Celebrating 10 years of thankfulness

Every February, we have a 'Thank You Party' to thank our dear friend, Carlos, for the addition and the remodeling job that he did on our house in 2005. Actually, he did SOOO much more than that... And gave up so much of his life to do it! We will be forever humbled by his love, generousity and servant's heart!

Here is the story

We had to postpone the party for awhile due to Hubby's cancer trial, and we finally had it last Friday night!

We looked at photos and videos of all the construction which Andrew set to the Switchfoot album we played during that whole year. And we were amazed again at how little our kids were back then! 

This year for the decorations, I attached a picture of the phases of construction to each helium balloon. I had each picture backed with some cute glittery paper UNTIL I found out that the paper was so heavy the balloons wouldn't float because of it. Who knew that card stock paper was that heavy? So, then I had to rip off that paper and just glue on white copy paper to all 16 of them. 

It looked SO cute, I thought I would do this again for Zac and Tiffany's rehearsal dinner using pictures of them over the last 6 years.

BUT the balloons that were suppose to float from 6-8 hours started dropping at hour #4 and the party hadn't started yet. (boo-hoo) Clever, Joy, gave me the idea to put a piece of tape on our ceiling for each balloon and it worked! 

For dinner, I made the Pioneer Woman's Big Steak Salad which was a big hit! Zac grilled the rib eyes for me and they were fabulous! (I cheated with store bought candied pecans and store bought onion rings to save time!) : )

Then Joy made a gorgeous peach and strawberry tart for dessert. It was amazing!

We gave Nathan a call in CA during the evening and caught him hiking up a mountain. He knew we were having the party that night and said he'd been thinking about it. We put him on speaker and while hiking, no less, he very eloquently put into words his thanks and what all that Carlos did meant to him personally. He really put into words what all of us were thinking, and it blew us away. Love that guy! (I couldn't have given a beautiful speech off the top of my head while hiking up a mountain to save my life) ; )

It was a very special evening! (even if the balloons didn't float) ; )

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

Solitary Places

I love the verses about Jesus going off to a "solitary place" to pray.

When I think of a "solitary place" in my life, I'm reminded of a mountain top overlooking my hometown, where I used to go and pray, the summer that I was 21. It was a lonely time because my boyfriend (and future hubby) had broken up with me and moved 3,000 miles away to help start a church. My sister was traveling around Europe and two of my dearest friends had moved away. But the lessons God taught me in that sometimes-filled-with-tourists and not-always-so solitary place, changed my life. : )

Years later, as a mom of toddlers, I only wished I could go off to a solitary place   LOL
and the bathroom had to due. ; )

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35

"At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them." Luke 4:42

Sometimes Jesus took other people with Him to solitary places.

"Six days later, Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and brought them up a high mountain to a solitary place." Matthew 17:1

"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.' So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place." 
Mark 6:31-32 

And another time, He delivered a man who had been driven to a solitary place by a demonic spirit.
Don't you feel for this man who wasn't in a solitary place by choice?
How many people are in that situation today?

"For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had  been driven by the demon into solitary places." Luke 8:29

Mark 4:28 Tells us that on Jesus' way to heal this man, he encountered quite a storm.
But Jesus "got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." 

His life shows us how beneficial these times can be for our walk with God and this occasion can serve to remind us that He won't ever let anything stop Him from meeting us in our solitary place. : )

~Becky

Summer is here

We are busily wrapping up our school year and we are getting ready to take our turn care-giving for my hubby's oldest brother, who is a stroke patient.
Hubby is still a bit of a 'patient' himself so we believing for an abundant measure of grace as we care for Phil for the next 4 months.

We are really glad that we can give a break to Hubby's second oldest brother and his family, who had to take a VERY LONG turn while we were going through the whole cancer trial. God bless them!

So, we've been switching out rooms, running lots of errands and arranging our house in a way that works for Phil. He flies in on Thursday.
Once he gets settled in, I'll be getting ready to send Andrew off to youth camp. And when he gets back from that, he is flying to CA to spend the next 5 weeks of summer with Nathan and his best friend, Joel.
I still can't believe we said 'yes' to that idea! I'm going to miss him like crazy! : )

On the bright side, Andrew AND NATHAN are flying home at the end of July! Yay!!!! Nathan is in a wedding and is staying for 12 days. Yahoo!!!!
Can't wait to have all my kiddos under our roof for those days. It will be the end of an era. Because
four weeks later, Zac will be getting married! Amazing!

It's going to be quite the summer!

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

"This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly..."

"For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, 
living in malice and envy, 
hateful and hating one another 

BUT

when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy

He SAVED US, 

through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit..." 
(taken from Titus 3)

Have a great day!
~Becky

The groom and his men go shopping

It was a suit finding and fitting kind of night last night! : )

Here are the groom and his groomsmen:

I love this picture because it shows how much fun these guys always have together! And I love how Zac is holding his stomach because they make him laugh so hard! (these two have been Zac's best friends since he was in the 5th grade) : )

We were sure missing Nathan, the best man!

So, it takes quite awhile to try on suits and to measure everyone.

But look what you can do while you wait?  LOL!

Tons of fun!


This is going to be one handsome groom!

And how much fun is it when a wedding turns into a family reunion?!
We are so excited about all our relatives from CA who've said that they are going to try and come.
And Hubby's dad, who doesn't travel anymore, said he wasn't going to miss his first grandchild's wedding! So sweet! Hoping his health will allow him to make it.

Tiffany's siblings will certainly win for furthest distance traveled! -One is coming from Australia and another is coming from Germany! Amazing!

So excited!

~Becky

Back from a blogging break with an update on all the fun

Last Friday night, before all the graduation fun got underway, we threw a family party for our future daughter-in-law, Tiffany's birthday.

Our usual word search (describing the birthday person and the things they love) took on a romantic twist, since Zac came up with all the words to describe her. (insert heart emoticons here)
Even though her name hasn't changed YET, we gave her a monogrammed clutch with her new last name initial embroidered on the bag! (insert more heart emoticons here)

Joy made her a Kit Kat cake that turned out to be adorable using Hershey's drops.

We had steak, because it is her favorite and this sauce is to die for!

We are so thankful that this sweet girl is joining our family!

The next day, we loaded up for a GIRLS GRADUATION GETAWAY with Joy and her four best friends!
They are the sweetest girls on the planet and I love them all to pieces.

The first stop was to drop Joy off at the fancy hotel, where graduation was taking place

 and where she had a mandatory 5 1/2 hour grad practice to attend. Blah! But thankfully, it did finish early.

While she was at practice, the girls and I went to Downtown Disney to walk around, eat yummy things and shop! Don't tell the men of my family, but I think DD is way more fun with a bunch of girls! ; )

We checked into our hotel and the girls decorated the room to surprise Joy when she got back from practice.

Then we got the celebrating under way and went out to dinner!

The rest of the evening included a trip to a sketchy market for breakfast supplies, a failed attempt to use the hotel pool and using face masks!

The next morning was the BIG DAY, where we met up with the rest of our family for the ceremony!

The next day, after all the celebrating, my best friend, who lives in CA came to town to hang out with us for the next couple days. We had a great time catching up and spent some time in this heavenly place relaxing

while the boys dug where busy digging away at what looked like someone's grave. LOL 

And then they flew home and I got sick and spent the better part of the next 3 days in bed! What a week!

And that sums up all the fun! #gradJOYation

Back to normal life now!

~Becky

Joy's Graduation Day!!!

This amazing day arrived!!! 

Way back when Zac graduated, he chose a royal blue cap and gown and I decided all the boys would wear it (because I am cheap frugal). But I promised Joy that she could choose a different color since she's the only girl in our 'school' and she chose gold! 

                               So, hubby and I decided to wear her 'school' color too. ; ) 

It was such a fun day! 

                                     With special friends from far

                                                               and near!

 

It was also not lost on me how amazing it was for my hubby to be there. Not that he might not have lived to be there, but that he was up for all the traveling, standing, and sitting was a huge blessing. If it had been any earlier in the year, we might have had to bring him in a wheelchair or not at all.
He looks pretty awesome, doesn't he?!

So grateful for this day and all who shared it with us. And for our precious graduate who always makes us so proud!

(more pictures of the weekend fun to come)

Home Educating mom of only one now!
~Becky