A new Bathroom

Stephen has been slowly tearing the bathroom...slowly... for almost two years now but a few months ago he got serious about tearing out! The day after Jodi's wedding he started the serious stuff! We had to hir a man from church who knew what he was doing...but because Stephen was involved with the whole process it cost us a lot less that it would have to get a beautiful bathroom like the have we have now :o) I thank my handy man for working so hard to make this dream a reality and for the Lord providing so richly :o)

Dan and Jodi's Wedding!!!

September 26th was the day of my sister's wedding...and my new brother's :o) It was a beautiful wedding from preparation to sending off :o) Everyone at some point got teary eyed looking at Jodi or the two of them....they both waited to find the right person and got brought them together miraculously. God is faithful to those that trust Him even though His timing does not always make sense to us.
The ceremony started with the walking down of the family members, but what was different was that each bridesmaid walked down with one flower princess (except for one that had two :o)) so I got to walked with my very own flower princess :o) To add to the excitement we were met at the front by our 'men'...for some of us it really was our men...and we stood together on the same side as opposed to the traditional M-F split. Jodi and Dad walked down the aisle with the song 'My girl'...so cute and playful...just like who Jodi is. At some point of the wedding the whole family was invited to stand with them and pray over them, and Stephen was asked to voice our prayers.
The reception was great with a live band from our parent's church so we danced and let loose :o) It was fun...as much as I can attest for myself.
The send-off was inspired by their first date and engagement, they got squirted with blue squirt guns (emulating the sprinklers)...some person did something that I think was foolish and dumped a bucket of water on them...however, I am pretty sure that in retrospect that has added a little unexpected fun in the memories of Jodi and Dan...and she was not wearing her dress...in case you were wondering :o)

Make over

Since we could not be with Jodi for the manicure and pedicure time we decided to go somewhere close and get it done...as well as we signed up for a free make over at the Estee Lauder booth. My person was all talk but he did not once listen what I wanted so in the end it looked like the way I got there...no makeup. My sister's gal did a great great job! It was VL's also first time ever of getting her nails done and the place we went was a worthy first experience. We were pampered to the max and our DDGZ had fun watching everyone 'spoil' us...she was a good sport I can complain :o)

Aquarium of the Pacific

It is a well known fact that I like amusement parks but I also really enjoy nature and aquariums!!! One of the last activities we did when VL was here was visit the Aquarium of the Pacific. It is true that it is not very big but because of the places where you can touch the sea creatures....if it was not as hot as it was we could have been out there for HOURS!!!! I found out that aquariums are even more fun with little kids!!! :o)

Dodger Game

As you see Nikki also joined us for the Dodger game!!! It was fun to be able to see her one more time :o) Our cousin was able to come too and his friend so we were a good sized group! It was also an exciting game...our team won and the game lasted for 3+ hours unlike last years game...maybe God was having mercy on us last year because our baby was so little :o) Our DDGZ utterly enjoyed watching the game, the excited fans the yelling and dancing...as well all of our attentions :o) Next year again!

Six Flags

Al right I will admit it was not all shopping...we did do a lot of fun stuff...it seems like I do not have any pictures from the time we went to Disneyland for Stephen's birthday!!! That day we let VL be the guide...even though it was Stephen's bday! One cannot say that Stephen did not enjoy it...he did all of the big rides and some of them twice!!! VL also got to spend a few days at the Dream Center and a week later she spent a weekend with the youth camp of our church! At the cream she met Nikki who is pictured with us. Papa and grandma came out to hang out with our DDGZ while we went to have fun at Six Flags. Personally I did not want to do any of the rides ....I did not know that I could take it since I had not done anything extreme for at least 2 1/2 years...when thinking about the pregrancy etc. I passed a lot of the rides and then I started to go...they only did one ride after I started going that I did not do.... and I'm happy I didn't. We did spent a lot of our time dancing with Dance Dance Revolution...pretty fun :o)

Pool Fun

Ok this was taken in the Jacuzzi because they wanted to go crazy with the foam. While VL was here we spent a great deal of our days shopping shopping shopping...its not like there were a lot of things purchased it was just a lot of shopping. Ok so one day I decided to invite our friend and her kiddos and play in the water. It was a great time to spend with a friend, the kids and cooling off and staying home all wrapped up in one day!!! So yes...this is their silly picture...well except for GZ and D that just look cute!

4th of July Weekend

Our weekend off started Thursday night! We were privileged to be able to attend a meeting for your Foursquare God-lovers, followers and servants. It was an experience, I will speak for myself, was life-changing! There were many unsettled issues in my heart where it was mostly the enemy attacking me with lies and God's truth was spoke with love and encouragement! I can't wait for February! The meeting was finished Saturday afternoon and we sure had a hard time saying goodbyes to our new friends...it was a little bit easier for me just because I could not wait to see our DDGZ again!!! It was the most we had been apart since she had been born...I know I'm spoiled I do not need to be told :o) Therefore, we got to have dinner and see the fireworks with our family. We got to sit with the Hartz family and our DDGZ had fun getting to know her cousins a little better. And then it was time to head home :o)

Bowling

Vasilia Luz enjoys a fun game of bowling and so do we, therefore we went one day to play bowling and it was our DDGZ's first time where she actually knew what was going on. She and even had fun having a turn where she threw the ball with Daddy's assistance. There is also a video that hopefully I will get to upload soon :o) I played the worst of coarse even though as a dancer I managed to at least get a good form...now my throwing was a completely different story! lol It is an activity we enjoy nontheless....its not just for the winning :o)

Last Day of fun in California

....that's for my parents that is :o) We had some good pool fun, relaxed and when Stephen got home from work we went out to dinner to celebrate Father's Day two days early, since my dad was leaving the day before the actual celebration. We had dinner at Sisely and we ate outside remembering the many dinners we've had as a family through the years in the cool of the night! I guess I am reminiscing!!! I sure do miss my family all year long but especially in the holidays and summertime :o)

Disneyland

There are so many posts titled Disneyland its unbelievable!!!!! Anyways we went for two days with my parents and sister and we had a lot of fun. Unlike pasts trips where we hustled to do everything we wanted we gave my mom and dad the reigns and let them decide what they wanted to do. It is nice to visit Disneyland that way. I think we have squeezed every ounce of worth out of these passes. Praise God we are able to use them :o) The first day we were also joined by my father-in-law, and then we spent the night close by so that we do not have a long drive to the park the next day! The second day Stephen was not able to join us because of work however we did end up hanging out with friends we have not seen in a really long time!!! I will post a video later with our DDGZ dancing with their sons...super cute!