Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Look on my list of blogs and see who has a new blog. I'll give you a hint: I think he's hot!!!!!

35 things that I am thankful for.

It's easy for me to complain. Sometimes I forget about the wonderful things in my life. Here are my top 35:

1. God
2. Jesus
3. Rene
4. Matthew
5. Justin
6. Revolution Church
7. My mom
8. My sister and her family
9. Monique and Liz and all their prayers
10. Michelle Lasch for being there and answering all my questions
11. The Bible for giving me the answers
12. Laura Trotter for inviting me to church (and asking more than once and not giving up)
13. My home
14. My trials; without them I wouldn't be where I am now.
15. Life Group
16. CAVA for giving me the tools to homeschool our boys.
17. Being able to stay at home with the boys.
18. Email
19. Our trip to India
20. Friends
21. Lynelle for her wisdom and giving me the excitement to read my Bible again.
22. My neighborhood
23. My backyard
24. That special person who is allowing Rene and I to go to Embrace.
25. Christina Walker for her love and encouragement.
26. Dennis and Rhonda
27. My love of cooking
28. Refills of iced tea at Starbucks for only $0.50 when you save your cup
29. David Trotter and is bold ideas
30. Our car
31. Other people's blogs
32. My Bible Study
33. Fall
34. Christmas
35. God's amazing love and forgiveness

God rocks!!!!!!

In January of this year Rene was promoted to Operations Manager. Along with the new title came a lot of responsibility and stress. He was now in charge of more people and was asked to make quite a few changes. Rene had to be up at 3:00 am and would work between 14 - 16 hours a day. When he came home his phone would ring nonstop.

This went on for a few months. Things started to settle down a bit and he "only" had to work 10 - 12 hours a day. Oh, and during all this he hurt his back at work. But he never complained (I wish I could say that) and he never missed a day. Rene has always been faithful to his family and his work. He knows how important it is for me to be home with the boys and has always done everything that he could to make it happen.

Rene's new position took a toll on our family. He would be exhausted when he got home from work. His back hurt. He missed events because his schedule required him to work Tuesday through Saturday. Having to wake up so early in the morning meant we couldn't make plans on a work night.

I prayed everyday for a new position for Rene. I asked God to give him a job that had a more flexible schedule so that he could have some Saturdays off. I prayed that he didn't have so much stress. I prayed for a position that wouldn't be hard on his back. I prayed for a position that didn't require my husband to wake up so early in the morning. I prayed for a position that would let Rene be creative again. I prayed for a position that didn't require so much overtime.

I admit at times I would grow impatient. At times I did complain. At times my faith was the size of a mustard seed. But that is all that God required.

On Friday Rene came home from work and said that he has been offered a new position at work. His new position doesn't require overtime, waking up before the crack of dawn, it's not going to be physically demanding, it's less stressful and he has a schedule that will allow him to have some Saturdays off!

Thank you God for answering my prayers. And thank you Rene for being such an amazing provider, husband, father and friend. I love you!

Here is Matthew dancing at the game.

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Rene and Matthew at the Angel's game.

Rene and Matthew had such a great time at the game. Matthew has been talking about it all day.

My date with Justin.

Rene and Matthew received free tickets to the Angel game last night (thank you Dennis and Rhonda) so I decided to hit the town with Justin. So where do we go? Chuck E. Cheese!!! We had such a great time hanging out, playing games, and eating pizza. Grandma stopped by and joined us for awhile.

When did this happen?

When did I get old? I went to see a new doctor today and have some moles checked. Next thing I know I'm scheduling appointments for a cholestoral test, a complete physical, four mole removals, and a MAMMAGRAM!!!!

This is what happens when you give Justin an icecream cone.

As Matthew would say,"he's the messiest kid ever!"

I love my boys!!!!!!

Serve Day 2007

I really wanted the boys to be a part of Serve Day this year. So I decided on one of the hottest days of the year, lets go outside and clean the streets of Downey. It was so hot! But the boys were troopers and really getting into it. Thankfully Jenny Howell was very patient with them. Here are a few pics of them serving Downey.

We were bored

Daddy was in Lowes and I was in the car with the boys waiting for him. The kids got bored so we started taking pictures of eachother. This is what transpired.

Comic Con 2007

Rene loves comic books. Matthew and Justin love comic books. Me, not really. Every year we head down to San Diego and attend Comic Con. It's crazy! The convention center is packed and almost half the people are dressed up as their favorite characters. The boys love it. They get to see all their favorite Star Wars characters in person. Here are a few pics.

Summertime fun...

Rene set up his own version of a slip-n-slide and the boys have been having a blast! These are my two favorite pictures of the boys. They look so happy.

Here is Justin goofing off for the camera.

Here's Matthew being a ham!

So, I finally decided to start a blog.

I have been a lurker(stalker) on many blogs for the past year. I love reading what my friends are up to and looking at their pictures. I've also started reading blogs of people I don't know (but don't tell anyone).

Yesterday I was doing my usual lurking when Matthew came in. He loved looking at the pictures of people he knew. After awhile he asks, "where are the pictures of me?" Thus began the creation of this blog.

Enjoy!