Uncle Zach's Visit!

More visitors!!!

My little brother, by 12 years, came for a short weekend visit.  He is working hard putting himself through college and we thought it would be fun to fly him out to spend some time with us, giving him a little break.

Zach and John went rock wall climbing and toured a local brewery together.  Chase and I missed out on this fun due to the napping phase of life that we are currently in.  We had some good meals together and nice time visiting together.  We are thankful that Chase was able to get to know him better.

Zach showing Chase rock climbing videos

Thankful

November has been a crazy month for us with visitors.

But it has been truly a wonderful month!

As Thanksgiving approaches, it is easy for me to see so much that I am thankful for.

What a great month that I would be able to see both of my brothers (and my new sis-in-law) and one of my dearest friends from when I lived in Philadelphia.  (I still have friends to come, but can't write about them yet!)

Selina has become a dear sister in the faith to me.  We were good friends while I lived in Philly, and met at church, and had lots of fun....beach house in the summer, nights out on the town, one fun formal event!  And then I moved out to San Diego, got married, and there were some years there where we did not communicate all that much.  But then in about 2005 or so, we got reconnected and now she has become one of our more frequent visitors.  We have a lot in common and share a lot of the same beliefs, feelings, ideas on life.  Every time we are together, we just pick right up and start where we left off.  This visit in particular was great because she stayed almost a full week and offered to watch Chase for 24 hours for us!  What a friend!!  She always cooks a delicious meal for us (usually something Spanish or fish) and always makes sangria for John, because it has become his favorite little treat.

And now she has become one of Chase's favorite people.  Selina is "Ninoo" to her, her name was too hard for Chase to learn at first.  It is always a blessing to me to see my friends embrace my family.  And Ninoo has certainly loved Chase well.  She brings her sweet gifts, reads to her, fixes her hair, loves on her by keeping her for us, and my list could go on and on.  

The Lord has reminded me of how faithful He has been to me over the years, always blessing me with one friendship or another.  I've had a lot of loss as far as close girlfriends go this year, but He is always faithful!  And the friendships continue on, sometimes just in a different way.  And yet, I am reminded that these relationships are not always the most important, because they change, move away, etc. But the Lord is there for me, always and forever.

Joy in Thanksgiving

This devotional is taken from a small devotional book by Lydia Brownback called "Joy".
What a great reminder to me this morning.

"Do all things without grumbling or questioning" Philippians 2:14

Paul's command might not seem too difficult until we consider what "all things" actually entails.  Have you grumbled about the weather lately?  How about a sore throat?  We might feel convicted when we grumble about the little daily inconveniences, but we feel justified in complaining when the major crises hit.  What else can we do when our husband loses his job or we get the news that our child has serious learning disabilities?  But Paul meant what he said.  "All things" means all things, because there is nothing - absolutely nothing- that touches our lives that somehow slipped through the cracks of his providential ordering.

When we grumble about the weather, we are arguing against God's ordering of creation.  When we complain about illness or job loss or whatever it may be, we are declaring, whether we realize it or not, that God isn't handling our affairs very well.  Complaining is actually a form of pride, which makes sense when we recognize its rebellious undertones..

There just isn't any need to complain, because whatever circumstances God sends- rain and snow, sickness, and trouble of various kinds- he sends in order to bless us.  But it is impossible to keep an eye out for God's blessings while harboring a complaining spirit.  Grumbling about hard things blocks our expectation of good things, and if we are not looking for the good things, we may fail to see them when they come.  That's part of why thankfulness is so important.  Offering thanks to God, no matter what is going on in our lives, is a way of acknowledging that he knows exactly what he is doing and that we can trust him.

The antidote to the complaining spirit is a thankful spirit.  "Give thanks in all circumstances, " Paul wrote, " for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess. 5:18).  Sometimes thankfulness is a choice we make rather than a feeling we have.  We can choose to give thanks even when we don't feel like it. God is pleased when he sees our willingness to give thanks because it demonstrates our trust in his goodness and our willingness to let him run the show.  If we practice thanksgiving before we know it we will actually find ourselves feeling thankful, which al always accompanied by joy.  God delights to bless a thankful heart.

SeaWorld (more to come)

For now a really cute little video on our SeaWorld adventure....

See if you can understand the key points: we went to SeaWorld, saw Sham"poo", saw the real Elmo and Ernie, but did not want a picture taken with them because they were scary.

Oh how precious these beginning years are, full of excitement and wonder at a new place!!

Aunt Rachel and Uncle Adam

We had such a great weekend with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Adam!

They took time out of their busy lives to come for a long weekend.  We are thankful that they were able to come to us.  We did have to twist their arms pretty hard to get them here from the plains of Texas!!

On Friday we went to La Jolla.  I went to a client's while A & R watched Chase downtown LJ.  They walked around and ended up in a toy store.  Chase had a blast playing with the train set and checking everything out.  I, I mean Chase, fell in love with a new toy, these adorable little animal families that also have houses and furniture.  They are called Calico Critters and I see them in our future!  Uncle Adam and Aunt Rachel generously bought her the Panda Family.  We had lunch together and went looking around the mall.

Saturday we went down to Balboa Park and walked around.  Chase got a spiderman tattoo.  She could have chosen Elmo, Dora, Pooh, but no, she wanted Spiderman!  We had vegetarian burgers and hot dogs for lunch.  MMMMmmmmmmmm.................Our sweet friends kept Chase that night so we could have a pleasant night out as adults.  We had a nice, delicious dinner at a restaurant with a great outdoor seating area under the warm heat lamps.  It was a perfect evening.

Sunday A & R got to go to brunch with a college friend of Adam's.  After church Rachel and I went shopping.  It was fun to have someone to shop with.  Clothes, make up, etc....fun times!!  They requested going to Trader Joe's before heading home to stock up yummy things.  Then Adam cooked some delicious Indian cuisine and the best part was homemade naan bread. That was melt in your mouth good!

Today they left.  It was sad to see them go...especially since we don't know when we'll see them next.  We soaked every last minute with them and went in to the airport with them and hung out on rocking chairs a bit.

BOO!!

For a second year in a row, we were able to trick-or-treat with our friends, the Kaese's.  Colin (or Col-Col) was Chase's first friend when they were itty bitty babies.  We don't get to see them too often because his mommy is getting her dental hygienist degree right now.  But soon enough she will be done and we will all be able to play together again!

It's funny to see her up at that big door all alone!

For now all the treats are behind us for another year!

Trick or Treating at HP

Every year, Hewlett Packard opens it's doors up to families for Halloween trick-or-treating.  It's really the only time all year that I've ever gone inside the sacred walls.  This is now our third year to take Chase.  I think John really enjoys having his little girl there to show her off.  She was going to dress as a ladybug, but I made a last minute switch and dressed her as a UGA cheerleader.

She was very shy and hesitant at first (she HAD just woken up from her nap).  She would not say trick-or-treat or thank you.  But we know our stubborn little one and know that she was thinking it in her head!!  By the end she had really gotten the hang of it.  She would delicately pick out a single piece of candy, then put it in her pumpkin. She never asked to open or eat a single piece.  I'm not really sure she would know to, since she doesn't really eat candy.

It was a fun afternoon!!

By the way, don't you just love her new little trick-or-treat pumpkin that I bought at her school craft fair?  I think it is just darling!!  And already there is too much temptation of candy in the house.  I am trying to think of what to do with it all after Sunday's big outing.