The End

Today marked the end of an era... the end of a beautiful season of AA baseball with the Rockies for Isaac (and our whole family).

The West Yorba Linda Little League AA Rockies have completed a great season. They have worked hard on their batting, fielding, staying focused on the game, thinking ahead to what the next play should be... and most of all, on their love for this All-American Game :) What fun to have watched each one of these little guys learn how to play this game better throughout the season! They played hard... and achieved the 1st Seed going into the League Playoffs. Although we were out played in the Playoffs, I am so proud of the hard work that the coaches and the players put into the games!

Thank you, Uncle Kevan, Aunt Bethany, Ezekiel, Rebekah Jane, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Phil for coming to cheer on the Rockies on this very last game!!! Isaac was happy to have such a large contingency of fans :)

Isaac, you have made some fantastic defensive plays and made great hits throughout the season! You are a star!!! I am proud of you and how much you've grown! I am glad baseball brings you joy and you that you are learning how to win and lose with good sportsmanship, and take criticisms with humility. I pray that you will always be an example of someone that loves God both on and off the field. I pray that God will use our time with your teams to bring Him much glory and to spread His Gospel.

Great job, Little Buddy!!! Go Rockies :)

Daddy... I'm ready to go on our DATE!!!

Matthew and Abby are on a date right now... to Starbucks. Abby "won" the gift card under her seat at Selah & Kenny's wedding a few weeks ago (she was THE flower girl). She asked her daddy for a date and said "I'll pay!". So cute! I love that she loves to go on dates with Daddy and that Daddy makes time to go on dates with his daughter. As they left hand-in-hand this morning, my heart breaks again for the Chapmans.

This last Wednesday, Steven Curtis Chapman's 5-year-old daughter died of a tragic car accident. Matthew called me with that news while I was working in Isaac's classroom (last time this school year!). The news hit me like a ton of bricks. I "grew up" on SCC's music. When I became a Christian in '88, I stopped listening to secular music (I know, probably a bit legalistic, but that was what I had decided). Even though I didn't know this family in person, I have always loved Steven's music and the Biblically solid lyrics that grounded me in the Lord. This little girl, Maria Sue, was the youngest of 3 Chinese daughters that the Chapmans have adopted through their ministry -- Shaohannah's Hope.

When I got home, I tried to look up the details of the accident. I couldn't find much, except that Maria was struck in the driveway at home, by the SUV that her brother was driving. My heart broke again as hot tears streamed down my cheeks. I got on my knees and prayed for the brother and for the family... how incredibly sad to have a double tragedy.

As I sat in the quietness of my home (this was a Thursday, Abby is in school until noon) and listened to the song that SCC wrote for his little girls, Cinderella, my mind shifted from the Chapmans to my family. I am so thankful that even in the crazy busyness of our lives, my dear husband carves out time for me and for my kids -- time to go on dates with his little princess, time to "train" for the 4th of July 5K with Seth & Isaac, time to play baseball, time to play "Hippopotamus" (a version of HORSE) in the backyard... I pray that we will never forget to intentionally take that time to build those special memories with our kiddos.

I am so blessed!!!

God is God and I am not

I can only see a part of the picture He's painting

God is God and I am man

So I'll never understand it all

For only God is God...

Rockies = #1

After an exciting game under 100 degree weather... the Rockies came out victorious. Of course, not until the last 2 minutes :) Final score: Rockies 11 - Angels 9.

This was the game that determined the position of the play-off schedule. The Rockies and the Angels were tied at 1st, pretty much for the entire season! It was a fun game for Pastor Mike and his son, Michael to see :) Thanks for coming to cheer Isaac on!!!

Here is a sampling of Isaac's game, he is batting:


Next up... LEAGUE PLAYOFFS!!! Go Rockies!

Random Funnies

Matthew was talking to one of our children regarding the concept of "considering one another as more important than ourseleve" in Philippians 2, and the child exclaimed:

"Well, if ______ thought that way, then I wouldn't have to yell at him!!!"

Just as we were getting ready for our daily "quiet time hour", Seth asked me if I could read him a book. I said, "yes, but I hope it is not a really long one..." About a minute later, he said, "Nope, it's not too long, only 32 SHORT pages!"

Here is a cute picture of Ezekiel sitting on Isaac's shoulders:

So Brave

Abby had to get all her Kindergartner shots today. She got 3 shots and 1 TB skin test. Four shots all in the same arm!!! Poor girl :(

Guess what... my brave little girl did not even let out a peep throughout the entire process!!!All the nurses were so impressed! The gal that gave the shots came out to the office area and announced to the staff that Abby has 4 band aids, which translates to 4 toys. She told the front office staff to make sure they get out extra toys to put in the bucket so that Abby can have a good selection to choose her 4 toys from :)

Picking out four treasures

When we picked up Seth, Abby showed off her "war wounds" to her brother and the kindergartner teacher, Mrs. Williams. Mrs. Williams told Abby that she was proud of her for being so brave, and that Abby is now all ready to come to her class next year :).

Beautiful So Cal Weekend

We had just the perfect weather for the weekend! Beautiful sunny day with highs in the comfortable low 80s... this is why people love Southern California :)

To start the weekend off... we had our "almost annual" Princess Tea at church on Saturday morning :). What a fun time we had just enjoying the company of other "princesses" in our fellowship! Carol Rischer, Melanie Bernard (daughter), and Ashtyn Bernard(grand daughter) came and ministered to our ladies this year. What a special time for us to be spoiled with yummy food, good friends, and an encouraging message. Abby told me that she liked the story of "Princess Eve", but she didn't quite understand why Eve didn't know that she was a princess :)

While we were being princesses, Matthew and the boys were painting. They were working about 25 yards aways from us, in the new High School room! The floors were stained and sealed in the last couple of weeks. This time, they were focusing on painting the walls and the ceiling.

Immediately after the Tea, I ran Isaac to his baseball game. This was a sad game. The worst loss the Rockies have had all season :( But that's ok, everyone is allowed to be "off" once in the season, right?!?

Mother's Day was glorious! Neither Matthew nor I had any responsibilities before 1st service this morning... very rare. So, we had time to leisurely get ready for church! What a treat :) Pastor Mike preached on Jesus's 1st miracle, the wedding feast at Cana. He focused on Jesus's relationship with his mother and her attitude toward Him. It was a wonderful sermon.

Matching girls :)

During second service, Rebekah Jane was dedicated! What a special day to dedicate Bekah to the Lord!

After church, we all headed over to Mom and Dad's for a picnic lunch. It was so perfect! Everything was so beautiful and so delicious and the clean up was easy! You just can't beat that! After lunch, Rebekah (Michelle) gifted each of the moms present a "pool side massage". Soooo wonderful... I think I actually fell asleep on the table. It was a good thing that I was the last one :). Thank you, Beks! You have magical fingers!!!

Although we were all ignoring it... the clock finally struck mid-night, oops, I mean seven thirty, and it was time to send Rebekah off again. We love you, Bekah! We will miss you. We are praying for you. See you at Lake Almanor!!!

Happy Mother's Day to both of my wonderful moms!!!

Open House

Tonight, we got to go to Open House at school and see how hard our children have been working :). Wow... have they been busy these last few weeks!!!

We started in Abby's room. This is Abby's very 1st Open House and she was more than excited to show us all around her classroom and all the fun things that she has made! Mrs. Wyckhouse did a fantastic job at making sure that the kids knew where all their little critters and crafts were located throughout the room :) After looking through Abby's memory book, Matthew was all done being impressed when he saw this:

"Hey!!! I think my feelings should be hurt!?!"

Then came Seth's Kindergarten classroom... Seth told us that he is our tour guide to all the stations in his room. First, we had to work hard to find "Seth" in his seat. I found out that Matthew's job was "...cleanning cars with the High Schoolers" and that I "go shopping" all day long!!! Hmmm... I think car washers get paid REALLY WELL now-a-days, at least enough for the wife to go shopping all day :). My other favorite was in one of Seth's class books, What I Would Give Jesus. The kids were to finish the sentence, "I would give Jesus...". My deep and theologically sound son's answer was "my soul". As if that answer in itself wasn't enough to melt a mom's heart, it was especially funny in comparison to some of the other answers the kids came up with... a pillow, a sandwich, a chair, etc. :)

Reading "sight words" to Aunt Bekah

Finally, Isaac got to show off his work to all of us (by now, we are an official entourage - Bethany, Kevan, Ezekiel, Rebekah Jane, and Rebekah Michelle all joined us)! It was so much fun to see all the different projects and writing assignments that Isaac has done. I'm SURE Isaac is by far THE SMARTEST KID in his class - with the best penmanship, the best writing skills, the best math skills and the most artistic!!! Apparently, Isaac would like to meet Nehemiah when he gets to heaven, because he wants to know how Nehemiah managed to rebuild the wall so quickly!

Seth - taking good care of Bekah Jane

Whew... I have to tell you, Open House really is a sensory overload and is not for the faint of heart! There is always way more to see than the time allotted. We spent the entire 2 hours and 15 minutes at school and were not able to see all that the kids wanted us to see! I'm thankful that my children are having fun at school and that they have good solid Christian teachers that love them and love the Lord!

Huge load of things to take home!!!

Boys' Night Out - Girls' Night Out

We had a double night out tonight :)

Matthew called me this morning and asked me if I would think he was crazy to think about taking the boys to the Dodger game tonight. My first reaction was:

"Tonight??? Don't you think it's too last minute? Are there still tickets? What time is the game? What time will they get home? This is a school night!"

But about about 5 seconds, I said:

"OK... I know that the boys will love it!!!"

After talking through the logistics of it all, we decided that Matthew will need to be home to pick up the boys by 5:15. So... I went to work right away. I packed them sweats and sweatshirts, their Dodger jerseys & hats, pajamas, dinner, snacks, and pillows & blanket.

When the boys got home from school, we did our usual stuff -- homework, snack, play outside -- they had no clue :) But... as soon as Matthew pulled in at 5:00 and told them that he was taking them somewhere, Isaac shouted, "We are going to the Dodger Game!!!" I don't know how he always knows... but he is always right :).

My 3 boys had a great time!!! They got to see a winning game - plus Blake DeWitt's 1st major league homer and his curtain call :). Matthew said that Seth was just as engaged and excited about the game as Isaac was. I'm glad that the boys share Daddy's passion for baseball. It warms my heart.

While the boys were gone, Abby and I went out to dinner. We went to Mimi's and had a completely girly meal :) We talked about how to be polite table manners, how ladies are to cross their legs at the ankle, the proper placement of silverware on the table, how to eat small bites and not to talk when there is food in your mouth... I had a delightful time with my daughter. She is so cute in wanting to know the proper way to do things and wanting to do it all correctly! I love it!!!

After dinner, we went shopping :) Well, we had to get some stuff for Cubbies and Princess Tea and other things, but we did do some "fun shopping" too! We found matching dresses to try on... it was so much fun. It tickled me to watch Abby being all giggly and girly as we tried on the dresses together in the dressing room :)

All in all, we had a great Double Night Out!!! I'm grateful that God has given us opportunities to love on our kids and that they enjoy their time with us! Maybe next time, we will have to do a Father-Daughter & Mother-Sons Night Out!

Baseball, baseball, baseball

This is our 3rd time playing against the Phillies. We have lost to them both times before, so, this game was a bit of a "high intensity" game for the Rockies (well... I guess the parents too!).


Shortly after the game started, Aunt Bekah came to join us for the game! It was a special treat because she had just landed in CA the night before. Rebekah is currently serving in the Dominican Republic on a short-term missions trip (if you call 2 years "short"!?!).




A few minutes after Aunt Bekah arrived, Grandpa followed!!! Wow! Two special guests on the same day! How fun :) Matthew was especially excited to have people there that can actually "talk baseball" with him! Usually, he is just trying not to laugh at my baseball knowledge (or lack there of...).



In honor of Grandpa and Aunt Bekah (I'm sure of it!), Isaac had a great game :) He make a few great defensive plays and was a strong hitter! Good job, buddy!!!

The final score: Rockies - 10, Phillies - 6. I guess the third time is the charm :)

Abby's armful of bottles! She is working hard to recycle for the Treasure Box for Aunt Bekah's students :) Why not at the baseball field... right?!?

Sweet "Flower Angel"

Abby had the distinct privilege of being "the flower girl" at Selah and Kenny's wedding today :)

She has been counting down to the wedding (she actually calls it "my wedding") for several weeks now. Yesterday, she asked if "the day behind this day" is the wedding... well, is it??? I couldn't really figure that one out!

After a good couple practice runs on Friday night of: walk down the aisle + hold Ezekiel's hand (but don't drag him!) + hold on to the basket & drop the petals (ummm, don't throw the petals...), I think we've covered all the do's and don'ts :).

This is your pillow, Ezekiel. Make sure you don't drop it, OK?

How am I doing, Mom???

Here we go again, Ezekiel! Good job!!!

My boys... waiting for dinner :)

This morning, after Isaac's exciting victory over the Phillies, we started getting our little princess for the wedding.


Abby was so excited to be in the wedding, she kept saying under her breath, "This is going to be great...". It really was too funny :) We got her all dolled up -- complete with little white flowers in her curled hair, painted finger nails & toenails (in clear, of course!), and shiny lip gloss. She was adorable... after all, it is HER wedding :)










When the big moment arrived, she marched down the aisle expertly, holding everything she was suppose to -- including a wailing cousin Ezekiel :( It was priceless!!!





Thank you Selah, for allowing my daughter to share in you and Kenny's BIG DAY! It was a beautiful ceremony and a grand party!!!

Congrats, Selah & Kenny!!!