’s Give a Day, Get a Day promotion and we had to use them by December 15th. Since our last trip the week after Thanksgiving was such a success, we decided to try that strategy again this year. It worked out perfectly!

We went on the Monday after Thanksgiving, hoping to avoid the crowds since most people would be back to school and work. Most rides had wait times between 5-20 minutes and the longest line by far was the wait to see the Disney princesses. The weather was a little cold, but warmer than at home. This year Grandpa Mark joined us at the park and we had a lot of fun with him.
I was so excited to get reservations for the character breakfast at the Plaza Inn. However, we were faced with a conundrum—we paid a pretty penny for the all you can eat buffet but didn’t want to spend too much time eating when we could be enjoying the park. The kids both really enjoyed seeing the characters and taking pictures with them. Ava’s favorite was the Fairy Godmother and Drew’s favorite was Captain Hook.
Dan made a list of everything we wanted to see and do. First on our list was Space Mountain. I’m not sure if it was a good idea to take the kids on that first, but we did and they all survived it. Although for the rest of the day Ava’s rule was “no fast rides, no scary rides, no dark rides.” We did get her to go on Big Thunder Mountain railroad, but she was not so pleased with us. Her favorites were Dumbo, Peter Pan, Small World, the Christmas parade and Pirates of the Caribbean—not too scary or too fast. Drew’s favorites were Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Jedi Training. Both kids did great walking around all day with little complaining.
I love going to Disneyland at Christmastime and seeing everything decorated for the season. It’s all so beautiful and magical! Another plus of going this time of year is that Santa Claus is there! We got to visit with Santa and his reindeer and have our Santa picture for the year.

With the lines so short we were able to do everything on our list. We still had some time before the park closed but the kids were pretty tired so we took a ride on the monorail before settling down to watch the fireworks show, which we all enjoyed. Back at the hotel Drew and Ava were pretty tired and went right to sleep in their bunk beds—another favorite part of our trip for them. This morning we had a leisurely breakfast at IHOP before hitting the road for the long drive home.

Riding the shuttle to Disneyland!

The kids with Grandpa Mark

All decorated for Christmas

Our family ready for a day of fun

With Minnie

Ava and her fairy godmother

Drew and Ava with Captain Hook

Grandpa with Minnie Mouse

Star Wars Jedi Training

It's a Small World

Riding with Grandpa Mark

Ava got her face painted before we met the princesses

With Princess Aurora

And Belle...

And Jasmine...

Ava and Mickey

Toon Town

Riding the Tea Cups

Dan and Grandpa

Me and the kids

Santa!

Poor Ava--she didn't want to go on Thunder Mountain

Grandpa Mark and Drew ready for Pirates of the Carribean

On the Jungle Cruise

Watching the Parade

Cinderella and Prince Charming

Ava and Daddy

Santa

the fireworks show

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T21:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It had all the elements of a great day of thanks. Dan’s mom and brother were staying with us for the holiday. Thursday morning Dan and I did the Run to Feed the Hungry. This is a 10k run that benefits the Sacramento Food Bank. It has become a family tradition if we are in town for Thanksgiving. There are 3 reasons I love doing this run on Thanksgiving morning. 1. It feels good to be doing something to help those who are less fortunate. 2. There is such a sense of community out there, and I really enjoy the spirit of the morning. 3. I feel so much better starting off the day with some good calorie burning before we indulge in our Thanksgiving feast later that day. This year was no different, although I did have a few moments of hesitation when we got up at 6:30 am and it was 29 degrees outside. Luckily Dan helped me get into the right frame of mind and we did our 6.2 miles together. It didn’t feel SO freezing after the first mile.

After our run, we headed over to my friend Kristina’s house to pack lunches and bags of toiletries for the homeless in downtown Sacramento. This is something Kristina and her family and friends do every Thanksgiving and we were happy to be able to help out this year. Kathy, Scott and the kids met us over there and we all made PB & J sandwiches, packed fruit, chips and snacks into the bags the kids had decorated and then headed downtown to pass out the lunches. I’m so glad that we are able to do things like this with our kids at an early age. It is so important to me to cultivate in them a spirit of serving others.

After passing out lunches to over 75 men and women we headed back home to prepare the turkey for our family gathering. We had ten people at our house for Thanksgiving Dinner and everyone helped out by providing a dish or two or three. The kids had a great time playing with everyone and we all had a good time just enjoying each others company. Every year we go around the table and share what we are thankful for and both kids said “my family and friends.” This year we also had a Thanksgiving trivia quiz with 20 questions and Aunt Marie was the winner with 14 correct answers.

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving celebration with your families.

Ready to Run to Feed the Hungry

One side of our Thanksgiving Table

The other side of our table

Ava

Drew

Grandma Honey

Chaos Team Party

2010-11-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

After the game of mud ball, we headed over to Round Table for our team pizza party. The boys had a great time playing video games and eating pizza. They were all so excited to get their trophies! Our coaches, Wes and Eric presented each boy with their trophy, a medal and an award. This year Drew got the Gobstopper award because he did such a great job playing defense. He really improved his game this year and it was so fun to watch him play. He was way more aggressive this season and took his job of defending the goal very seriously. There was hardly a ball that got by him. It was very special for me to watch him play. I love watching him run and truly recognize the blessing that it is. No one watching him play would ever guess that he is a heart patient who's undergone 3 open-heart surgeries. Anyway, it was a very fun season playing with lots of our friends from last year and our same coaches. Great season Chaos!

Coach Wes and Eric giving Drew his trophy

Drew with his trophy

Jacob and Drew--best buds and team mates

Caity, Keilani and Ava-They all played on the Fruit Loops together and their big brothers played together on Chaose. Coach gave them the 3 Musketeers award for always cheering on their brothers

The soccer cupcakes I made for the party

The team video that Coach Wes made for us

Mud Ball!

2010-11-21T08:11:00.000-08:00

Drew's soccer team, Chaos, had their last game of the season on Saturday, November 20th. It had been raining for days before and was freezing cold! But the boys didn't seem to mind at all. They had a great time playing soccer on the saturated field, and didn't even mind running through the giant puddle right in the middle of the field. My cousin, Adam, came to the game and got some great pictures of Drew playing soccer. Chaos ended up winning the game and ended the season with a record of 7-3, first in their division!

Drew is ready

Almost scoring a goal

Mud Ball!

Right through the puddle!

Running at full speed

Tunnel!

My muddy boy

A Field Trip to Safeway

2010-11-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I was able to accompany Ava and some of her friends on a field trip to Safeway. It was a lot of fun! The kids got to visit each department and learn what they do. They started at the floral department and got a bag with a drink and a snack in it. They also were promised a balloon from the department at the end of the tour. Next we went to produce and they gave each child an apple. Mmmm. It was hard for them not to eat it right away. Then we went to the meat department and watched them put beef through the grinder...ew! We got to visit the freezer where they keep the ice cream and the dairy case. We could peek through and see people on the other side! We went to the bakery to see where they bake bread and pies and got a cookie for our bag. Next it was the Deli where the kids got to try chicken strips. Finally we got to go to Starbucks and get yummy hot chocolate. It was a fun field trip!

Molly, Keilani and Ava ready for the field trip

In the freezer section. Brr!

Ava and Keilani in the dairy case

The kids enjoying their apples and cookies

Landice and Ava enjoying their hot chocolates

Keilani and Molly drinking their hot chocolates