Gone Campin'

Well we are home from our favorite place on earth.  Instead of writing about the trip, the girls and Chris have told me that I should share my journal entry from our second day up at Wrights lake, so here you go....

"Is there anyplace as beautiful as Wrights Lake? I am yet to see it.  Coming up here, for me is like visiting my "Mt. Sinai," the place where God dwells.  Why does God seem closer in this place? Because His beauty, the beauty of who He is, the beauty of what He wants for us, is spoken in the landscape and wild life of this place.  It's a place where as I sit, I can almost feel the fingerprints of the Father.  A mere word, even a whisper from Him, and this mountain came into being.  

   As we drove up Wrights Road yesterday, I couldn't wait to get my window down and breathe in the fragrance around us.  To smell the pine trees, whose needles smell like Christmas and also fresh cut wood: and yet it's mixed with the sweet smells of thousands of wild flowers.  Even the dust that is kicked up by our truck smells musty and woodsy.

No matter how many years we come up here, I'm still anxious to come up over that last hill in the road, and get my first look at the granite mountains that surround the lake in all their majesty.  To me, I've often thought that they seem to protect the lake and this beautiful place.  Almost as thought they are keeping the rest of the world from finding out this place is here.  The colors that seem to pop out to me are blue, green, and pink.  The sky is blue, while the water is a clear green, that looks cool as the sun sends sparkling light across it, and I am anxious to feel it on my feet.  The mountains with the sun shadows on it, are a coral pink, and they reflect across the surface of the water.  WOW! All of this has hit my senses in the 30 minutes it has taken us to drive up the mountain, and the words that keep going through my mind are, "I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come from"  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Needless to say, it was wonderful, and we made many great memories together!  I am so thankful for this last week, it was time I will never forget with my family!

6 Flags Discovery Kingdom

Well, to say that we had fun really doesn't cover it.... we had a blast!  Yesterday, we went to 6 Flags AKA Marine World with Chris' sister Tanya's family.  The girls had just finished a fun filled week up in Chico with them, so we thought it would be fun to meet at Marine World for the day to pick them up.  Unlike when the girls were little, we spent less time around the animals, and more time on FAST roller coasters.  When we first started, Makayla was absolutely not going to go on any roller coasters.   However, after the other kids got off "Medusa" she was starting to cave... so on the next big one... "Kong", Daddy kind of made her try it... she was not happy... as we began the 3 story ascent, Makayla, who is strapped in next to me is beginning to cry and saying,"I can't believe you forced me to do this!!!"  Meanwhile, I'm thinking I need to be turned into CPS.... what the heck is she going to do when we take this first dive?  The next thing I know, we are dropping and Makayla is screaming.. "I LOVE THIS RIDE"

SHE HAD A BALL!  When we got off she informed us she would never miss out on another fast roller coaster ever again!  We really had so much fun with Mike, Tanya, and their kids.  They were so good to the girls, it really made Chris and I feel great!  The cousins all seemed to have so much fun together.  At the end of the day, Shawn even gave Abbey-girl a piggy back ride all the way from the Tram to parking lot D.... up hill!  It was a great day!

Visiting our Cousins

well, yesterday the girls and I went over to Hollys so the girls could meet their new cousin Jared.  They absolutley loved him and thought he was so sweet... although Abbey didn't understand why his skin was wrinkly. :o)  The girls had a  great time swimming with DJ too, and I think it was a good thing for him to get a little attention.  Jared was the sweetest thing ever... such a contented little man.... Auntie lou held him pretty much all day... I just couldn't get enough loves from him... at the end of the day, little DJ just conked out... he was so tired from playing and swimming with his cousins... it was a great day!

Home From Camp!!

Well the girls are home.  Tired, were a little cranky, but doing much better...When we picked them up yesterday, the parents all sat in the chapel, waiting for the kids to come in from lunch.  When the kids came in, visions of "Pigpen" from Charlie Brown came to mind; you know the kids who always had a little dust cloud following him wherever he went?  Needless to say, the kids were filthy.  Abbey was wearing her Hello Kitty pajama bottoms, which I found out she had worn everyday until lunch time... they went in the garbage when we got home.  Black feet don't even to begin the state my daughters feet were in.  Even after supervised scrubbing when we got home, they still didn't look to good.  Ok... enough on the dirt, nothing a good shower and a lot of lotion didn't take care of. :o)  They all had a great time, from Zip lines, rock wall climbing, slip and slide contests, belly flop contests, feeding eachother M&M's with their toes, diggin bubble gum out of flour and blowing bubbles, to a ton of swimming... they made a ton of great memories and supposedly a little camp romance along the way... don't worry, Chris gave the poor little 48" kid the major stare down!

We are glad to have them home, although I think they maybe have the after camp blues, and they are already talking about next year.... OH BOY!

Our Happy Campers!

                                                   

Well, the girls are off to camp, and Mom is missing them terribly!  All three for the first Year... I can hardly believe it.  They were so excited that saturday night they couldn't sleep... in bed at 8:30 and awake until midnight!  I thought maybe Abbey would kind start acting nervous once it was time for us to leave yesterday, but no way... she was more excited than the other two.  This morning as I sit here, I just keep thinking that it's going to be tomorrow, and we'll be off to college.  They grow up to quickly!  I do hope that the girls have a great time, and maybe miss Mom and Dad just a little ! :o)

4th of July 2008

This year for the 4th we had our annual church picnic, complete with water slide and old fashion gunny sack races... we even did the Virginia Reel as a group, it was so much fun.  With no fireworks show at the fairgrounds this year, and with the fact that fireworks are illegal in Santa Rosa, a bunch of us went over to the Bojorns house in Rhonert Park where they still are legal.  We all brought fireworks to share, which led to a two hour show... yes, I said 2 hours.  We all talked about how when we were kids, we would try to stretch out the fireworks to hopefully get 20 minutes worth of action.  Well, this year, it was the show that wouldn't end.  Between all the families we had about 400$ worth of fireworks. We had a blast though, and it was the first time the girls can remember doing them this way.  The men of course loved the fireworks that were the size of the sunday paper, while most of the kids loved the sparklers.  As for us moms, we just enjoyed watching the guys and our kids have so much fun.  After a very long day, we arrived home at 11:30pm pretty pooped, but all the girls said it was the best fourth of July they ever had.... I'm glad!

Our Ladies luncheon this year, was a real treat... it's always fun doing something just for "the girls".  Come to think of it, poor daddy probably thinks a lot of what we do is "for the girls".  We did have fun though!

OK... So It's Been a While

Well, a lot has happened since I last blogged in November... I thought about pulling out all my picture cds and completly catching up all the biggies.. Christmas, Thanksgiving, ect... but instead thought I would just do the pics still in my computer.... so sorry about the delay, but hey... I'm back!

Happy Birthday Abbey Girl

For Abbeys 9th birthday, we had family and friends from church over for pizza and birthday cake as we celebrated Abbey.  She felt 

pretty cool and we all had a great time.  Her
favorite gift was her new American girl doll Mia, and her ipod shuffle from Grammie and Papa.  She was a pretty sweet birthday girl!

Easter Sunday

This year the girls had a great time hunting eggs with their little cousin DJ.  We had dinner out at Grammies, and then an Easter egg hunt, complete with camo eggs for the little guy!  We sure did miss you Uncle Darren, wish you were with us!

Trunk or Treat

On Halloween this year, we had our 2nd annual Trunk or Treat. For those of you who have never been Trunk or Treating, it's when about 30 vehicles from our church decorate the trunks of their cars, and kids from all over the neighborhood come and trunk or treat out of our cars. We had a movie on the big screen inside the church (Evan Almighty) , chili, french bread, hot chocolate, a jump house/slide, and lots of fun. This year we had about 250 people, which was almost double what we had last year. The kids all had a blast. Even our cousin DJ got to be there dressed as a little pumpkin. It was a great night of friends and family and a whole lot of laughs!