What's New

Well, let's just mention what's NOT new first and that is I cannot stop craving brownies. I want to make a batch right now and my jeans are already getting snug. AARRGGHHH!!! I must resist...
Today I went ahead and paid the big bucks for Justus to get aquatic survival lessons starting October 5. WHat this means is that after 6 weeks of DAILY, Monday to Friday lessons, our 14 month old will know how to swim, really swim!!! And let's say he fell in a pool, he'll know how to turn over and float on his back until he's rescued. This is invaluable training, we think, especially since we love to swim and have 2 eyes and 3 kids. Slightly outnumbered!!
We did, however, have to put this in our spending plan. Last week, we started our Crown Financial Bible Study, which teaches people how to live debt-free and invest wisely and so we're starting with getting on a good budget and following it VERY closely. Even though we've reached alot of goals in the past,we're learning that everything we have is God's and should be used to honor Him. Usually Jonathan does all our finances, but I'm gonna step in and get knowledgeable now and learn more about stocks and investments too. We also got a great book to do with the kids about money management. It teaches Bible stories about generosity and saving. I'm really excited about it. I really like the study. We memorize a verse each week and we enjoy our friends in the group.
Another new thing is that on October 9, we are going to Phoenix for my Lasik eye surgery. Thanks to my mom and dad, who are treating me to my new eyes!!! I'm slightly nervous but mostly excited!!! Jonathan had his in august so now, I'm gonna do it. I'm legally blind without my contacts so this will be a great thing, Not to mention, the girls LOVE going to hotels and sleeping in the big beds so they will have alot of fun!
Love to all! Bye now...

Brownie Dough and other Things

We had the awesome privilege of Jonathan's mom living with us for about 5 weeks while she found a place to live here in AZ. She did end up finding a great fully furnished home about 6 minutes away and it's a perfect place for her. We had a great time with her here and we still see each other alot. She goes to Common Ground Church with us and she is in our Thursday night small group. The top pics explain themselves. Brownie making is a huge deal at our house. Happens almost once a week. Who can resist licking the bowl? Not our girls!!!

Waiting for Manna

I love this one of Justus looking up. It's like he's waiting for more goldfish to fall from the sky. He loves to eat and goldfish is a family favorite!

Naked Baby!!!!

Aren't I supposed to be wearing this??

Date Night!

On Saturday night, Jonathan and I went out for dinner to celebrate our friend, Danielle's birthday. We had a a great time with some great friends and here is a pic of Jonathan and Randy Dominguez. Randy works with Jonathan and BJ's restaurant, where we ate, is one of Jonathan's accounts. Subsequently, the manager was on that night and gave both tables all free desserts! Awesome and delicious!

Laughable Quotes.

Grace: " How can God be in everyone if he's only one person. That's too much work."
Grace: " When I start kindergarten, I'm gonna learn how babies get here cause we need to make a girl." (insert my face laughing hysterically)
Glory: " Grace, if Mom is busy, just listen to me cause I have mom's powers sometimes."
Glory: I think there's a baby in your tummy, Mom. It looks kind of squishy." ( look of horror on my face) I've been working out, Why is it still squishy??
Grace: "Come here, Justus, I will hold you but my boobies are out of milk so we'll have lemonade, ok"?
Grace: " Why do I have to wear panties EVERY day? They go in my bottom and I don't like that. When I'm a mom, my 'cheedren' are NOT gonna wear them."
Glory: I pray to God alot and he tells me that we should have cookies and tasty treats every day after school. He also says that we don't have to do our homework right away."
Mom:" What else does he tell you, Glory?
Glory:" That we don't need to go to school. The zoo is just fine... and Panda Express."

Here's some laughs for your day. These are all from the past couple weeks.

September Days

Glory's favorite breakfast in peanut butter toast with honey. Here she is before school Tuesday AM enjoying it.

Don't know if I ever mentioned how much I love our new van but I LOVE our new van. It's almost been a year since we got it but I still get happy when I look at it.

Glory "posing."

Our friend Ariana and Grace at the splash pad. BFF!

The fam(Justus was already in bed).

The Bloggers Are Back!

Yes, well, it's been 4 months since our last blog and we hope that doesn't happen again. We're glad to be back! I lost our camera and figured there's no point in blogging without pictures! New camera, new blogs, baby....

Here's a few new updates that have happen

ed recently:

Glory began 1st grade August 4 and loves it!

Grace is in pre-K at a nearby Lutheran school and loves it! She starts kinder next fall.

Justus is almost 14 months and is a wildthing! Walking everywhere, hitting everything, touching everything and eating everything. He's loud and he hates his carseat after 10 minutes. He loves to be held, to swim and to be taken care of by his two big sisters. He's crazy about pinto beans and green beans.

Jonathan is staying busy with his job and enjoying it. His one year anniversary with Ecolab is September 13 and we're so glad he's there. Saturday Grace spent the day with Jonathan running calls and getting spoiled by all the little ladies at the restaurants Jonathan had to go to. We all met up for dinner that night where I locked my keys in the van. :-) Second time!

We've been enjoying having Jonathan's mom here. She begins her new job tomorrow and she is an official Arizonan! We're happy to have her with us. More later!

Hannah Montana

We went to see the new Hannah Montana movie with the two G's last night. It was really good. The girls seemed to have a lot of fun on our little date as we left Justus with "Aunt Karina and Uncle Randy." Good movie and fun times. Today the girls went with Jonathan for church setup and Justus and I are hanging back at the house. He's asleep so I've been enjoying some alone time. I dusted, did dishes, put my makeup on without having to stop in the middle of eyeliner application and practiced our worship music for the morning. I also went through some more pictures from a couple weeks and ago and wanted to post them. Yes, I am a proud mother and a happy one too! We're planning a simple day today, maybe some swimming, a treasure hunt walk(this is where you get a baggie and fill it with strange and unusual things...once we found a shedded snake skin), some decorating of Justus' room, and some shopping for new picture frames. It's a beautiful day. Glory has 2 weeks left of kinderfarten and then it's SUMMER. ZOO TIME!!!!

Easter and Mr. Frog

This is a stuffed frog that Grace is crazy about. She bathes him almost daily in the sink and carries him around like a baby. Thought I should document the love!

Baby Kaidynce!

Pround Papa Doug Stout, second from left, and his wife, Kim are good friends of ours here in AZ and they just had Baby Kaidynce Alizabeth early Sunday morning. I got to be there and it was awesome. Kim and I work together at St. Joseph's and we also carpool. We are so happy and thankful for the healthy, happy delivery. Baby Kaidynce and I are bonding down below in the hospital nursery while the other new babies are sleeping away. You can see the end of the cribs all lined up! Have I mentioned I love my job? It's the sauce, especially when you're right there for your friend's most awesome day of her life! Congratulations, Kim and Doug!

The Weekend!

Oh, how I love the weekend!! Last weekend Jerry and Christine came for a visit and we had a great time! We got family pics taken and went to the mall and the zoo and just chilled out. It was nice to be all together with no responsibilities at the time.

We were a bit concerned about Christine who got pretty sick Saturday night. She's still getting over a bad bug. We miss them already but we'll be back in Houston for Pamela's wedding in late June. And at that time, my cousin, Erin, will have had her baby, whom we will get to meet. Can't wait for that!

Funny quote from Grace...lately she keeps singing Jingle Bells even though it's only April and this is how one line goes...Oh what fun it is to ride in a farfen-gusten sleigh. I crack up whenever she gets to that part!

The girl's new routine as of late is to get in our bed in the morning and snuggle until Glory has to get ready for school. We like that. She's a tall one, that Glory. We think she'll be a runner ...

Justus is crawling everywhere these days, trying to get into trouble!! He lovest o eat anything on the floor so we're teaching the girls about choking and all that fun stuff. They're so good with him.

We went swimming yesterday...first time this year. Might go again today. It was 97 yesterday. WE had a blast!

Happy Easter!

Tomorrow is one of my favorite holidays. I love Easter. Without it, there would be no Saviour, no resurrection, no hope. So, we're all pretty pumped at our place! I was actually baptized at the age of 7 on Easter Sunday so I'll be doing a little reminiscing.
We'll try to take lots of pics and get them up asap. We're having two services at Common Ground Church tomorrow and Jonathan and I are involved in both. We are to be there at 7:30 am. Whew! We get to wake up and see the sun rise! I'm actually looking forward to it!
The girls are wearing little sundresses with beautiful butterflies all over them . Guess what a steal they were? I got 'em for 6 bucks each at Old Navy last fall!!! I'm pumped!
After church, we're going to our friend's, Doug and Kim's, for a big dinner with several couples. Pecan pie, I'm making homemade mashed potatoes, there will be ham, salad, bread, all the good stuff! I'm excited. Then I get to work tomorrow night and see all the Easter babies!
Have a great Easter, everyone...sending up thanks to a Risen Saviour.

LEGOLand!!!

Sorry, Justus, didn't mean to chop off your head...

Everything in front of the girls is made of tiny Lego's. and the vehicles are actually moving, driving around the city. This part of the park was amazing. WE enjoyed it the most, I think.

Glory with Bob and Wendy from Bob the Builder. We got to see their show in 3D.

Just chillin'

Our hotel was really nice. Jonathan found it on Priceline and we were impressed. It looked more like a cottage when you walk in than a hotel and Glory enjoyed organizing all our food in the "pantry". She even poured all our cereal on Saturday morning!

San Diego Beach!

We had such a blast all Sunday afternoon at the beach. Justus took his nap there and the girls built sand castles. The water was frigid but there were some crazies who were out in it anyway. I wasn't one of them! We ate lunch on the beach and buried Grace in the sand. Found lots of shells for Grace's collection and Glory even made herself a pillow of sand and laid down on it for a little snooze!

First Oreo

Jonathan Edward, did you just give him a cookie....April speaking in a shrill, can't-believe-you-did-that voice .

Our friend, Will.

Ariana, Will's daughter, pushing Justus.

Grace and Ariana at our Compassion International Fundraiser held on Sunday, March 29. Glory and Grace raised app. $75 for Compassion's Global Food Campaign by inviting their friends and having snacks and drinks at the park. They were going to put on a concert but they got a little shy. At one point, Ariana started singing Jingle Bells....so whatever. We all had fun!

Found the Camera!

Glory's into hair these days. No matter how funky it looks to me, she thinks it's gorgeous!

I just wanna eat this little pretend dog all up with my sharp little eight teeth!Aaaarrgghh!

Grace-all into shoes and ties.