a little video that we made of all the boys (6) in hawaii....

hawaii....

the day after christmas we left for a week away on the north shore of oahu with our great friends the clarks. we lived here for 7 days... it was amazing!! this was our bedroom
and this is our balcony looking over the beach. it was wonderful waking up at sunrise to the sound of crashing waves. heaven on earth.


this was our view .. every day it was surreal that we were actually there. i am so thankful that we were able to take our family on this vacation.

the boys loved snorkeling. they were in the water everyday at 7 am. we had sea turtles and beautiful fish right in front of our house.

seth was also able to surf while we were there. he also got to see pipleline and sunset beach break. it was truly amazing.

tanner liked to eat lunch in the hammock :)

all the boys at turtle bay

we ate shaved ice every day! it was so good!

one day we took a trip over to pearl harbor. isaiah was in awe. he has been reading about pearl harbor for over a year now. he studies world war 2 more then anyone i know.

on new year's eve the locals told us that everyone does fireworks. so we ofcourse had to participate :) it felt like 4th of july.

isn't smooshie's hair awesome! ha ha ha!

all over the north shore they have these shrimp trucks on the side of the road. they were everywhere, smelled good, and were always crowded. we knew we had to stop and we were so glad we did. it was amazing.

we had such a great vacation. it was really hard to leave.

**aloho**

christmas 2009...

we had a great christmas this year. we celebrated the whole week, so on christmas day we just hung out, ate a great breakfast, my parents and seth's sister came over and we just chilled. it was very relaxing. we also went on a family bike ride later in the day :) da boys in their matching pj's :)
every year we have a tradition of going to yen cheng's on christmas eve and then going light looking.

i was so bummed that i didn't take more pics on christmas day. we got a new video camera so we were playing with that. this is THE ONLY pic i got of the boys in front of the tree.

i was so proud of the boys this year and their attitude regarding christmas. they truly understood the meaning and were very selfless. they focused on jesus' birth and the blessing of giving to others. :)

FINAL DAY: 12 days of christmas (video)...

UPDATE: first week of the 12 days of christmas...

when we first started 'the 12 days of christmas' i was so excited that God was using our family to bless this homeless family, i had no idea the huge blessing that i would recieve. yesterday as we were dropping our meal off to them the middle boy ran up to me and gave me a huge hug, he then grabbed isaiah's hand and they took off. i was so blessed and filled with joy! then the husband told us that they wanted to join a bible study and start going to church. we haven't witnessed to them yet but we have just been showering them with love and friendship, and by God's grace Gods love has been shining through us. i feel so humbled and blessed that God is using us. THEN....remember how i said in my last post that i was hesitant at first cause we don't have alot of money right now, and how God told me HE doesn't need my money.....well, today he showed me even more that he is the ULTIMATE provider. two families came up to me today and gave me money and giftcards for gas and groceries!! isn't that awesome!! today at church our pastor was talking about mary and how God's plan made no sense to her, it was confusing and impossible. but she was obedient. that is how i feel right now. at first we were a little hesitant and even a little confused by what God was asking us to do. there were some things that happened that made us question if we were doing the right thing. but we put all that aside and just walked in obedience with what God was calling us to do despite our reservations. thank you God for blessing this family and for blessing us!

the 12 days of christmas..

two years ago (october) seth lost his job. he was out of work for 4 months. it was a very hard time for us but we made it. by God's amazing grace we had family and friends supporting us financially, and emotionally. one family (who still to this day is anonymous) did something a.ma.zing. the 12 days leading up to christmas they would leave something on our doorstep. every morning we would wake up and a present would be waiting. the kids LOVED IT!! we were so blessed. we always said that when things got better for us we would do that for someone that was in need. well, it's 2 years later and things are better but not huge where we have tons of money to give away. seth does have a job, actually owns his own business now, but we still live paycheck to paycheck and every week we get on our knees praying for God to provide. but as i look on my life and everything i have i am so RICH! praise God we live paycheck to paycheck, atleast we have a paycheck to live on. i have a house, healthy kids, medical insurance, 2 cars, a refrigerator full of food, cable ect...i could go on and on. anyway, i felt like i was waiting until we were wealthy for us to be able to help someone. God stopped that way of thinking real fast and i am so glad he did. who am i anyway, he doesn't need my money to help someone, he just needs me listening and willing to follow HIM. so, this year w/out alot of money we have commited to helping a family in need for 12 days (just as that anonymous family did for us). a few weeks ago we were talking to the kids about the importance of giving and how we wanted our focus this christmas to not be about us and our needs. we told them how we wanted to help someone out for 12 days. they were very excited. smooshie mentioned a family that we had seen in the stater bros. parking lot a few months ago (surprised he remembered) , a family of five living in their car. with much enthusiasm he says "let's buy them a house!!", how sweet the heart of a child. i told him we couldn't buy them a house but we could provide them with food and necessities and hopefully some toys for christmas. so as a family we prayed and all agreed that this would be the family we would help. i was talking to a friend a few days later and she said she wanted to help to. after a few people hearing about it we now have 4 families and a friend helping. so from dec. 13th-dec. 25th we are doing something for them every day. not only are we providing them food and shelter (helping pay for a motel) but we are praying and hoping that they will see the light of Jesus through us. just last night a friend of our's gave us some money for no reason. my first thought was , hmm.. what can i buy with this, and then God knocked me upside the head :) and i realized i should give it away. that was God's way of providing so we could use it for the family. we were able to get them 4 nights in a motel for the week of christmas. they will have a bed and a shelter for christmas, i am so excited :) praise be to God for all of his provisions!! i am not writing this to be prideful and to show what an amazing family we are, far from it. God has humbled me in ways i could never imagine. i don't naturally have a heart for the homeless, and giving is actually very hard for me to do. i am smart with our money almost to a fault where i get stingy with it. i am so blessed though that God has called our family to do this. he always uses the weak , right?? and that is DEFINATLEY us. we are walking in blind faith being obedient to what God has called us as a family to do. this year has been a HUGE year of obedience and trust for us and i am excited to keep living in faith and trusting in God almighty.

"we know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. so we also ought to give up our lives for our brother's and sister's. if someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion- how can God's love be in that person" 1john 3:16-17

thanksgiving...

we took our annual family trip to tuscon for thanksgiving. what a blessing to spend the week with all our family.we did a ton of fun stuff while we were there. we went to old tucson, pima county air museum, and pinnacle peaks.

every year after we eat we all take a walk down to the wash. we have been doing this since i was a baby!! it's so fun to be carrying on these traditions with my kids now :) i think this is the first year we have ever gotten a picture of all of us down at the wash. i decided to use my timer on my camera! why didn't we think of that before?

thank you sissy and uncle jerry for being such gracious and generous hosts. we love you!!