A belated birthday post +

December is a month of birthdays for us. Joanna is now 13, Alyssa is 11, and Trevor is 9! I remember the day each one of them were born. What an exciting time it was for us kids the day another sibling was born!!! The amazing thing is that it only got better!

Joanna has been maturing into such a fun young lady. She shocked me when she volunteered to take over the job of running all of the laundry for our family a couple of months ago. She's taken the responsibility very seriously and is doing a fair job of it! (Thanks Joanna, way to go girl!!!)





Alyssa is a treasure! She has such a creative way of making us laugh... I love sharing a room with 8 other girls who are my best friends! Alyssa blessed me just the other day when she spent the entire day in the kitchen with me baking and cleaning up the mess. It was a long day, but having her company,(Not to mention her help!), made it easy and fun!





Trevor will always have a special place in our hearts as our youngest brother for the past 9 years! Today he proved to me that he's starting to become a little man as he helped me cut down a huge juniper bush. It was a messy, prickly, hard job, but he stuck to it and kept working even when I stepped inside to make lunch! (Go buddy go!)


A late Happy birthday to all three of you!

I love each one of my brothers and sisters so much! God is so good to bless me with their love and friendship. I can't imagine life without any one of them.



Thank you all for your prayers for our friends. God is working in some special ways in both cases that I mentioned. Mrs. Lynch is actually able to be up, as long as she doesn't do anything strenuous. Our friend's Mom who had brain cancer is now enjoying the comforts of her own home and the company of her family and friends in Missouri.

We sure enjoyed spending two days with Danielle and Mandy while they were out here!

This year I've been able to fulfill some of my life long dreams! Some of them I was afraid I'd never learn or do!

1.) I've become more familiar and competant driving a manual transmission.
2.) I bought my first car! (And then my second car!) :D
3.) I learned to do a back flip!!! (Thanks Mandy and Danielle!)
4.) I blew my first bubble with gum! ;) Yay! (Merrie, you're a great teacher... if only you knew how many people had tried to teach me before...) lol!
5.) I ran a 5k race
6.) I began learning to play the fiddle!
7.) I got a real cell phone... lol
8.) We did some traveling!
9.) I started to learn how to ski
8.) I "learned" how to snowboard! Haha!
9.) I hiked to the top of Half Dome without stopping to rest a million times! ;)
10.) We got a family website. :D
11.) Our family did a concert!
12.) I learned how to shoot!

It sure has been fun!...

"The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. " ~ Psalm 145:15-16

What tomorrow may bring

You never know what a day can bring forth.

On Monday Dad invited me to go with him and Mom to shop for a living room! That was such a special thing for me since we've been longing for a couch or something comfortable to sit on since our house had nothing but folding chairs or linoleum floors. Plus a day out with Dad and Mom is always a special treat! After about an hour in one store I was ready to go home. (I'm not what my mom calls a shopper!) 8 hours later Mom and Dad were ready to go home too! So yeah, it was a long day, but I wouldn't have traded it for a different one!

On Tuesday 8 of us went to work. We had a very profitable time and got a lot done. It was kind of late when we got home but we were thrilled to see Chad Johnson pull up! He visited with us for awhile and we enjoyed having a nice little "living room" to sit in! Talk about perfect timing! ;D

Wednesday morning started at 5 for me. Dad and Justin were getting ready to fly to Minnesota. We dropped them off at the airport at 6:50 and returned home. Once at home I was checking my email and discovered one that I'd been waiting for since Sunday and I had lost it somehow. Next thing I knew I was heading for San Diego with Annie and Joanna to spend two days with the family I last blogged about. We spend the night with some friends who live near the hospital. Very dear friends to us!

It was a huge learning experience for all of us and I'm so grateful that it all worked out so well!

The next morning we picked up Danielle and Mandy from their motel and headed to the beach for a nice refreshing walk. From the beach we drove to the Gramm's house in Riverside for a party. We had a great time there as always, and we didn't leave until after midnight. =-p

It looks like we'll be up late tonight too! We get to pick up Dad and Justin at 11:00 pm! Yay!

Thank you all for your prayers! I'm really excited to hear that Danielle and Mandy's Mom is improving today. Read Danielle's report here!

Also, Mrs. Lynch is home from the hospital! PTL! She will be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy which should be 22 weeks if I remember right. Continue praying for them! And if you would like to help them out you can call or email my Mom. (Or you can call the Lynches direct I suppose!) =D

"Little drops of water, tiny grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land.
So the little minutes, humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages of eternity.
Be faithful in little things, 'cuz little things make big things.
Great things are done by doing little things every day..."