Fun on the Farm

We went to a local Christmas Tree Farm for the second year in a row. It is a really beautiful piece of property decorated so cute for the holidays. We grabbed some sandwiches and met our Kurtz friends there for lunch and a little tree hunting. We love the Kurtz's and pray for many more days to hang out with them.

Our tree was the smaller one on the lot. The only reason they tagged it was because it was too close to another tree and they couldn't grow together. It had our name all over it.

Timber!!!

We got a few chuckles from the staff as everyone around us is dragging up there five, six, and seven foot tree and here comes our three year old dragging out tiny tree up to pay. We LOVE our tree!!

Good-bye "Greys Anatomy" - The Final Chapter

Upon arriving at Stanford 9 months ago, Josh was flooded with so many different doctors, attendings, residents, etc. It was explained to him, that this hospital (a teaching hospital) was a lot like Greys Anatomy. Well, yesterday the girls and I rode over the hill for one last follow-up visit. As I drove into the Stanford area, my stomach got the ever-familiar pitted feeling I would get when we first visited Selah there - lots of memories. We met with one last resident or attendee - I'm not really sure and then finally with her Surgeon. It was niced to end with him - to tell him thank you and to hear him say "I think we are done." We were told when we first started these visits that we would probably be doing them for the first few years. And here we are only 9months later and we are done. As we started walking out the door and into the parking lot, a flood of emotions hit me really hard. The realization of what has happened in our lives the past 9 months - I almost broke down crying until Ocean (oblivious to the depth of all that has gone on) snapped me back into the world of 20 million questions. As crazy as this sounds, while I was so excited and grateful to hear the words "you are done", there was apart of me that felt sad. You have to understand that this place is a large part of our family, of Selah's story, of an amazing work of the Lord. And to one day have that stop just seems well, a little emotional. I couldn't help thinking of all the children that weren't "done" that day and the many families who had only just begun their time there.
And so we say good bye to OUR Greys Anatomy... Thank you Father for the reminder we have in Selah of the great things you have done. May we NEVER forget!!

Night-Time prayers...

I was putting Ocean to bed the other night, trying to get her to stop moving long enough to "thank the Lord for our day" when she jumped in (as she often does) with her own "thank yous". It went something like this - "Thank you for my friends, for Sammo (our dog), Home Depot, and all the people in the world. Amen."

The One Adventure of the Tooth Fairy and the Tooth

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who told everyone she was going to be Spiderman for Halloween (yes, I said Spiderman - even though she has no idea who he is and what he does). Her mom waited a little too late to get the costume and had to come up with a new idea at the last minute. After some explaining and much pleading to the little girl, her mom finally convinced her to be the Tooth Fairy while dressing her little sister up as the Tooth. Together they got many chuckles.

I got a little carried away with my machine. =)

Pumkin Carving

(i'm having camera malfunction...=( fuzzy picture)

We have another dirt eater...

When the groups away, the staff will play...

Here at camp, we occasionally have groups rent a bounce house or two, and the staff (and their families - especially the kids) see this as an added bonus or perk of living on camp. So when the group is done, or at lunch we slip over to the lawn and have our own private jump party.

Rock n Roll

We'd like to give out a little shout out to our family in San Diego who saw the potential of a three year old to be a rock star!! Rock on Ocean, Rock on!!

Hooray for Playschool

So I wrestled all summer with the idea of putting Ocean in playschool this year. I know she is completley ready but wanted to make sure I was not doing it more for me. I guess it would be better said that I was perhaps feeling a little guilty at the thought of enjoying some time to myself while Ocean was at school and Selah napping. But, I am so excited about this program.
One of my favorite things is the camping feel. It is like dropping her off at camp twice a week. And of course, she LOVES it. Who wouldn't with all the fun things they do. Needless to say, I have overcome my guilty feeling and am simply feeling grateful for the opportunity that Ocean and I both have at this time.

One More...

Squash Pie
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon flavoring
2 tsp. coconut flavoring
1/2 stick margarine
1 full cup grated yellow squash
1 Tab flour

mix and our into pie shell. Bake at 325 about 45 min until good and brown.

A few requested recipes...

Turkey Chili

1 lb ground turkey
med onion chopped
small green pepper chopped
1-2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can navy beans (white)
Drain and rinse all beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup Honey BBQ sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Brown turkey in pan on stove, add onion and pepper to turkey. Put everything in crock pot and cook on low for 3-4 hours or high 1-2 hours
serves 4


Salsa - sooo good!
Fresh salsa (from refrigerated section of grocery store)
black beans (drained and rinsed)
corn
avocado
fresh cilantro


Tortilli Casserole
Fresh Tortillini
Ground Sausage - browned and drained (1 lb)
Spinach
Spaghetti Sauce (1 jar)
Shredded Mozzarella

mix first four ingredients and top with cheese. cook at 350 for 30mins.

Let's hear it for the boy, let's hear it for my Man...

At 3 o'clock the day before the Fourth of July (our biggest day on camp), septic started "bubbling up" on the main field at camp. (This is actually right in front of our house) The boys worked from 3pm-3am in the morning to get things fixed to be able to use the field for the fourth of july annual celebration. Ahh, let's hear it for Mission Springs and it's many "quirks".

Road Trip to JH Ranch

So, a few weeks ago we took a spur-of-the-moment trip to ye old JH. I wasn't exactly sure how the girls would do on their first long road trip, but was very pleased at how great the drive up went. We had such a fun and relaxing time taking hikes, playing in the creek, taking naps =) and well, just being on a camp we didn't work at. We also got to see some old friends and catch up.
I love this place so much. You can simply feel the presence of the Lord there. At one point, while Ocean and Josh were still napping in the cabin, I took Selah outside to give them some quiet and found myself "wandering" around a bit. As the wind blew through the trees, I could actually hear them begin to sing and my soul felt satisfied. The Lord definitely has his hand on that camp and I am grateful to have been apart of His work there.

Eating the best ice cream ever at Murphy's in Etna, CA. Yes, even better than Marianne's - I think it's the atmosphere and location.

My friend Wendy (we've been friends since the second grade) and Ocean at the Ranch.

Just after Ocean turned 3, I mentioned to Josh that we should probably start looking for a bike. Not too long after, there was a message on our machine that a neighbor had left a bike out in front of our house and thought we might like it since their kids had outgrown it... I love this community! Ocean loves the bike- and is quite good at it.