... halloween 2007 ...

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!

well we had ourselves a couple of garden fairies this year. they were priceless. we went to our church, Yorba Linda Friends. They had a HUGE carnival set up with rides, games and food. The girls saw their friends, got lots of candy and enjoyed the games. We had a nice evening.

i forgot my memory card for my camera............. duh! of all people to not have a camera..... i was so bummed, but my sister came and brought hers... so luckily we got some pix from the night...

After heading home from church we went to a few neighbors homes. That was fun for the girls and the neighbors got a kick out of seeing them dressed up....

At church they had an ambulance there giving kids a tour of the truck, and talked to them about what everything was inside.... they also got to hear their heartbeat.... caelan was so happy she got to use the telescope..... (stethoscope).... anyhow, here are some pix from the night!

... the girls go to a birthday party!

gavin is our friends son. we adore him to pieces. we went to his 1st birthday party this last weekend. it was full of great things..... good food. family. friends. costume contest. games. presents. and a first birthday boy's cake. elmo. of course. :)
here are some pix from the night....

the dounut game was a hit!

pinata... and awards in the end!

good times. with great friends...

... yucca valley...

we went out to yucca valley a few weeks ago....to celebrate my-dads-uncle-hilward's birthday..... whew! here are some pictures from the day..... what a day of excitement.....

riley is swimming soooo well now. it is amazing how quickly she adapts to the pool when the water is nice and warm. we had been wondering why she had this fear of pools.... in the end it was just too cold for our little riley. there was never a fear. so that's great news. all ya gotta do is heat it up a little and she turns into a fish!

sarah and her dad hilward..... my grandpa stenson and his brother hilward.... sarah's husband robert...

my dads cousin sarah.... my dads cousin janie and sarahs mom elsie....... gene and janie......

my mom, aunt shirley (grandpas sister) and me.... my dad and sarahs son nathan.... me....

after all these years my dad's still got it!

now below is another story..... its rather long but i will do my best to describe how it all went down.... :)

here is my grandpas step-son..... okay, so how many guys does it take to teach a 15 year old how to ride a manual-quad..... apparently more than 4..... later on..... you'll see.........

his shirt says "win baby".... yeah, he won alright.... he found a fire hydrant after speeding into 4th gear and hit the fire hydrant and rolled the quad into a cactus bush... he walked away with minor cuts and bruises... a sore back, ankle and wrist..... nathan and eric saw dust in the sky and his bike trail stopped so they jumped into eric's truck to see what happened..... nathan drove the quad back.... puttered into the driveway.... glad marc is okay..... there could have been worse problems..... such as............

the cops showing up after a neighbor reported it..... marc left to take the bike to the shop with my grandpa, eric and robert (who owned the bike).... so anyhow................ in the end marc got a slap on the wrist and is really bummed about the whole thing................. what a day! man. write that memory in the books.

GOD'S GRACE.

WHEW. WHAT A WEEK. the fires still continue but mike and mary's neighborhood is safe. secure. and resting. fire free.

the pumpkin pie we made.... a sign i have in my house that rings more and more true...

it was spooky how close the fires felt.

marys roses were a little toasty but for the most part, wonderful.

the scarecrow mary and i made was still standing... mary yelled, "Yeah!" we made pumpkin pie at my house one night.... we cooked lots of yummy food in those 5 days...

the tree at mike and marys...

WELL. GOODNESS. we went out to mike and marys house yesterday after breakfast................. the garden looked great, the inside, amazingly clean... a little ash on the window sills was all. Gods grace. Gods grace and mercy has blessed them beyond imagination. For the fires being so close, their home didn't suffer a bit. a tree in their yard, a little crispy but everything else, in place and beautiful.

Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you that their house was spared. Thank you that you protected them and their home. Lord, please take care of those that lost it all. Lord we know your plans for our lives and we know you will only give us as much as we can handle. Please give those the strength they need. Give them peace. Give them a new start, make it better than before. Provide people in their lives that can help them. Help us to group together and provide love and support to those in need. May this bring our nation together. May you rein down and fill your spirit around us..... We love you, and thank you for the cool air and the fog this morning to provide moisture in the air. May you clear the air and bring blue skies. Help the firefighters that are still helping save homes and lives. Lord give us all hope. Give us again, that peace we need.

Amen.

our yard was trashed due to 80 mph winds! no joke 80 mph winds!

it was weird to see all the yellow tape.... it was EVERYWHERE, on every house, every street.... we had bought a tree for mike and mary for christmas and were hiding it from them.... well what a perfect time to plant a new tree..... to remember this time and be grateful to all God has done... so we gave that to them and a new rose called "little darlin' ".... early christmas presents. neat to watch things grow and change in the yard.... and a memory for this week- to reflect back on it all... quite a ride.