Christmas Morning Smiles

We had an amazing time together as a family. We sang 'Happy Birthday' to Jesus and ate cupcakes for breakfast, played games and watched movies....peaceful!!!

Peace

For to us a child is born,to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder,and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas from the Self's

Samantha looses her first tooth!!!

This is her letting her brother wiggle and wiggle and trying to pull it out. She didn't want me anywhere near it at first but her brother could do what ever he wants...funny girl!

SUCCESS!!!! After a little reverse psycology she decided she wanted mommy to pull it out. She stood in the family room and yelled to the tooth fairy to please put a barbie under her pillow. Well my darling, the tooth fairy is also having to scale back in this economy...hahahah!

This is her calling all her Aunties and her Uncle Rich...she doesn't look super excited or anything?

Such a special night...oh the memories!!!

Self Family Christmas 2009

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Such happy faces!!!

Always have time to wrestle and horse around with all the kids

Loving on the Grandma

Just being silly!

Aunties and Uncles are the greatest

Rock, paper, scissors for a gift from Uncle Lou

Cousins playing a new game...so fun!!

BASEBALL!!!! (He is so happy!!!)

Napa Valley/ San Fran at night day 3

Ever since I went to Portland Wine country Oct 09 I have been wanting to go back and see more vineyards. They are so beautiful to me. I love the way the hills roll and roll and the fields seem to go on forever. In Portland, I was there right before the harvest and of course in Napa all the vines have been dormant for a while now, but I still find them extraordinary. I love the dormant vines contrasted with the beautiful green grass. I can close my eyes and see these magnificent plants begin to come back to life in the spring and bear fruit again. I just love the way God makes all things new again.

On advice from a wonderful friend I went on from Napa to Sonoma...wow, beautiful!!! The downtown is small and historical and I would love to walk all the streets and shops with a couple of girls friends.

Then jsut because I thought it was so funny that they included horses and not to climb trees...hahahah, won't find anything like this in AZ.

So last night we made our way back to San Francisco to eat chowder in a bread bowl, ride the cable car up and down some amazing streets, drive down Lumbart street and buy chocolate!! I decided not to take my big camera, sometimes you just need a break, so we took Shane's point and shoot which had the battery die right after this picture. So, no cable car photos, or chowder or craziest street in the world, our memories will have to do. Anyway, we just missed the rain and enjoyed the much less crowded city and all the holiday lights.

A good shot from the botanical gardens on Sunday...

Redwood State Park

This place just left me speechless. I already know we serve and worship an amazing God, but seriously to see His creation, to see Him in this place...awe-inspiring! Some interesting things I wanted to note, because it really does confirm His plan and His understanding of how His creation would work. First, these giant trees are not really all the far from the ocean...I would estimate from our church to maybe Tempe Town Lake...that alone amazes me. Also, there are many parts of this forest that never sees the light from the sun. There is a mist that rolls in and doesn't seem to ever leave. Sand from the beaches covers the path I walked. God places these giant trees in these hills purposely and with that intention created a life that would grow, thrive in wet, sandy conditions. Amazing!!! I fall on my knees humbled again by His glory and purpose for my life. I cannot wait for the day when I can take all the kids to see the glory of His creation here in this forest.

San Francisco/San Jose Day 1

This is my adorable hubby eating his 'must have' cinnabon at the airport early Sunday morning. I think his face is hilarious!!!! I sure do love him.

Once we landed in San Jose we jumped in the car and headed up to San Francisco. We went to the Golden Gate State Park first and walked through the beautifl botanical gardens. This trip I finally remembered my tripod so we could take pictures together. :-)

Isn't this amazing!!! LOVE taking close up shots of flowers!

Here we are driving across the Golden Gate Bridge...so cool!!!!

Oh, and in some places they make tunnels through mountains...heee heee.

Yes, it was rainy and cold, but we didn't care we are in San Fran baby!!

Did I mention this is why I love this guy. I was talking 'camera' to this sweet older couple while my darling hubby is acting like he is holding the bridge in is hands all by himself. He got it pretty closely lined up for not really knowing what it would look like. I just love his expression...

Oh and in these beautiful coastal cities they plant flowers along the sidewalks which I find lovely!! I could easily live in cities like this simply for the pleasure the flowers bring to my eyes!!

This was all the closer we got to the trollies...we wanted to ride one but on a Sunday this close the Christmas they were packed and we didn't know what kind of time we would have. We are going to try to head to the city on one of the evenings...maybe we will get to ride it then.

Pier 39...tons of street vendors and acts all along Fisherman's Wharf. I guess that what happens in places that are blazing hot for 8 mths out of the year.

If it hadn't been so cold we might have taken a ferry boat ride out to Alcartraz...but this will have to do for this trip. (still really cool to see...would love to tour it someday)

This was the streetside tables at this fabulous bistro we eat lunch at....again, more flowers, makes me happy!!

This reminded me of Seatle and I also thought it was so funny that they had crab for sale sitting on the side of the street...just sitting there...crazy!!!

After San Francisco we drove down the coastal highway to Santa Cruz. This is the pier where Shane went a few years ago on another business trip. I set my time exposure (since it was dark) and just love this shot!

Ok, so now for the debrief part so far. First I want to start by saying I almost broke out into a full sob at the airport. Our gate was next to another flight leaving at the same time for Dallas/Fort Worth. As we walked through security and then again at the gate many, many, (too many) family members were saying good bye to their wives, sons, husbands, daughters, sisters, brothers...they were being deployed. My heart dropped as I saw with my own eyes the sacrafice so many of our families go through while their loved ones leave and defend our freedom. It put several things into perspective for me...it was a humbling way to begin our trip.

Now, on to the trip...there have been several odd things happen that we found funny and wanted to make sure we documented simply because they made us laugh. One, people wo live in San Francisco are interesting...to say the least. They live in extraordinary homes on incredible slants. We laughed as we drove down some hairy streets and tried to imagine 'runaway cars' which by the way they have 'BEWARE' signs for all over. Two, surfers are CRAZY!!! We saw dozens of people, some of which were too old to be wearing wet suits, surfing in the freezing ocean in the dark. If you have to wear a wetsuit and a head cap thingy while surfing then it's too cold to surf...ok, well that is just my opinion. Third, when you are driving back to San Jose from Santa Cruz there is only this two lane rode the is pretty freaky. It was raining and the grade was steap so of course it is a recipe for diaster...had I not mentioned to Shane how this was the only rode and if there was an accident we could be stuck for hours, than I am pretty sure it wouldn't have happened but I didn't and so fullfilled my prophecy. I have to hand it to CHP (CA Highway Patrol) because we only sat for 20-25 mins. They have tow trucks waiting in line I guess on a night like that so they just hook up the accident vehicles and tow them a few miles down the hill and investigate from there...hey, AZ should take a few cues. And finally today, I drove my self to Big Basin Redwoods State Park this morning and had no idea I was in for such a wild ride. The rode was basically put in 'around' trees...yep, around the trees. So it would wind to and fro and seriously, came inches from the big trees a few times. And a beautiful doe casually walked across the road, taking her sweet time and looked back at me as if to say, 'hey, I'm walking here'. I think those trees are some of God's most beautiful creations...more pictures of that part of the trip later. So, that is where we are for now...Happy Monday.

PS Jacob and Samantha...WE LOVE YOU!!!

Winter Sing

Our stars!! Samantha loves being on stage as if you couldn't tell that from the pictures. Jacob still enjoyed the evening but with much more seriousness. At any rate, they are gronwing up fast!!!

Good Morning to you

First a lovely couple of days of rain and cold and then this today...THANK YOU LORD!!! What a gorgeous start to the day and reminds me that each day is new...don't waiste it.

Rain, Rain and more rain!

My soul is refreshed...

Christmas Dinner in review

Our annual Women's Christmas dinner was this weekend and as always one of my favorite events of the year. This year was different in one way...I was not on the committee for the first time in 6 yrs. With having 5 kids and one of them being an infant I just knew after last year that somethings would need to be given up. I was so please to have a wonderful young woman train with me last and she took over this year. She did a great job! I couldn't miss this event entirely so I was more than willing to hostess a table both nights. So this is a long introduction into what it is I really wanted to comment about the evening.

What I love most about this event is that they work in humor, because who doesn't need to laugh more often, an amazing gospel messege, and an amazing song sung by an amazing singer and friend. The speaker this year came prepared with a strong messege about hope...our hope in Jesus. She didn't sugar coat the hard stuff or over simplify the good news...she just came and shared her heart and God's truth. It was truly refreshing to leave the evening renewed and ministered to. It was a great way to begin this Christmas season focused on the right path. So as you and your families prepare for the holiday remember the Jesus is the giver of hope and may you find peace, joy and contentment in His path.

Blessings to all....

a new doo and a red box

This sweet girl is going to be 7mths on Monday...crazy!!! Even more crazy when I think we were only supposed to have her for a few weeks, but are over the moon in love with her and trusting God has a plan for her. Anyway, she has a new doo. She cried the whole time which is pretty normal but she looks so much bigger with a hair style. I also wanted to comment on how funny she is getting. She is laughing...well more like squealing. She is trying so hard to crawl, and is up on all fours rocking and desperatly trying to reach for things of interest that are just out of her grasp. This red box is what I use to keep her toys picked up in but wouldn't you know every day without fail she dumps the whole box and plays ONLY with the box. She bangs on it like congos and loves to make squeaky noises with her fingers when she rubs the bottom of the box. Wonder if those Christmas presents are going to be any good if she loves the box so much?