Planting Seeds

Because of a recent conversation with Alisia, we decided to have a planting project for the kids (there are three because Alisia's friend did one). They each painted a pot and planted their own flower seeds. We found a sunny spot on our porch so the kids can make sure to water them when needed. We have fun watching their flowers grow every day!

Isaiah 61:11 "For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."

A Bunch of Good Excuses

We continue to be amazed when we see how God is at work in our lives. Angel has been reading about how God used different people throughout scripture for His glory. Moses came up with a bunch of good excuses why he couldn't be used. But God kept telling Moses that He would be with him and protect and provide for him.

Sometimes we are good at coming up with excuses on why not to go (to Mexico) right now:

1. I'm a sinner.
2. I can't be an effective witness.
3. I don't know my Bible well enough.
4. We'd miss our family, friends, and church here.
5. Our kids might get sick.
6. We won't find a church like the one we have here.
7. We'd miss the comforts of home.
8. I won't have the right words to say.
9. It's too hard to raise the support.
10. Someone else can do it.

Then there's the quetions:

1. Should with go with an organization? Which one?
2. Where would we go?
3. When would we go?
4. How long would we be there?
5. Where would we live?
6. Where would the kids go to school?
7. Would they fall behind in school not being fluent in the language?
8. As Moses put it: "What if they don't believe me or listen to me?"
9. How often would we get to come back to visit?
10. Who would support us?

At church yesterday, our sermon was on God calling Abram. This really spoke to both mine and Angel's heart. How do we be obedient to this calling, if we aren't even completely sure what it looks like?
Genesis 12: 1-3

"The LORD had said to Abram,
'Leave your country, your people
and your father's household
and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be ablessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you Iwill curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

It just kind of reaffirmed what we had been talking about. It's a pretty direct command that God is giving Abram. We feel that God has confirmed and reconfirmed to us that He is calling us to go to Mexico. Not only we long to be closer to Angel's family as a living testimoney, but he wants to take the gospel back to his country. We don't want to keep coming up with a bunch of good excuses why not to go. But we're not sure what this would look like for our family. Please pray for our famiy as we seek God's will.
"You can do something other than working with God in His purpose, but it will always be something lesser, and you couldn't come up with something better." - Steve Hawthorne
Reasons to go:
1. Follow God's calling in our life.

Rock Climbing

Here are the videos I took last weekend of Caleb and Nick Rock Climbing. They came off my cell-phone so the quality is not that great, but still worth watching.






Darn it! Each time I stopped recording Caleb would jump off! It was the first time he tried this trick. (Thanks Joe for helping me get them off my phone!)

Dear Vera

This is for my dear friend Vera. We have been friends since high school and we still have an awesome friendship. Even though we live thousands of miles apart we are always able to encourage one another in the Lord. I just wish we lived closer and could see each other more often! I wish we could go through photo albums together, have late night runs to Sheetz, and pray together like we used to. I wish our husbands could go out while we stay home with the kids and watch a movie. I wish our kids could grow up knowing each other. God has called us both to where we are at. I know He is taking care of you and your family. Keep seeking Him.

She promised she would visit my blog. Vera, if you read this...try to figure out how to post a comment. =) That would make my day!

This is us in Europe 10 years ago!

These came out of my scrap-book.

In the streets of Berlin, Germany

This is us in Salzburg, Austria

We walked around the fountain just like Sound of Music

(same fountain)
This is her beautiful baby, or at least the last picture I have of him. This one is on my fridge. I hear he's bigger now though.
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:3-6

Give-away

Check this out!
Simplify is having a quilt give-away. Go check this out, you may want to enter for yourself.

Was This in the Job Description?

God is Good. I wasn't sure about posting this, but I want to be honest even in struggles. I want to encourage other parents, and parents-to-be, by sharing the good and hard days. I think that's how we see that God is working in our lives, by giving us trials to lean on Him for strength. But know that God is good. The God we serve loves us so much and cares even about the little details of our life. So I have edited some of the details for the protection of those involved. =)

Parenting. There is no one word to explain it. I feel honored that God has chose me to parent these two wonderfully and fearfully made creatures. The Lord has brought joy to my heart through my kids on days where joy was hard to find. They inspire me to be a better person when I feel I have no inspiration. I love watching them learn, play, sleep, breath, and grow. Challenges naturally come with being a parent. Not merely the sacrifices made as parents, but challenges of being a godly example for them and guiding them daily to the cross.

This week, Alisia was scrambling to do some homework that she put off all last week. I guess it's called procrastination which runs in the family! However, we wanted to prevent this from continuing to happen so we punished her. For her, just knowing that we are upset with her is usually punishment enough. But this time, she got privileges removed to make her focus on school work. It was a hard evening. Studying was hard for her since she was so upset. Bedtime prayers were said. Hugs and kisses given.

Yesterday all day I felt guilty for punishing her. I want her to always know how much we love her. I hate having to discipline. Why does that have to be a part of parenting? Maybe it was so hard for me because I know I struggle with the same thing. It made me really think about how God must feel when we have to be corrected..or disciplined. It's not something he takes delight in, but is an essential part of growing our godly character.

Yesterday, Alisia came home from school and kind of thanked us for making her study cause she got a 100%. She was completely fine. She was actually happy, even though she's still punished, because she could see that it was for a good reason.

Oh how I long for my children to grow into godly young adults who walk daily with Him. Discipline is part of building godly character. I never understood my parents saying "This hurts me more than it hurts you" and "you'll understand one day when you have kids." Yeah right. I just thought that was their way of saying sorry for spanking. If parenting was purely about the joys and beauty, we wouldn't have the desperate need to seek God daily. Discipline in itself should be used as a means to point children to the cross. It is a necessary part of parenting to remind us, as parents, of our desperate need for Christ and his forgiveness. It not only points them to the cross, it points us back to the cross. Parenting isn't about our children, or us as parents, or even our individual family, but it's ultimately about God calling us and our children to glorify Him. Children need to see first hand a godly model of their parents seeking to follow God. When we fail as parents, little eyes are often there to see. We must remember that God is faithful to work in the lives of our children. Be thankful for these "trying moments" as a reminder of how God is constantly at work to redeem and restore His people. We serve a faithful and gracious God who loves and cares for our children even more than we do.

I am so thankful for God providing a godly example through my own parents. My parents chose to daily to seek God and his will for their life. I am greatful for their prayers. Even today, they never take the credit for who we are. They just continue to pray and praise God.

This is book serves as a great resource as you seek to glorify God in parenting. It's even available in Spanish. We have both copies if anyone wants to borrow them.

May we "Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Eph 6:17-18

Fishing with Grampa

Saturday was a special fishing day for the grandkids. Grampa promised Caleb last fall that he would take him fishing as soon as the weather warmed up, and Caleb has not let Grampa forget! Grampa even got the kids their own fishing rod. Even though they didn't catch anything, the weather was great for learning. The kids are already ready for next time!


Poor Grampa spent most of the time worming, hooking, re-worming, re-hooking, untangling lines, and getting a pole out of the water! Sorry Grampa-hope you had as much fun as they did!



Alisia and Caleb's first time.
Eston was almost a pro.




Thankyou Grampa! We can't wait 'till next time!

Mi Casa Es Tu Casa

This is our friend Julianne. Her family lives in Queens, New York while she is going to school down here and goes to our church. We have seen her grow a lot spiritually this year as she seeks to follow God with her life. We enjoyed spending this past weekend with her. It's almost scarey how well she fit into our family. We are excited that she will be down here another year!

Having Juli hang out with our family this weekend reminded Angel of his family in Mexico. In Mexico, it is very common for family to spend weekends, holidays, and summer months together. This comes with the idea of "Mi Casa Es Tu Casa" (My House is Your House). He deeply misses this part of living close to his family. We are praying that one day we will live closer to Angel's family to be able to spend weekends together. We want the kids to know their Mexican primos, tios, y abuelos (cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents). We are praying that the Lord gives us wisdom in this and gives us a clear dirrection. Please pray and share this journey with us as we seek to follow Him.

"A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. "

Proverbs 16:9

Office Space

Here's what my office space looked like on this beautiful friday morning!

Look closely! There's a little one in there. He is sick. It happened on our way to school this morning (and we car-pool). So I headed into the office to pick up some work to take home! I'm glad I didn't have to cancel any appointments for today!

This is what he was working on before he zonked out:

Date Night

Me and my hubby. A nice meal. No kids. And best of all, I don't have to make supper!
The Credit Union is having their annual meal for members tonight. Ok, so maybe not technically a date...my parents will be there, my brother, my grandparents, and hundreds of other people we might recognize. But hey, sometimes this is as close as you get for two full time working parents! The kids will be off having pizza and games while we enjoy a nice meal and sit through some business stuff.

A Close Distance

Yesterday was a georgous evening and we decided to head to the park while Papi was at worship practice. Now that the kids are older, I love watching them play from a close distance: close enough so they know I'm there, but far enough to let them explore and experience God's beautiful creation. As we go through our busy days, sometimes it feels like God is so distant in what we are going through. But He is actually closer than we often realize. During this beautiful time of year, I am reminded through beautiful creation how close He is to us and is taking care of us from a close distance.

Heaven Bound

Just a Reminder...

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. "
Romans 8:24-25

At the Dinner Table

MENU: Fajitas, Frijoles, Aroz, Guacamole, Tortillas
This might explain why they have Siestas in Mexico after they eat.


I guess this is what Mexican food does to you.

Mexican Spice

BFFs with some Mexican Spice

Bear-A-Fair

Saturday the school had a fund raiser called the "Bear-A-Fair." It was a beautiful day for outside games, and the kids had a lot of fun just being outside. Then we brought Nick Crabtree with us to walk over and visit Mommom and Poppop, then to play at our house for a little while. Caleb had a lot of fun having a new playmate!


A beautiful day at the school


Squatting down for a view of the festives in the back ground


They climbed the rock wall (I'll try to post a precious video to this)


Kindof dark, but you can tell what a beautiful day it was!


Fun on the swings! Weeee!



This was a "Kiss the Pig" fundraiser. Two teachers were in competetion for raising money and whoever had the most money had to kiss the pig, and get to use the money for their department. They made close to $500 between the two teachers. Mr. McMillian, the music dirrector, won...or lost..depending on how you look at it.

GREAT Grand-Parents

Psalm 100:5
"For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

We love hanging out with Mommom and Poppop



They live close to a park! Which is great for a visit on nice days!

Genesis 17:7
"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you."

Mommy Got Gypped

This is what I gave Caleb to wear to bed:

But this is what he wanted to wear this instead:

His special shirt from Korea. Thanks Uncle Jarrod!

Hugs and Kisses XOXO

A Lesson from Bat-Girl

Tonight we watched some kids from a family at church- the Padilla's. They have two girls. One is a little older than Alisia- Emily and the other one is Caleb's age- Sara. Here's a glimps of our night. Emily and Alisia played pretty much the entire time together while Sara and Caleb played together. Caleb was so excited to have a playmate.

First they played "Batman and Batgirl." They were so cute all dressed up.

As the night went on, I could tell Sara was starting to get tired as Caleb would follow her around. If he didn't give into her way, she would run off crying and he would follow after her saying "Sara, what's wrong, don't cry."

At first I was thinking, "That girl is learning early. She already knows how to work the charm. I could learn something from her!" Then, Angel just looked at them and said "Oh man, their future is scarey, can you imagine those two married." His comment really started getting to me...and my mother-in-law instincts started getting reved-up... To see my little boy being taken on this emotional roller coaster with this girl! I mean who does she think she is? First she gets to my son's heart by playing Batman with him-who happens to be one of his hero's. Then she pulls his heart strings and starts crying because of.... nothing? Then, I realized, "Hey, they're just 4!" So I sat down with them to read a few books. Sara on one side, and Caleb on the other side- all cuddled up with his Mama! My Important Life Lesson: Life is good; I still got a few more good years of cuddling with my boy. No worries. But I will admit, what scares me the most is she sure makes a cute bat-girl.