Jastef

We had one of those weekends that flies by and in the end... you can't believe how fast its over. First, Friday morning's ladies Bible study was excellent! I'm really looking forward to doing this in depth study on Philippians.

Saturday morning, I headed to Mountain View with my sister Trisha for a reunion with some of our girlfriends from our younger years. We all met around the ages of 8-10 and have remained close since, but rarely get to be all together hanging out, like we used to. The day was a total blast! Our friend Amy hosted the get together with a lovely brunch and then for lunch, each of us girls brought yummy salads to share. We went and got pedicures and had a great time catching up and spending that quality time together, without the distraction of our kids. Trish and I arrived back in Brentwood in the early evening and then Jason and I went on a date to the movies. Something we haven't done in several months, so it was fun. We saw National Treasure, The Book of Secrets -- if you're comparing it to the first, our opinion is that it was just OK. But, it was fun getting out alone together. My sister Emily and her friend baby sat our kids for us, so when we got home, the four of us ended up hanging out together. Lots of fun!

Today was a very nice day - Jason's sister Jenny and her boy friend Jeff came to church with us! The kids were very excited to see them there. After church Jason's parents and Grandmas came over and spent the rest of the day with us, which was so fun! We enjoyed the time with them and Ethan loved having Grandpa Ernie all to himself for the afternoon.  

Jason uploaded pictures from our weekend, plus a few random pictures of the kids over the past week. They did a lot of cuddling up during the rainy days we had and I captured lots of those cute moments on camera. So, there's our weekend. I'm sure this is very dull to some of you, but then there are those that enjoy reading it (hint, hint... Shane) 

Hope you all have a great week!

Our two kids would come next in line, for things I'm thankful for. I am everyday amazed at how God uses them (in a big way) in my sanctification process. Just when I thought I'd arrived... God blessed me with children to remind me that I still have far to go.

With Ethan, the Lord has taught me that I am not nearly as patient as I thought, but at the same time, reminded me that He is a patient God and is very long suffering with me. I will never forget the overwhelming sense of love and joy I felt when I held Ethan for the very first time; those first moments of realizing I had such a deep and tender love hidden in my heart for this little boy, were incredible. He's my best friend while Daddy is at work. I love watching his mind work and seeing all the new things the Lord is teaching him, both physically and mentally. Being pregnant for nine months and have that little baby growing and forming inside me was an amazing miracle and another testimony to me of God's awesome power, but -- watching them develop from a tiny newborn, to walking, talking people... its a whole different miracle and quite a wonder. I love watching his physical development. Especially these days, as it feels like there's something new everyday. Last night he told me that his muscles are going to be like Daddy's when he's 30.

I'm thankful for those random kisses on my face, followed with "I love you, Mommy." I'm thankful for those times when he says "I'm sorry, Mommy" without me having him say it. I'm always thankful when the Lord gives me those little glimpses of our hard work, coming to fruition. When Ethan teaches Rachel, instead of hitting her, when he obeys me or Jase instead of running the other way, when he tells us he loves Jesus and he loves going to church, even though he may not fully understand what he's saying. I love the morning time when he pops out of bed and says "Good morning, Mommy... how was your sleep?"
I am thankful to have a husband that teaches my children to be considerate of me and very loving and tender with me. I'm even thankful when I have those frustrating days and then stop and realize God only gives what is good and right for me at the time He gives it.

Rachel is my little helper and for that, I know I will be very thankful in years to come. Right now it can be a bit overwhelming - with her taking everything I folded out of the basket and unfolding it, or emptying the kitchen cupboards, just because. She likes to organize and re-arrange and so I know we'll have great fun someday. I'm thankful for Rachel's life and for her good health. I'm thankful for her smile and sweet voice. She has been God's tool to remind me of His grace on those days I have that I just wish would end. She is a happy girl and loves people. I'm thankful for her kisses and her love for her Daddy and me. She has a tender heart and I am SO thankful for that. She's easy to deal with (a large percentage of the time) and aims to please, which is so nice.

I'm so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with a girl. To think I wanted a boy so badly, when we found out we were pregnant with her! God knew exactly what we needed and I can see how having a little sister to love and protect has been a huge blessing for us with Ethan. His personality definitely needed a little sister next and not a brother. I love watching my kids interact with each other. To see Ethan kiss her boo-boo's and to have them stop and hug each other, with out me encouraging it. I love to hear Ethan say things like "I want you to have another baby like Rachel because it would be fun to have two of her!" I adore watching my kids with Jason. Their love for him is priceless and I am so thankful to have a husband that knows when the work stops and the family time starts. I'm thankful for their fun and sometimes spontaneous outings with Daddy (also thankful for the break it gives me!) and so happy when they come home and say they missed me.

Verses in the Bible about children have always been very precious to me, as I've always known they're a blessing... but becoming a mom to these two has really brought home the truth and grace in this verses especially. Our quiver isn't even near full yet, but the promise in this verse is still wonderful!

Psalm 127:2-5 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

Whenever a new year begins I find myself thinking of what things I will change - what areas in my life need more of God's grace, how I can witness more effectively to the lost and how to show my family more of Christ and less of me. I try not to set more than 5 New Year's resolutions and then I aim, by the power of God alone, to see them brought to fruition. I can't stand making resolutions with the expectation of "probably not keeping them".

We spent New Years Eve/Day with our good friends from Sacramento and I asked the all famous question, "Did any of you make resolutions for 2008 that you'd like to share?" We shared a bit and I was very impressed with how practical they were. You usually hear the most odd and extravagant resolutions. Its almost as if the person is setting themselves up to fail. For Christians, I think the "resolution" means something I am going to purpose to give over to God and let Him win the battle for me.... since He already did on the cross. I'm not going to hang on to this particular sin anymore, because its keeping me from knowing and loving Him deeper. And then sometimes its very basic and fun resolutions; reading more books, keeping in touch with friends better, traveling somewhere you've always wanted to go, saving money to buy an expensive item you've wanted to own, etc....

Just when you thought this post was about New Year's resolutions, I'm going to go all random on you and switch the subject. :) I tend to start the new year by making (as I said before) no more than 5 resolutions, writing them down in my journal and then checking up on myself every 1st of the month for the rest of the year. Jason usually knows what each one is and this way he can hold me accountable as well. Another thing I usually reflect on at each old year passing and the new year beginning, is what I am most thankful for. Not just the typical every day "thank You for my family, our home, our health, etc..." but really looking deep into what God has blessed me with. The ways in which He's grown me (some ways I never would have imagined several years back) and anticipating the future.

So this morning was a lazier morning for us and Ethan slept in until 10am, so I stopped, grabbed my trusty journal and began writing. If I wrote everything here that I wrote there, this post would be way too long to read. So I'm just going to recap, since it fits appropriately with New Year'ish traditions.

I'm afraid it might make this one post way too long to even list the ones I wanted to share, so I'm going to do it in 3 parts. I'll start with the most important tonight and by Friday I'll list the rest.

What I'm most thankful for:

- For my salvation. I am so grateful to the Lord for saving my dying soul and giving me new life in Him. In 2008 I want all who come into contact with me to be able to know right away that I am God's child and to also know that the Gift I've been given, is freely offered to them. I am a young Christian (spiritually speaking) only been saved about 15 years. I know God has much more to teach me about Himself, much more to teach me about myself and I know He has great plans for my future. Maybe not great in the way many would think, but great with regards to His Kingdom. Without Christ, life is nothing. I pray those of you who don't know Him would see and know your great need of Him this year.

- For my husband. The man I married and the man I've watched him become over the past 4 years. Watching God work in him has been amazing. Getting married in your early 20's can, I'm sure, be scary for some, but for us its been the most wonderful experience. We've been able to grow in so many ways together, learn together, mature together, experience new aspects of life together and still maintain that bit of immaturity and blame it all on our age. **I know some of you are shaking your head in agreement right now. :)

I think what amazes me most about Jason is how well God formed him for me. How He made the two of us to work so well together and to compliment each other like we do. Jason is strong where I am weakest, weak where I am strongest and still loves me, even though he sees the sides many of you don't. He's been a big tool of God's in my sanctification process and has taught me more about myself (good and bad) than he'll probably ever know. He loves our children so tenderly and passionately. I love hearing him carry on long conversations with Ethan, teaching him many new things and helping him learn and grow, reminding him often that he is proud of him and loves him so much. The smile that evokes out of Ethan is priceless.     I adore seeing him and Rachel together. There is something absolutely precious about watching your husband with your daughter.

He is a hard, diligent worker and I love that his motivation is to provide for our family. I love that he loves to use his mind. He loves to learn new things and admits that he's not the smartest, most awesome guy (even though we think he is). I love that he is humble. I admire the grace of God that I see in him. He is quick to admit he's wrong, quick to show love when its not being returned and very quick to give others' the benefit of the doubt. I continually have to keep myself in check and remind myself that its God I look up to and not Jason. God is my rock and my fortress. When we have godly husbands, its very easy to confuse that point and get off track; expecting our imperfect husbands to fill a place only a perfect God can. My Pastor reminded me on Sunday (in his sermon) that my marriage is to accomplish one thing and that is to bring glory to God. We're not here to make each other happier, to make our lives complete, or to fulfill some area that needed filling. God, in His goodness does give us great enjoyment and fulfillment in marriage, but its end is to glorify Him through it.

 So there you have my two most important reasons to be thankful. More to come later. I hope you enjoy reading them. Blogs are a funny thing... we spill forth all sorts of (usually) unsolicited information, but hope some of it is at least encouraging and interesting. 

Normal life starts up again today!  So far so good, though the morning car defrost was unpleasant (I've got to make a hole in the garage again tonight for my car).  Still I caught a 7:08 train out of North Concord, which means I'll be in the office around 8, which is one of my new year's resolutions.

 I've got a whole lot of work over the next two weeks (I am pushing out a feature at work that is exposing major bugs in existing code and just won't die), but I'm excited to dive back in and get cracking on my TODO list.

 We had a great week and a half at home; I had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with Stef and the kids, catch up on stuff to do around the house, and from time to time just drop responsibilities and relax.  I'm sore from playing too much Wii Sports though :)

 Anyway, good morning, everyone!

We wait and prepare and get all excited and then in just a few short hours.... its over.

We had the best Christmas yet (since getting married) and just really enjoyed spending it with our kids one year older and them being more knowledgeable of what was going on. Its way more fun watching our kids experience Christmas, than experiencing it ourselves. We loved every moment of it! I must brag a bit and say I am extremely proud of our kids. They've had a very busy, filled weekend and have done really well! So, enjoy the post. Its probably way too much information for some of you (so don't feel pressured to read) but some of you blog lovers out there enjoy details, so this one's for you.

Saturday morning began Jason's long break from work (yeah!) and we kicked it off by having our good friends the Kempers over for breakfast. I made my Mom's famous Make Ahead Breakfast, we had fun talking, the kids opened gifts from each other and I got to hold their adorable baby Austin. :)

Saturday night we had our friends from church over, the Bartok family. We met the Bartoks back in May and finally had them over to our house! I know, its about time. To say we had a blast is an understatement. The evening was so much fun and Ethan had a blast playing with Jozeph and Nicholas; wrestling, playing with the train table, racing cars, all the boy stuff. Our fun didn't end until around 10pm and even then it didn't feel long enough. Needless to say, we're going to be sure and do that again. :)

Sunday morning -- Ethan sang for the first time with the Children's choir at church! He sang in the first song called "Come on Ring Those Bells!" He did a very good job, despite having massive stage freight before going up there and ended up telling me "That was fun and next time I will sing and not have my tummy hurt." Jason's coworker came all the way from S.F and after church we went out to lunch with him and enjoyed spending time with him. Than you for coming, Scott!!

Jason and I headed into Livermore to Jason's parents house to visit with a long time friend of ours that was in town for the weekend. We had a nice time seeing a lot of old friends and family.

Monday (Christmas Eve) -- lots of Christmas day prep took place in the earlier part of the day, Jason and Ethan built a gingerbread house and we opened gifts from each other. We had so much fun watching the kids open their presents and seeing surprise and delight on their faces. This is one of my favorite days of the year because its pure family fun and we get to watch our kids enjoy Christmas with just Mommy and Daddy.

Christmas Day started off eating our yummy Make Ahead Breakfast, opening stockings and then heading over to my parent's house. We had yummy chappino soup, followed by a delicious Christmas feast, opened presents and the kids all enjoyed playing with each other. Its rare for all 8 cousins to be together at the same time and so its very special during times like these. We arrived home in time to welcome Jason's family and extended family over for Christmas dinner and gifts. We had such a nice evening with everyone and just really loved being with all the family. The kids received so many wonderful gifts and loved being with Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts.

The day could not end without some Wii fun. :) We pulled Jason's Uncle Larry and Cousin Scott (even Aunt Christine joined in!) for some games of bowling. When you see those Wii commercials where whole families are joining together playing and you think *Yeah, right... like that really happens* be assured, it does. :)

Jason doesn't return back to work until January 3rd, so our fun will continue on into the week! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a very Happy New Year!

We seem to have a major problem with solicitors these days. I suppose its because we live in a new neighborhood and lets face it, we're prime targets. Everyone knows we need our backyards landscaped, inside of our houses painted, new furniture, new window coverings, house cleaning, yard service, etc... the list really goes on and on.

We've had a couple people come by that we're actually thankful for - last week we bought one of the most beautiful oil paintings I've ever seen. We happened to be running out the door for a dinner date when he stopped by and it occurred to me (later on) how uncomfortable I would have been with him showing up 5 minutes later and bugging our baby sitter. It was already dark outside and she most likely would have been a bit scared. He was a nice guy and all, but still.

Anyway, when we lived in Livermore and I had quite a scare with an unfriendly solicitor. To this day I have no idea what on earth he was trying to sell, but I could not get rid of the guy. I went to the door (didn't open it, of course) asked what he wanted and then said "No thank you." He was banging on the kitchen window, telling me he could see me inside the house and all I needed to do was open the door and listen to the awesome deal he wanted to sell me. Ethan was a brand new baby and I was in no mood to be on the evening news, so I called my next door neighbor (who was a friend from church) and he came over to scare the weirdo off. So, I am a major fan of "NO Soliciting" signs.

Tonight, some guy came by our door (right at dinner time) soliciting the Sunday paper. I heard Jason say "No thanks" and this guy went from talking a mile a minute to 5 miles a minute. Craziness... and just plain rude. After dinner, we ventured over to Lowe's to buy a sign for our door - so cheap too, $4.00 and came home and proudly stuck that thing up there. I almost feel like I've gained some of my privacy back.

I went looking online tonight for "Soliciting Laws" just to be certain of what my rights are and found this link. If you care, have a read. Its nice to know what your rights are and who to call/what to do if they're violated.